Starting a nonprofit with little to no money is possible, and we know the steps you need to take to make it happen. In this blog, you’ll learn how to create a business plan, build a board, find online fundraising tools, solicit donors and volunteers, hold free events and online campaigns, apply for community grants, find sponsors, and form community partnerships.
You’ve decided to save the world, but are stymied because you have no funds. Don’t worry! You don’t have to stop with the dream. If you’re wondering how to start a nonprofit with no money, the good news is that it’s simpler than it seems.
This article shows you how to start a nonprofit on a budget by sharing a few critical steps that will help you on your journey to putting your mission into action.
The answer is yes! But you’re probably wondering how much it costs to start a nonprofit.
Starting fees are typically around $1,000. To register your 501c3 organization with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States, you must pay a minimum of $275 to file Form 1023 EZ. If you must incorporate with your state, you can expect to pay another $100 or more.
The costs of government fees can add up in the beginning, but there are immediate funding options available. These include grants, as well as donations from friends, board members, and other community members. The trick is knowing where to look and starting your organization off on the right foot.
We’ve written several articles to guide you on how to start a nonprofit.
Bonus resource: Use this free start-a-nonprofit checklist from our Donorbox Library to help you on this incredible journey!
Let’s take a look at how to get funding to start a nonprofit.
The following eight steps will help you get money to start a nonprofit, including directing you to potential grant sources and showing you how to fundraise for free to meet short and long-term goals.
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Nonprofit business plans can help you get funding to start your nonprofit. Business plans describe your nonprofit and provide a roadmap for your board and staff to follow for the next three to five years.
You may not have all the financial paperwork you usually need for a business plan, but operational funding projects and anticipated costs should help you get started.
Your business plan should include:
Nonprofit boards are excellent sources of income, advice, and marketing or networking capabilities. Here are three ways your board can help you get funds and save you money from the start.
You may feel uncomfortable asking for an annual donation from your board members, but it’s vital to start this trend at the start of your organization.
Most board members won’t blink an eye at the request because they know nonprofits like yours need money. It’s also crucial they understand that helping raise these funds is a large part of their role.
Pro tip: Ask board members to give a few hundred dollars to $1,000 a year as a membership, or request them to set up smaller recurring monthly donations. Turning your board members into long-term donors is the best way to immediately raise reliable income for your nonprofit!
Your nonprofit needs individuals with specific careers and work experience on its board.
For example, you may require a lawyer to help you form your nonprofit and walk you through any legal requirements. With a lawyer on your board, you’ll get free legal advice and the support needed to ensure you’re on solid legal ground.
Your board is the face of your organization. The primary role of every board member is to promote and market the organization within the community while building relationships with potential donors.
Once a new member joins your board, ask them to list potential donors with whom they already have relationships. After creating the list, work with them to build a donor profile and create a moves management plan for each donor.
Many of these prospects won’t provide funds immediately. But as you keep strengthening relationships and maintaining transparency, donations will pour in.
With more and more people choosing online donations as their preferred giving method, having an effective online donation form is a must. There are several donation software options available. Some require a monthly fee, but others have no monthly fee or start-up costs.
Choosing an all-in-one fundraising solution with free fundraising pages to get started helps you save on the costs of buying a domain and building a website.
Donorbox is free to sign up for and has no contract or setup fees. Start raising funds in minutes with customizable recurring donation forms and free Donorbox-hosted donation pages. Customize your page to align with your brand and include compelling images and text. Check out this Donorbox-hosted donation page from PS 110:
Donorbox’s Standard Plan comes with no monthly cost and a platform fee of 2.95% for most features, and 3.95% for Events, Memberships, and Peer-to-Peer. Upgrade to our Pro or Premium plans to enjoy a reduced platform fee of 1.75% for features and additional add-ons, plus a flat 2% platform fee for Events, Memberships, and Peer-to-Peer.
There’s also a small processing fee from Stripe or PayPal, but you can ask donors to cover these fees. Learn more about our pricing and plans here.
Once you’ve set up your Donorbox account, ask friends, family, and your board to share your donation page and campaign details with their networks.
If you’re accepting online donations, make sure your nonprofit website also has the legal policies linked to the footer of your site to show donors you’re a legitimate, secure, and trustworthy organization. These include a terms and conditions agreement, disclaimers, and a privacy and cookie notice.
Use resources like a free privacy policy template to create these documents without spending a cent.
While you may not have a large pool of supporters just yet, there are people who believe in your cause and mission.
Recruit these supporters and ask them to volunteer. Each one should have a specific skill that helps your nonprofit thrive. If someone has been volunteering with other similar nonprofits, they’ll have a lot of knowledge and strategy-building skills to help you get started and grow.
Divide volunteers into specific teams and delegate leadership duties. Keep frequent meetings, but be careful not to overburden anyone. Arrange for basic training by experienced volunteers for those new to the organization. And educate everyone on your mission and vision.
Volunteers are the key to starting a nonprofit with no money. Since you cannot hire staff or experienced fundraisers at the start, they’ll help you get the ball rolling. As they grow with your nonprofit, they’ll also be able to add more value to it. Remember to reward them and acknowledge their efforts!
Events and fundraising campaigns remain among the quickest solutions if you’re wondering how to get funding to start a nonprofit. Hold several events to raise awareness and funds in the beginning.
Here are some great ideas to get started with events and fundraising for free.
Restaurant fundraisers are a free and easy way to make a few hundred dollars. Many restaurants offer local charities a percentage of the day’s income in exchange for bringing in a crowd. If you can encourage enough people to buy dinner at the restaurant, you can bring in hundreds or even a thousand dollars.
