It wasn’t long ago that the non-profit sector was struggling to find enough staffers to hire. Many organizations may be considering layoffs now that they are losing federal grants and facing budget shortfalls. If you’re in this situation, you probably don’t want to lose valuable employees — and the mission-critical programs they help run.

There may be another option — cut expenses. Here are seven ideas to consider:

1. Suspend Benefits & Wages. Before laying off workers, consider reducing hours or suspending some employee benefits. You might trim wages or management-level salaries. Staffers may object to such measures, so be careful to explain that you’re trying to prevent layoffs. If possible, provide a timeline or benchmarks that will potentially trigger a “return to normal.”

2. Send Staffers Home. Allowing employees to work remotely may lower overhead costs for the leased space, utilities, insurance, and maintenance you’ll no longer need to pay for.

3. Renegotiate Your Lease. If you rent and need your workers on-site, approach your landlord about renegotiating better lease terms, especially if you’re nearing the end of the lease’s term. Many commercial real estate markets have failed to recover from COVID-19 vacancies and landlords may be more amenable to rent reductions, abatements, or holidays.

4. Consolidate Sites. Non-profits that run more than one site might be able to consolidate facilities into a single location and shutter the rest.

5. Monetize Real Estate. If your non-profit owns office buildings or other facilities, consider selling, downsizing, or renting unused space to other organizations.

6. Review Vendor Contracts. If you’ve consolidated worksites or shifted to remote work, your organization may have less need for some goods and services. But before you terminate any contracts, check for penalty or fee provisions that could make canceling costly. Look into consolidating purchases of goods and services with fewer vendors to obtain discounts. Also, be assertive and ask vendors to offer non-profit discounts or donate their services.

7. Partner Up. Think about entering cost-sharing agreements with other organizations, non-profit or not. You might also want to merge with another charity that shares or complements your mission and programming.

If you’re facing funding cuts and a possible budget crisis, now isn’t the time to go it alone. We can help review your expenses as well as explore new revenue sources. Contact us.