Cost Cost Cost

“What costs so much?”

At BIO Girls we hear this question often. In discussions with other non-profit leaders, we are not alone. The public hears ‘non-profit’ and associates it with ‘free’. When I was first transitioning from a for-profit executive leadership position, to my role as the Director of BIO Girls, I attended a conference to absorb as much information as I could about leading a non-profit. The one key point I remember from the conference three years later is this: the only difference between a for-profit and a non-profit (besides IRS filing requirements) is that at the end of any given year, a FOR-PROFIT company can elect to pay out any profit to its shareholders and employees. In contrast, a NON-PROFIT, with a surplus, is required to reinvest the profit back into the mission. In other words, the only ‘shareholders’ benefiting from a non- profit’s profitable year are the recipients of the services provided by the organization.

While a large profit at the end of the year would allow non-profits to execute on ideas and other initiatives that serve its mission, the reality is that very few non-profits have that luxury, including BIO Girls.

The all-in cost of running a BIO Girls site, which serves up to 40 adolescent girls, is just under $8,500.00 or $212.00 per participant. In 2020, BIO Girls will serve over 2,000 girls via 55 sites. If you do the math, that equals $424,000 in programming costs.

So, back to ‘what costs so much’?

When you think about 2,000 participants and multiply the number by (the cost for a pen (.50) + a journal (5.00) + a shirt (12.00)) you are already looking at $35,000 for these three items alone! Now add in the 43 other weekly supplies (down to the Sharpie) and curriculum materials needed over the 12-weeks, race registration costs, liability insurance, back-end registration software, volunteer expenses (shirts, background checks, materials), shipping costs, outcome research costs, and the 50 hours per site that our employees spend ensuring the program is run effectively, the costs add up quickly to $8500.00/site. The cost per site does not include corporate administrative or fundraising costs, which most people consider ‘overhead’. These costs are covered solely through corporate fundraising efforts.

How do we cover the costs?

30% of the programming costs are covered by the participant registration fee ($65/participant); with the remaining 70% raised through Site and Corporate fundraising efforts. The Sites are tasked with raising $100/participant while BIO Girls Corporate raises the additional $47/participant through corporate fundraising activities.

In addition to the costs outlined above, BIO Girls provided over $8,000 in scholarships to low-income and professionally referred participants in 2019. In 2020, we anticipate more than doubling this total providing nearly $18,000 in scholarships. All scholarships are covered through corporate fundraising activities.

This blog post is not intended to be defensive. In fact, it’s quite opposite. We are proud to be transparent by sharing the specifics of what goes into our programming, down to the Sharpie’s used, because the results are proven: our participants experience a significant INCREASE IN SELF-ESTEEM. It also gives us another opportunity to humbly thank our advocates, volunteers and supporters who generously make our programming possible. THANK YOU!

If you are interested in more detail, all non-profits are required to provide complete financial transparency via an annual 990 filing, which is a publicly available report. You can view BIO Girls’ 2017 990 here. The 2018 990 will be available in February 2020 and posted to our website at that time.

Regards,

Missy Heilman | BIO Girls Executive Director