If your association is like most, the majority of your revenue likely comes from membership dues. Members pay to be a part of your organization, and in return, you provide them with resources and opportunities to connect with others in the industry.
To steadily grow your association and offer the best member experience possible, however, you’ll need to open your organization up to additional revenue streams.
As YPTC’s financial management guide explains, “The more revenue sources your organization leverages, the more financially stable your organization will be.”
With multiple revenue streams at your disposal, you’ll be better equipped to weather financial challenges and provide even more valuable opportunities for your member base. In this guide, we’ll explore several ways to boost your association’s income without increasing dues.
1. Educational Training
You likely already offer educational or professional development opportunities as part of your association’s usual activities and programming. Develop robust, paid educational training options to elevate your offerings and drive more revenue.
For instance, you may charge members to participate in extra enrichment opportunities, such as:
- Workshops: Gather members for a day or two packed with opportunities to hone their skills, share expertise, and connect with their peers. You could host a general educational workshop relevant to your field or focus your activities on a specific learning area, such as professional development, technical skills, leadership, or networking.
- Certifications: Help your members take their careers to the next level with certification programs and continuing education courses. For example, healthcare associations may offer exam preparation for members looking to become Certified Health Executives (CHE). To facilitate these courses, leverage a learning management system (LMS) with comprehensive customer support, diverse content options, and scalability so it can grow with your association.
- Microlearning: Some members may want to further their skills without the time commitment of a full training program or course. Microlearning solves this problem by breaking down learning opportunities into smaller, more manageable chunks. This way, members can learn on their own time and at their own pace.
2. Corporate partnerships
Many businesses are willing to offer financial support to associations to further their missions. Through corporate partnerships, your association can build long-lasting relationships with like-minded companies and secure additional revenue for your organization.
According to Double the Donation’s corporate philanthropy guide, some of the most popular types of corporate assistance you may seek include:
- Matching gifts: If your association collects individual donations, matching gifts are an effective way to secure more funds without making supporters reach back into their wallets. Essentially, matching gifts are donations companies make to the organizations their employees have contributed to. They’re called matching gifts because businesses often match employee donations at a 1:1 ratio, doubling the initial contribution to your association. Donors eligible for matching gifts can fill out a matching gift request form and submit it to their employer so your organization receives the resulting funds.
- Employee grant stipends: This type of program is more flexible than matching gifts, granting employees funds to donate to organizations of their choice. While not all companies offer employee grant stipends, some do so to provide another employment benefit, show they care about helping the causes their employees support, and attract more socially conscious workers. If your association members or supporters work for a company that offers employee grant stipends, they can use these funds to give back to your organization.
- In-kind donations: There are times when donations of items or services may be more useful than monetary donations. Companies may prefer contributing these in-kind gifts if they don’t have enough in their budgets to allocate to corporate philanthropy or want to see the tangible outcome of their donations. For example, a marketing agency may provide web design services to help your association revamp its website. That way, you can reallocate the funds you would’ve spent on this service to other areas of your organization.
- Sponsorships: Companies may also be willing to sponsor a specific event, project, or program for your association. In exchange for their contributions, your organization will promote the business on your website, social media, and other marketing materials. As a result, you’ll form a mutually beneficial partnership that allows you to secure funds and the business to receive positive publicity.
3. Events
Hosting a conference or networking event can expand your horizons, increase revenue, and provide engaging opportunities for your members. Plus, you can open it up to those outside your member base, giving them a taste of what your association offers and encouraging them to join.
To launch an event that successfully raises funds, follow these tips:
- Offer early bird registration discounts: Incentivize people to sign up for your event by offering early bird discounts. Set up your event registration software to automatically give people a discount on registration fees if they sign up before a certain date. If you allow non-members to register, you may also offer special discounts for current or long-standing members to boost attendance.
- Secure event sponsors: As mentioned in the previous section, businesses can help offset your event management costs through sponsorships. Promote them during the event by including their logo on event materials, allowing them to send sponsored push notifications in your event app, show sponsored videos, or launch sponsored activities or challenges.
- Sell branded merchandise: Let attendees become walking advertisements for your association and raise more funds at the same time by selling branded merchandise. Consider putting your logo on t-shirts, hats, and mugs so attendees can choose how to sport your organization’s name and colors.
- Run raffles and contests: Who doesn’t love going home with a prize or winning a contest? By offering raffles and contests, you can raise extra funds and create a more engaging event experience for attendees. Your event sponsors may even be willing to donate prizes or raffle items to help facilitate these activities.
In addition to the revenue-generating aspects of your event, provide an agenda full of opportunities like speaker sessions, roundtable discussions, and networking for a well-rounded attendee experience.
4. Grants
Grants are financial awards that government agencies, foundations, corporations, or other organizations give to nonprofits and associations. In most cases, the funding is designated for specific projects or programs. Unlike a loan, you don’t have to repay grants, making them an impactful way to generate more funds.
However, you do have to put in the time and effort upfront to write a compelling proposal. Since grantors often have limited funds to distribute, you’ll likely have to compete with other worthy organizations to unlock these resources. Start by thoroughly researching relevant opportunities and reviewing their funding guidelines. Then, gather all the necessary information, write a persuasive proposal, and submit it to the funder well before the deadline.
Once you’ve won a grant, you must use the funds according to the grantor’s restrictions. To ensure you manage, report, and allocate your grant funds appropriately, work with an association and nonprofit accounting firm. They’ll be familiar with how various types of grants work and can help your organization follow grant management best practices.
While dues are at the heart of your association’s revenue generation strategy, they aren’t the only way for your organization to raise funds. Diversifying your revenue streams will increase your financial stability and sustainability and expand your impact to better serve your members. Start unlocking your revenue potential with our on-demand webinar.
