Should Nonprofit Organizations Worry About Overhead Costs?

So I needed to rant again 🗣.

I got asked a question - shouldn't we try to spend as little as possible to raise as much as possible?

Could you imagine at a corporation, the leadership or the board of directors having a conversation - hey - our sales are great, but what we really need to do is invest less in our R&D, marketing, and sales teams. We're spending too much in order to achieve our revenue goals.

⚡IMPOSSIBLE⚡

And yet, this happens all the time at nonprofits. Conversations around overhead and not investing in our staff at nonprofits have become so normalized that we think it ok to undercompensate, overwork, and not provide adequate work environments.

Perhaps, it is more expensive to lose staff every 1.5 years, than spend the money on recruitment and training.

Wouldn't it be better to keep our current staff and invest in them?

It's the same thing with fundraising. It is cheaper to retain our current donors than spend the money finding new ones.

Can you tell this really got me going? Check out my video for some more thoughts and contact me with your thoughts on the debate around spending as little as possible to raise as much as possible.