One of the easiest ways to raise more money is to cut your expenses.
Quite a few years ago, I was asked to lead the state golf championships of the American Cancer Society's golf program.
Winners of local fundraising tournaments had been "qualifying" to play in the state championships, which were held over a weekend, which had always been at the beach.
The state organization's overall income from golf tournaments was a couple hundred thousand and then the state organization spent more than $20,000 putting on what amounted to a big party at the beach for the local winners.
That carrot at the beach basically amounted to an additional ten-percent expense on a program that wasn't really all that successful and that also had expenses at the local level.
When I took the program over, I decided to get a committee of volunteers together from across the state to make some changes, reduce expenses in the state championships, and still try to leave people with a good feeling about the whole thing.
Here's what we did: moved the tournament to a nice course in the middle of the state, made it a one-day event, and held an optional dinner the night before the event that featured a silent auction and some other "income enhancers." We dramatically decreased expenses and added a few new income sources.
The result?
We actually netted about $5,000 on the state championships, which actually was a net gain of about $25,000 in the overall golf program, since we eliminated an overall $20,000 expense.
There's ALWAYS a way to reduce expense without sacrificing quality. Always.
What are some of the things you have done to reduce expenses?
