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Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a four-part series that will explore 80 ways to reduce operating expenses. In these difficult economic times, these ways could be the difference between having a profitable year and one of significant financial loss. After all, every dollar of reduced operating expense goes straight to the bottom line of an annual profit-and-loss statement. Take these suggestions at face value, or modify them for your agency. Either way, please take a look. Shaving a few dollars here and there might just save a job.
Equipment and supplies can consume a large portion of the budgetary pie. Where can you make cuts without sacrificing customer service? How do you keep up with the image the community has come to expect while staying within the confines of a shrinking bottom line? Here are 20 ways to reduce the cost of equipment and supplies as well as related storage and inventory costs:
1. Plan programs that don’t require much--if any--equipment. Create a program where participants supply their own equipment (craft supplies, sports and camping equipment, etc.) for a reduced entry or participation fee. This strategy can be an incentive to those who continually bring their own program supplies and equipment to seek like-minded peers who otherwise might have balked at full fare.
Of course, some participants may become alienated by not being financially able to supply their own equipment and supplies, or worse, drop from participation completely.
