Don't Ask for Money, Do This Instead

In these uncertain times, businesses are holding on tight to their wallets. This creates opportunity! Instead of asking for money, create a win-win for you and the donor by helping them to meet their bottom line.

Episode 145 | Don't Ask for Money, Do This Instead

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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿

Inland Empire Black Worker Center Pt. 1

👉🏿https://www.iebwc.org

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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT 🚀

The Nonprofit Mastery Academy

https://thenonprofitmasteryacademy.com/nonprofit-mastery-academy/

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Learn more about my success with helping nonprofits

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Got Questions? "Ask Amber" on any of my social media platforms or email me at [email protected]

Speaker 1 (00:00):

When companies are nervous about the economy like they are today, the very last thing you want to do is to ask for money. But there's something you can do to create a win-win situation for both you and the company as a nonprofit. In this episode, I'm going to share with you what that is.

Speaker 2 (00:17):

Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding impact and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.

Speaker 1 (00:40):

In these uncertain times, companies are holding on to their money. You've got tariffs, you've got the Dow that's jumping up and down. People just aren't certain about what's going on with the economy. How does that impact you as a nonprofit? Well, it impacts you plenty because you're tone deaf. If you go to a company and say, Hey, can you donate money? It's just not a viable solution. What you should be doing is thinking about what can you do to bring a win-win situation to the table? And it looks like this. Companies have a lot of inventory because people aren't buying, companies are not able to sell their services. I can tell you firsthand as a nonprofit consultant, people are holding tightly to their wallets because they just don't know what's happening. In this economy as a nonprofit, you have a very special superpower. It's called tax exempt status.

(01:39):

So here's what you want to do. You want to make a list of all of the things that you would typically purchase in your nonprofit, and then you're going to approach the companies who aren't able to move these products and services. And you're going to say, would you be willing to donate these products? Would you be willing to donate your services? And in exchange, you get the tax benefit. Right now, they're going to be excited because they're not stuck with all of this inventory. They're going to be excited because they'll be able to write off some of these services. I'm going to encourage you to say this. I need you to check with your tax representative. Like don't make promises. Oh, all of this is tax exempt. No, there are laws that govern how things are donated, the value of it and all of that.

(02:26):

But the reality is a company would be more willing to donate to you in exchange for a tax benefit than just having a warehouse full of product. When we come back, we're going to dive in deeper on this topic. If you're thinking about hosting a golf tournament or any other kind of event, make sure at the end of the event you generate a profit and not come out with a loss. There's a formula for guaranteeing that your event will generate a profit. You'll find it in my hotter price event. Tickets for Profit Toolkit. Learn the insider secrets for how to ensure your event will always make a profit every time. Order your copy today. So what we were talking about is what's going on in these economic times as nonprofits? A lot of time nonprofit leaders just focus on fundraising, fundraising. 50% of your nonprofit strategy should be cost savings.

(03:21):

That comes in the shape of in kind donations. When people think of in kind donations, they think of, oh, someone donating a computer or someone donating cameras. A big bulk of your budget are regular items like equipment and paper and pens and just your everyday things. And these companies out there right now aren't able to move these products. So let's create a strategy called cost savings whereby you go through all of the things in your inventory and you see who can you approach in order for you to get a cost savings and where it can benefit them from the perspective of getting a tax write off. Before the commercial, I talked a little bit about you not saying all of the things are tax write-offs. There are laws, especially now with this new administration where only certain things can be written off. So be sure to say, I need you to check with your tax consultant, but as a 501(c)(3) public charity, we offer the benefit of you being able to have a tax benefit.