Alternatively, you can hold a dinner event in partnership with a local restaurant and sell tickets online. Ticket sales continue to be one of the best ways to raise funds for a charity. Use an event ticketing tool like Donorbox Events to create a free event page and offer multiple ticket levels based on your and the restaurant’s pricing strategy for each meal package.
Pro tip: Offer promo codes for discounted tickets to those who have been helping you thus far.
Work with your partnering restaurant to market the event within your community. Encourage board members and volunteers to spread the word and purchase tickets. If the local eatery is already a popular place, you can easily raise a lot of money to start your nonprofit.
Donorbox Events allows you to manage your purchasers’ details and sold tickets on the backend. This means you’ll be able to store their basic contact information and get in touch later to thank them and strengthen your relationship. Ticket purchasers can also donate right from your event ticketing form!
Here’s an example of a themed dinner fundraiser event. Use this as inspiration for building a restaurant fundraiser event page and setting an optimal price for tickets.
Promote and Sell Tickets with Donorbox Events
You can raise a consistent income by collecting spare change from upporters. Ask local businesses to add a donation jar next to the register to collect loose change from customers.
Pro tip: Include a digital donation jar that allows supporters to donate swiftly using credit/debit cards and digital wallets. Check out Donorbox Live™ Kiosk to get started!
Creating a membership program helps you build relationships with board members, the community, and potential donors. It also enables a regular stream of income to your organization, ensuring sustainable income and growth.
Form a committee to help create a membership package, develop an action plan, recruit new members, and plan out membership perks. Your membership campaign outreach can include board members, friends, and family to begin with, then ask them to spread the word and talk about the benefits your nonprofit provides.
Pro tip: Provide regular updates and impact reports to increase transparency and build trust in your organization.
Donorbox Memberships allows you to offer monthly and annual membership options, add unlimited membership tiers, let your members manage their membership accounts on Donorbox, and track memberships and membership payments in the backend. Here’s an example of a Donorbox-hosted membership campaign by Building Bridges Art Exchange:
The fastest and easiest way to raise funds for starting your nonprofit is to leverage the power of shareability and your supporters’ networks.
One of the quickest ways to get money to start a nonprofit is with a crowdfunding campaign. Include your fundraising goal and story, add social sharing buttons, and promote your campaign.
Encourage your community, board members, and other supporters to donate whatever amount they can and share the campaign with their networks to help you raise more for your cause!
Use Donorbox Crowdfunding to create a compelling crowdfunding campaign with your fundraising story and compelling visuals. Use the Updates tab to keep supporters updated on campaign progress, acknowledge donors on the donor wall, and showcase your fundraising goal with a goal meter. See how Live Thrive uses Donorbox Crowdfunding to boost support for their cause:
Create a Crowdfunding Campaign with Donorbox
Take your fundraising to the next level by turning your crowdfunding campaign into a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
Supporters create their own customizable fundraising pages and share them in their networks to help your nonprofit raise more money. This way, you’ll bring in new donors and expand your reach, without having to send the outreach yourself!
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer let’s you toggle a switch on an existing or a new campaign to turn it into a peer-to-peer campaign. Inviting them is also easy. Just enter their names and email addresses and Donorbox will send them email invitations. They’ll be guided to create and customize their own fundraising pages, with all funds raised going directly to your main campaign.
Here’s an example of a fundraiser raising funds for Maya’s Hope with Donorbox Peer-to-Peer.
Pro tip: Help your peer-to-peer fundraisers bring in more funds by providing constant updates on the original campaign. Give them a toolkit filled with stories, images, or videos they can share on their own pages.
There are several startup grants created specifically for nonprofits just getting started.
Community grants from government and corporate sources are also an option to consider. Find a local government grant program or company that matches your nonprofit’s mission. Companies like Walmart also offer community grants of $250 to $5,000 for local organizations.
Fiscal sponsors are community foundations, religious organizations, and other nonprofits interested in strengthening their community by supporting new nonprofits like yours. Thanks to a nonprofit organization’s sponsorship, your organization can apply for grants and other tax-deductible donations under their exempt status.
Fiscal sponsors also provide administrative support and oversight to other organizations with a similar mission. Visit the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors to find one that matches your nonprofit’s mission and goals!
Community partnerships are vital to the long-term success of your nonprofit. Organizations can start building these relationships right away.
If you or someone on your board already has a personal connection to a local corporation or business leader, let them know you’re starting a nonprofit. See if you can find a company or leader interested in the same mission.
Matching gifts and volunteer days are an excellent way to start these relationships. You can ask the company if they’d like to match donations to your online campaign up to a certain amount (example shown below). Also, ask them to encourage their employees to volunteer for your organization!
If you’ve received a community grant or other local nonprofit support to get started, use this opportunity to get media promotion.
Write and send a press release to your local newspaper when you apply and win a community grant. Explain the connection between the two groups. Include a quote from someone within the group you’re receiving assistance from.
Include a link to your donation page or online campaign where readers can give to your organization. And, mention upcoming events and fundraising campaigns. This helps get people excited about your new organization and empathize with your cause.
We hope that this article has helped you find solutions on how to start a nonprofit organization with no money. Use these steps as a roadmap to raise funds and build a loyal supporter base!
Donorbox helps nonprofits like yours get started on the right foot with effective fundraising features and donor management tools.
Sign up for free to start fundraising in minutes!
Check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog for additional tips, fundraising ideas, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a curated list of our best resources delivered to your inbox every month.
Fees to start a nonprofit are approximately $1,000. A minimum of $275 is required to file Form 1023 EZ to register your 501(c)(3) organization with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States. A further $100 or more is required to incorporate with your state.
If you are starting a nonprofit organization with no money, apply for startup or government grants to secure funding. Collect funds from people who believe in your mission using a fundraising platform like Donorbox to boost donations through an online donation page, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer fundraising.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor