Sustainable Revenue

Plan

Design long-term funding for growth and impact.

A public health team developing a national smoking cessation campaign created a spreadsheet listing all expected income. They mapped government funding and a health agency grant. For costs and expenses they included staff time, content creation, SMS delivery, ads, and hotline support. They calculated the campaign’s break-even point by estimating the number of participants needed to justify the investment.

Steps

1. Set up your Profit & Loss Statement using a spreadsheet. List the months across the top and plan 3–5 years ahead. In the first row, add all your monthly Revenue, all the different ways your project makes money every month (sales, subscriptions, donations, grants, etc.)

2. In the next rows, add your Costs of Sales per month. Include only costs that rise with sales—like materials, production costs, shipping, packaging, etc. This is also called Cost of Goods Sold.

3. In the next row, calculate your Gross Profit (Revenue – Cost of Sales). This shows what you make before operating expenses.

4. Now list the regular monthly costs of running the business, like rent, salaries, marketing, software. These are your Operating Expenses.

5. Then, calculate your Operating Profit (Gross Profit – Operating Expenses). This is what’s left after covering everyday operations.

6. List Other Expenses. These are things not part of day-to-day operations, like loan interest, taxes, investment income, or bank fees.

7. Lastly, calculate your Net Profit (Operating Profit – Other Expenses). This is your final number: what you actually earned (or lost) overall.

Tip: There are only 4 ways to boost Revenue.

1. Get more people: Reach new folks who care about your offer, especially those most likely to act.

2. Increase the transaction size: Encourage bigger buys or deeper involvement, like upsells or recurring donations.

3. Boost frequency: Make it easy and worthwhile to return through reminders, loyalty programs, or regular updates.

4. Raise your prices: Don’t shy away from asking for more when the value is clear. Whether raising your prices or inviting higher levels of support, show why it’s worth it.

Revenue strategies evolve. Make time for regular reviews and updates based on feedback and changing contexts.

Based on the ideas of Josh Kaufman (2010).

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