Selling tickets is the work that will make or break your event. Weight that cost against the staff time expended in labeling and zip-sorting a large mailing by hand. That's important when you have a small, overworked staff. Also, postal rates just went up - to 29 cents for a first class letter and with a corresponding increase in bulk rates. We would argue that these and similar expenditures are not luxuries at all but rather things that will, in the long run, pay for themselves in better staff morale and more efficient and effective programs.
Publications are a good example.
Among the three publications, you could keep on top of what's happening in the nonprofit world - issues, trends, facts, ideas and solutions. On top of reaping financial benefits, making it a priority to read several publications each month is a quick and easy way to increase your skills and widen your perspective. Next time you're preparing a budget, think carefully about whether you can really afford not to spend money on some of those so-called luxury items. Grantmaker's Point of View Effective grantseeking is not a mysterious process and is most successful when approached in a systematic manner. In today's economy, foundations are forced to carefully allocate their resources and prioritized their giving.