FREE RESOURCES: Nonprofit Earned Revenue
Updated: Mar 14
Please enjoy this comprehensive, curated library of free resources from across the internet relating to nonprofit earned income and nonprofit social enterprises.
I'm in the process of whittling it down to just "the best of the best", but for now I wanted to get something up that might help you today. If you know of any additional resources I should add, please let me know here.
As an experiment, I also generated 1-sentence summaries using ChatGPT for the majority of these resources. Until I get the chance to go-through and vet each resource, it's possible these summaries are inaccurate. But hey, 80/20 Rule!
Presence here, at this point, does not constitute an endorsement of any source, advice, or service provider. I haven't reviewed them all just yet, either, so some might even be bad!
Podcast Episodes
Earned Income Opportunities for Nonprofits (Inspired Nonprofit Leadership) — Nonprofit expert Rita Fuerst Adams talks about her Masters level course, Entrepreneurship for Nonprofits.
Identify and Optimize Nonprofit Earned Income: A Conversation with Alexandra Black-Paulick of Nonprofits for the Future (Successful Nonprofits)— Learn about earned income strategies for nonprofits, and how maximizing earned income opportunities can increase revenue, deepen impact, and sharpen your nonprofit's competitive edge.
Earned Revenue for Nonprofits (Nonprofit Hub)— Nonprofit organizations can make money in ways other than just asking for donations, but they need to be careful and make sure the money-making activity aligns with their mission.
Bill Woolsey On How To Generate An Earned Income For Your Nonprofit (Fundraising Superheroes)— More nonprofits are earning money to fund their projects, and Bill Woolsey, who helps nonprofit entrepreneurs create sustainable organizations, is offering advice on how to do it while staying true to your mission.
Rethink Your Nonprofit’s Revenue Streams (Relish This)— Growing your organization can be overwhelming, but having a plan and an entrepreneurial mindset can help you supercharge revenue and create a strong financial foundation.
Identify and Optimize Nonprofit Earned Income (Successful Nonprofits Podcast)— Serial entrepreneur Alexandra Black-Paulick talks with Dolph about earned income strategies for nonprofits.
Earned Income Strategies (Nonprofit Management & Leadership)— No summary available yet.
No Money, No Mission: The Business Side of Non-Profits (Money Talk)— "In this episode, we'll address how much good work should a non-profit produce, the difference between transactional and transformational work, the sweet spot of the ideal mix of contributed income and earned income, and why diversity of revenue benefits the whole non-profit, and therefore, the community."
Ways Your Nonprofit Can Make Money from Services (Grant Writing & Funding)— Uses brief case studies to show five ways nonprofits can earn income (dispelling the common misconception that nonprofit means "no profit"-- it simply means you put the profit back into the organization).
Videos, Webinars & Workshops
Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas: Earned Income Strategies (Boss on a Budget)
Next-Level Earned Income Strategies for Your Nonprofit Organization (Qgiv)
Nonprofit Earned Income Accelerator (Acumen Academy)
Nonprofit Session 3.5 - Earned Income (Brigham Young University)
Understanding Earned Income in Today's Nonprofit Environment (The Patterson Foundation)
Identifying the Right Earned Income Venture for Your Nonprofit (The Patterson Foundation)
How to Create Earned Income Strategies for Your Nonprofit (Dr. William Clark)
How to Generate Revenue for Your Nonprofit Through Earned Income (Dr. William Clark)
Margin Mission Ignition Teaser (The Patterson Foundation)
Rethinking Revenue (Charles River CFO)
Nonprofit Revenue Recognition (Aronson Assurance Tax Consulting)
Developing Earned Income Streams For Your Nonprofit (Mazarine Treyz)
Managing Nonprofit Earned Income: A Timely Update with Kate Barr (Nonprofit Quarterly)
