How to offset day to day expenses with targeted giving

Project Sales- Donations of a different kind

Project sales offer an opportunity for additional contributions for every Non-Profit in the communities they serve. Simply stated, project sales are gifts that support the annual budget, where the donor stipulates the purpose for which the gift is used.
Project sales gifts can be paid in one of two ways: ?designated gifts or gift in kind.
Here’s how it works.
The charity or non-profit organization can identify specific items or programs in the annual budget that may be attractive to donors for underwriting. This could be an ongoing program like emerging markets outreach or a specific program, such as After School Care for underprivileged children, hot meals for the homeless or shooting sports at a summer camp. The donor is approached with a simple proposal that outlines the budget for the program and the cost of underwriting. The donor makes a contribution to the Non-Profit for the amount asked, and it is recorded as a project sale with cash as the form of payment. This practice could be extended to cover the purchase of program supplies, staff salaries, or other tangible, definable items.

Similarly, an organization might list regularly purchased and necessary items to serve its mission. The list might include office supplies, program equipment, audiovisual equipment, food for camp and hundreds of other hard items. In many cases, a potential donor may be in a better position to give the needed item to the charity rather than the funds to purchase the item. Non-Profits particularly need to take care to describe the items needed to avoid becoming a dumping ground for junk. However, a significant number of organizations successfully receive gifts that directly offset their budget. In the case of a gift–in–kind, the contribution is recorded as a project sale and the form of payment is gift–in–kind. When
Completing this process in the fundraising software, an offsetting expense account is credited to record both income and expense at the same time. An offsetting journal entry is required.

So think of that donor that could provide the items and offset the need for you to pay for them. That money can now be used elsewhere. If you would like a copy of a typical project sales manual to review then visit www.sherri.dev and drop us an E-mail.