(04:33):

So don't ask for money, do this instead, approach them with a win-win solution whereby they can move some of the product that they haven't been able to move whereby they can donate some of the services and potentially get a tax benefit. So we're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, ask Amber. It's where you get to ask me your most pressing questions when we come back. Are you looking to leverage your 501(c)(3) tax exempt status to get products and services donated for an event silent option or to support your program but aren't quite sure what to say? Get the donation request letters toolkit. It provides you with the templates you can customize to fit any request. Eliminate the guesswork of what to say, how to say it, and what to offer potential donors as benefits for their donation. You had no idea you should offer donors something in exchange for their donation. Did you Offering benefits triples your response rate. Plus the toolkit comes with the donor acknowledgement form template. It's the form you give them after they donate. This toolkit has everything you need for a successful donation request. Order your copy today. Welcome back. You're On Air with Amber Wynn. And now it's time for one of my favorite times of the episodes. It's when you get to ask me your pressing questions. Today's question is coming from Kayla and Kayla is in Corona. So go ahead

Speaker 3 (05:53):

Kayla, ask your question. Hi Amber, this is Kayla calling from Corona. I'm applying for a government grant for the first time. Man, it's a beast, but it's such a good fit for my organization. We work with local restaurants to address food insecurity in the surrounding counties. The RFP is asking me to upload a letter of good standing. Where would I find that? Thanks.

Speaker 1 (06:21):

So Kayla, it's called a certificate of status. And basically it's a certificate that's given out by the Secretary of State that lets any entity know if your organization is active, if it's been dissolved, if it's in good standing suspended. And so governments want you to provide them with the certificate from the authorized agency. So if you are applying for a government grant and sometimes a foundation will ask you for it, you need to go to the Secretary of State's website and you can just put in your EIN number and then you click certificate of status and you'll be able to provide it. Now, if your certificate says that you're out of compliance, they'll have steps that you need to do. Typically you need to update information. You may have to pay a fine because you may not have updated your information in a couple of years, but that's where you're going to find it on your Secretary of State's page.

(07:21):

Thank you so much for that question. If any of you have questions like that that you want me to answer, feel free to hit me up on any of my socials and ask me your question and I may read it here. Live on Ask Amber. Now it's time for my favorite part of the show. It's when I get to put a spotlight on the amazing leaders in our community who's doing the work. Today I have the privilege of talking with Dr. Thomas from the Inland Empire's Black Worker Center. We had an amazing conversation about all the work that's being done in the Inland Empire. So let's jump right in. Dr. Thomas and the Inland Empire Black Worker Center,

Speaker 4 (08:11):

We kind of do two things. The advocacy work that we do, and it includes organizing and by organizing we're talking about pulling people together for a cause for direct action to the end that we change or shift a circumstances circumstance, be it treatment of black people in the workspace. So that means we may show up at city council meetings, school board meetings, utility meetings, and then also showing up as at the state capitol and the counties board of supervisors to make sure that changes happen and policy is made, is transformed in favor of black workers. And generally when we do it on behalf of black workers, of course all workers benefit from it, right?

Speaker 1 (09:04):

Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (09:04):

So one element or aspect, the other is kind of our workforce development. And in that we prepare folks to take on jobs pathways, we create pathways for employment and usually through pre apprenticeships. And by that we are, for instance, our first pathway career pathway was a water industry apprenticeship program. And what we discovered is that across the nation, 70% of those who were involved in the water industry are white and male. And so we understood that the silver tsunami was coming along, but also that it needed, the field needed to be more diverse. And so we took the challenge to diversify really through training black people, Latino people, women, veterans, low income, and those who had been system impacted. And we did very well with that. And a number of those individuals were able to get jobs in the water industry at some out. So that's kind of in a nutshell the work we do. And apart from that, we do some research and focus groups and recruitment and outreach on behalf of other groups who have similar objectives as well.

Speaker 1 (10:52):

And that was part one of my conversation with Dr. Thomas of the Inland Empire Black Worker Center. If you are interested in seeing the full episode, you can cheat. You can go to my YouTube channel and watch the full episode. Otherwise, you'll see the rest of the parts in the next coming three weeks where we talk to Dr. Thomas and all the work that they're doing in the Inland Empire. So today we've talked about what to do in order to get nonprofits through these uncertain times, how to approach businesses who are also worried about tariffs, who are worried about the economy. Don't ask them for money. Leverage your 501(c)(3) tax exempt status so that you guys can both have a win-win and just getting through these uncertain economic times. Alright fam, that's all I got for you this week. Thank you for joining me. If you heard anything that you thought was beneficial, be sure to share it with your community. Be sure to like and subscribe and be sure to join me next week. And until then, be sure to take care of yourself like you take care of your community.

Speaker 2 (12:03):

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. See you next time.