How to Run a Non-Profit Organization/Foundation (with Your Own Website) Without Operating at a Loss.

The Homeostasis Foundation has now existed for almost 3 years. Over these past 3 years, I have learned a lot about running a foundation. Today, I would like to share my own experience and tips on how to run a non-profit organization/foundation with its own website without operating at a loss.

I hope this can help anyone who also wants to start a non-profit, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

On February 19, 2021, I took over my father’s “inactive” foundation. It cost me around €200 to change the foundation’s statutes. You probably won’t be taking over an existing foundation, but starting one. The costs for this are usually between €400 and €1,000.

At the start, you will need to invest your own money. You can later recover this investment from the foundation’s income, if you see it as a temporary investment. I personally did not do this. I bought the foundation as a birthday gift to myself. In other words, I had saved for it.

However, it took several months before all the changes were finalized. Officially, The Homeostasis Foundation only really existed from September 2021. During those months, I had already started developing a website for the foundation.

I didn’t know much about websites, so I simply started with a free WIX website. You can do the same. Besides WIX, there are also options such as WordPress and Squarespace.

Work with whatever feels right for you and best fits your goals and vision.

If I could give my past self one tip now, I would tell myself to start with about 5 pages: a homepage, a page with more information about your foundation and an option to donate, a page with your projects or services, a blog, and a contact page.

Also, don’t be too critical when developing your website. See it more as a fun adventure. When all changes had been finalized and I had picked up the notarial deed, I decided to purchase a paid WIX website for 2 years, from September 2021 to September 2023. I don’t regret this. I believe it is good to invest in something you believe in. Of course, it is also perfectly fine to only purchase a paid WIX website once you start generating income.

For the first 1.5 years, I focused on filling my website with a lot of free material. I also focused on trying out different methods to generate income. During those first 1.5 years, however, I did not generate anything. What did happen was that more and more free materials were downloaded from my website, and I noticed that more people were visiting the site.

During the first half of the second year, I decided to focus even more on generating income. I no longer wanted to personally cover the costs of the website. I registered with 2 affiliate platforms: AWIN and TradeTracker. These platforms include various shops, such as HEMA and Holland & Barrett. I immediately applied to their programs and a few others. HEMA and Holland & Barrett accepted my request.

I was very happy, because I didn’t want to generate money by offering advertising space. I also decided to focus on offering paid digital products and services. My first paid products were stickers, and my first paid service was Lifechats.

Near the end of my website contract, in August 2023, I gained 3 Lifechats clients, sold 2 stickers, and had 10 affiliate customers. With this income, I was able to purchase a yearly subscription, which I did in September 2023.

Because I had enough income, I also decided to purchase a business email address. I then discovered that I could apply for TechSoup. TechSoup is an organization that supports non-profits and foundations. They approved the foundation. TechSoup comes with many benefits. Through TechSoup, you can receive a discount on a WIX subscription, among other things.

This means that in September 2024, I will be able to purchase a WIX subscription for a much lower amount, only 30% of the original price. I also registered the foundation with Canva, which offers the Pro version to non-profits and foundations.

In short, by publishing a lot of free content on my website, working with affiliate partners, offering digital products and services, and using services that provide discounts to foundations, I managed to generate monthly income for the foundation.