Generally speaking, nonprofits tend to run on minimal capital, especially at the beginning of business operations. Because NPOs do not run on a for-profit basis, most successful business models lessen the up-front financial commitment to the organization. A number of unique opportunities exist to help NPOs minimize the funds necessary to running the business.
Volunteers are incredibly valuable resources in running a not-for-profit organization. Volunteers come to a business for many reasons and at many different skill levels, and while managing them requires no small amount of skill and diplomacy, they bring significant assets to an organization. It is important, however, to remain within the confines of the law in using volunteer labor. Student labor, for example, is not considered volunteer labor without a significant educational component to the work that is being completed. Checking local and state laws regarding volunteer labor, as successful NPOs should be fully able to utilize their volunteer resources.
Nonprofits are also able to take advantage of internship labor. Interns typically work for a small stipend, and as long as they are fairly hired from a pool of candidates, and providing that hiring them does not put operations of the organization at risk[i], NPOs should take advantage of this valuable pool of labor. Interns can be a priceless commodity.
[i] "An organization subsidized recent law graduates who provided free legal services to low income residents of economically depressed communities. Any private benefit derived by the legal interns is incidental to the public charitable purpose. Rev. Rul. 72–559, 1972–2 C.B. 247." IRS Web site: http://www.irs.gov/irm/part7/ch10s06.html