Creating a Sustainable Business (Art Works for Virginia)
Introduction to Social Enterprise /Social Entrepreneurship, and Earned Income Ventures (Miami NICE)
Books
The Nonprofit Entrepreneur: Creating Ventures to Earn Income (1988)
The Nonprofit Guide to Social Enterprise: Show Me The (Unrestricted) Money! (2014)
The Nonprofit Business Plan: A Leader's Guide to Creating a Successful Business Model (2012)
Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs (2001)
Articles & Publications
IRS StayExempt: Small to Mid-Size Tax Exempt Organization Workshop (IRS)
IRS Revocations of 501(c)(3) Determinations (IRS)
Toolkit: Earned Income Assessment (Stanford)
Pros and Cons: Earned Income (Society for Nonprofits)
Understanding and Implementing Earned Revenue Management in Nonprofits (LinkedIn)
Tips for Creating Self-Sustaining Programs (Funding for Good)
Non-Profit Earned Income Strategies – Where to Start? (Social Enterprise Associates)
Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits (The Grantsmanship Center)
The 5 Best Ways to Generate Earned Income for Your Nonprofit (Wild Apricot)
Risk, Uncertainty, and Nonprofit Entrepreneurship (Nonprofit Quarterly)
Securing Alternative Revenue Streams to Meet Tomorrow’s Mission (GRF CPAs)
Ten Nonprofit Funding Models (Stanford Social Innovation Review, SSIR)
Earned Income Strategies for Not-for-Profits (Inspiring Capital)
Introduction to Social Enterprises and Earned Income Ventures (Creative Consulting Solutions)
Making Money with Mission: The Basics of Earned Income Ventures (Boost Social Sector Consulting)
Nonprofit with Income-Generating Activities (4 Lenses)
Explore Earned Income | Four-Part Workshop Series (Edyth Bush Institute / No Margin, No Mission)
UBIT: The Tax Consequences of Revenue Generating Activities for Your Nonprofit (Venable Legal)
Earned Income, Cookies, and Nonprofits (Zim Consulting)
Nonprofit Financial Ratios (Giersch Group)
Nonprofits Receive Match for Earned-Income Plan Investments (The Patterson Foundation)
Nonprofit Ventures: Generating and Sustaining Nonprofit Earned Income (Philanthropy News Digest)
Hartford Foundation Program Empowers Nonprofits with Earned Income Potential (Hartford Foundation)
Trend Reporter Special Report: Nonprofit Earned Income (University of San Diego)
Is Earned Income Worth It? (Leap of Reason)
Earned Income and the Operating Culture of Nonprofits (m|Oppenheim)
Balancing Mission and Earned‐Revenue Potential (Volunteer March)
Mission-Driven Social Enterprise: Integrating Income and Impact (Duke)
Non-Profit Earned Income Strategies – Where to Start? (Social enterprise Associates)
Is Earned Revenue Right for Your Nonprofit? (Alliance Magazine)
Selling Social Change: Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits (Nonprofit Association of Oregon)
5 Examples of Earned Revenue Strategies for Nonprofits (Sullivan Foundation)
The Nonprofit News Guide to Earned Revenue (Institute for Nonprofit News)
Revenue-Generating Activities of Charitable Organizations: Legal Issues (Adler & Colvin)
"What's Really Happening With Nonprofit Revenue?" (Gail Bower)
Introducing the Inaugural Earned Revenue Accelerator Cohort of 2021 (CoAct Detroit)
Fee for Service: Business Plan Essentials for US Nonprofits (Mission Box)
Can Non-Profits Earn Business Revenue? (Charity Lawyer)
How Nonprofits Get Really Big (Bridgespan)
Scaling Nonprofit Impact Through Consulting (Stanford Social Innovation Review, SSIR)
Myths About Nonprofits (National Council of Nonprofits)
Glossary of Financial Terms for Nonprofits (Propel Nonprofits)
Nonprofits, Are You Reporting Special Events Correctly? (Kahn Litwin)
Nonprofit Ratios: How to Use Them and What They Measure for Your Organization (Warren Averett CPAs)
Deferred or Temporarily Restricted Revenue: How to Differentiate Between the Two (Eisner Amper CPAs)
Unrelated Business Income Taxation (National Council of Nonprofits)
Business Planning for Nonprofits (National Council of Nonprofits)
Nonprofit Business Model Statements (Blue Avocado)
Nonprofit Sustainability (Steve Zimmerman)
Should Nonprofits Seek Profits? (Harvard Business Review, HBR)
