ABSTRACT
Third sector organisations draw their revenue from a wide range of sources. This feature distinguishes them from both for-profit and government organisations and makes the task of managing a nonprofit more demanding than managing a for-profit firm or government agency of similar size. Revenue sources include consumers of the services the organisation is established to provide membership fees, fundraising, government funds, interest or rents from investments and a wide range of other business activities that might or might not be related to the organisation’s mission. Nonprofits in different fields of activity have different mixes of revenue sources, but it is rare that operating revenue will come from one source only. A more complex set of dilemmas is faced by public-serving nonprofits that receive third-party funding but also charge some or all users of their services. Government funds are particularly important in community services, in most parts of education and, to a lesser extent, in the arts.
