Developing the revenue acquisition process for a small non-profit organisation
Suonio, Evert (2019)
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019052812880
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019052812880
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis is to improve the financial processes of the well-being association Bamboo. To accomplish this purpose, the aim of the study was designed to develop the revenue acquisition process for the association through the use of well-established best practices.
The thesis’ research questions sought to answer the essential topics required to create a proper understanding of how associations function. These questions would generate sufficient knowledge with which an individual could determine the best course of action for financing their association. The theory behind the existence of associations and the general methods through which associations finance themselves were studied. The theory was supported by interviews and benchmarking, in order to address and create further understanding by utilizing real-life experiences.
The results gathered from the literature review, benchmarking analysis and the interviews were quite conclusive. Associations are affected greatly by the number of members in the association, as membership fees are often the single largest source of revenue. Therefore, many associations must conduct further fundraising to support their main activities. These supportive fundraising activities ranged from advertising sales to bake sales, as the activities performed slightly varied from one association to another. Generally, associations received financial aid from the city or municipality in which they reside and cooperated with other associations in conducting events and other activities.
The association’s internal and external communication was found to be extremely important in motivating the association’s member’s fundraising, and in increasing engagement from natural interest groups such as relatives; through the proper communication of the underlying aims and the mission of the association. Communication was seen as imperative in increasing and maintaining a healthy membership base.
In conclusion, the best practices for association fundraising turned out to be a combination of membership fees, financial aid and other supportive functions. The best supportive functions were determined to be those that took minimal resources to perform. I.e. Advertising sales, donations or event-related sales. The selection of items utilized for fundraising sales was seen to have a correlation with the expenditure.
My recommendations for further study include the study of motivation of association’s membership and its relationship with the activities that associations conduct. Association’s functions and activities are mostly based on voluntary work and they are therefore dependent on the input of the membership.
The thesis’ research questions sought to answer the essential topics required to create a proper understanding of how associations function. These questions would generate sufficient knowledge with which an individual could determine the best course of action for financing their association. The theory behind the existence of associations and the general methods through which associations finance themselves were studied. The theory was supported by interviews and benchmarking, in order to address and create further understanding by utilizing real-life experiences.
The results gathered from the literature review, benchmarking analysis and the interviews were quite conclusive. Associations are affected greatly by the number of members in the association, as membership fees are often the single largest source of revenue. Therefore, many associations must conduct further fundraising to support their main activities. These supportive fundraising activities ranged from advertising sales to bake sales, as the activities performed slightly varied from one association to another. Generally, associations received financial aid from the city or municipality in which they reside and cooperated with other associations in conducting events and other activities.
The association’s internal and external communication was found to be extremely important in motivating the association’s member’s fundraising, and in increasing engagement from natural interest groups such as relatives; through the proper communication of the underlying aims and the mission of the association. Communication was seen as imperative in increasing and maintaining a healthy membership base.
In conclusion, the best practices for association fundraising turned out to be a combination of membership fees, financial aid and other supportive functions. The best supportive functions were determined to be those that took minimal resources to perform. I.e. Advertising sales, donations or event-related sales. The selection of items utilized for fundraising sales was seen to have a correlation with the expenditure.
My recommendations for further study include the study of motivation of association’s membership and its relationship with the activities that associations conduct. Association’s functions and activities are mostly based on voluntary work and they are therefore dependent on the input of the membership.