Earned Income for Nonprofits: What it is and How it Works (Nonprofit Hub)
Next-Level Earned Income Strategies for Your Nonprofit Organization (QGiv)
5 Key Points to Implementing a Successful Earned Income Strategy (Inspiring Capital)
Navigating the Complex Nonprofit Revenue Landscape (BoardSource)
Capital Ideas: Savvy Nonprofits Find New Ways to Finance Their Programs (Wallace Foundation)
Nonprofit Earned Revenue Strategies : Refugee Services of Texas Case Study (University of Texas)
Stories of Earned Revenue (Community Wealth Partners)
Google Scholar Keyword Search: Nonprofit Earned Income (try others once there)
Enterprising Nonprofits: Revenue Generation in the Nonprofit Sector (Yale)
Sustainable Finance (scroll down to earned income section)(US EPA)
Earned Income Workshop & Business Planning Opportunity (No Margin, No Mission)
Nonprofits Can Generate an Earned Income (Nonprofit Expert)
Nonprofit Revenue Streams: It Doesn’t Have to be One or the Other (Leaffer Law Group)
Want to Generate Earned Income? Think Outside the Box (Fundraising Report Card)
The Business Model of the Nonprofit Museum (Sotheby's)
Nonprofit Earned Income: Your Questions Answered (Gail Bower)
Analyzing Financial Information Using Ratios (Nonprofits Assistance Fund)
The Magical Nonprofit Financial Ratio Matrix (Blue Fox Agile Accounting)
Analyzing Financial Information Using Ratios: Nonprofit Financial Ratios (Propel Nonprofits)
Eight Income-Generating Ideas for Nonprofits (Good Intents)
Beware of UBIT Before Your Nonprofit Tries to Generate Its Own Revenue (Law Help)
Financing Not Fundraising: Evaluate Earned Income (Social Velocity)
Is Earned Income Right for Your Nonprofit? (Social Velocity)
Nonprofit Earned Income Accelerator (Acumen Academy)
Social Enterprise & Earned Income: A Key To Revenue or a Distraction? (Blue Avocado)
Join REDFworkshop (Free resources, tools and connections to grow your employment social enterprise)
Nonprofit Social Enterprise: Models and Funding (Green For All)
Reimagine Your Nonprofit to Survive the Crisis (Harvard Business Review, HBR)
Margin & Mission Ignition (The Patterson Foundation)
Business Model Canvas for Nonprofits (Community Foundation)
Nonprofit Social Enterprises: Introduction (NEO Law Group)
Social Enterprise: Overview (Community Wealth)
Muhammad Yunus Social Business (Yunus Social Business– Role Models!)
Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofits (The Berkeley Group)
Social Enterprises: Tax Implications (NEO Law Group)
Strategically Responding to Disruption through Social Enterprise (Nonprofit Quarterly)
Enterprising Nonprofits (Harvard Business Review, HBR)
Why is the Social Enterprise Model Valuable for San Diego Nonprofits? (San Diego Foundation)
Nonprofit Social Entrepreneurship (University of Cambridge)
Social Enterprise vs. Non-Profits: Is There Really A Difference? (Forbes)
Nonprofit Social Enterprise Requires Adept Leadership (GMA Foundations)
Social Enterprises: Nonprofit vs. For-Profit (BoardSource)
Are Social Enterprises Viable Models for Funding Nonprofits? (Arizona State University)
Social Enterprise Greenhouse in RI: Nonprofit Innovation Lab (SEG)
Nonprofit Social Enterprise Business Plan (Propel Nonprofits)
Nonprofit Social Enterprise: Social Change in a New Economic Paradigm (UVM)
Is Social Enterprise a Game-Changer for Alberta Nonprofits? (Integral Org)
Should Nonprofit Organizations be Considered as Social Enterprises? (LinkedIn)
What Is the Difference Between a Nonprofit and a Social Enterprise? (TechSoup)
Six Ways To Approach Social Entrepreneurship At Your Organization (Forbes)
The Social Entrepreneurship Spectrum: Nonprofits (Inc. Magazine)
Revolutionizing the Nonprofit Sector Through Social Entrepreneurship (Journal of Economic Issues)
Bringing Entrepreneurship to Social Services (Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, MNN)
The Profitable Side of Nonprofits – Part I: Earned Income (NEO Law Group)
Is Your Nonprofit Giving Away Things It Should Charge For? (Nolo)
Charging Fees for Program Services (Lawyers Alliance for New York)
