Most nonprofits don’t realize where they’re actually losing money on supplies.

It’s usually not one big purchase.

It’s smaller stuff that keeps happening.

You order something, then a week later you order again because one item ran out, then again before the next event just to be safe.

Nothing feels expensive while you’re doing it.

That’s kind of the problem.

TL;DR

Usually comes down to:

Ordering too often
Waiting too long
Wrong mix of items

That’s really it.

Ordering too often

This happens all the time.

Smaller orders feel easier to manage. You don’t have to think too far ahead.

But every order has shipping, and pricing is always worse at lower quantities.

So instead of placing one order, you end up placing a few.

I was talking to someone a while back who said they ordered socks three separate times in the same month because they kept running out earlier than expected.

Same item. Just more expensive overall.

Waiting too long

Other side of it.

You wait until something is almost gone, then it becomes urgent.

At that point you’re not comparing prices or options. You’re just trying to get it in before you run out completely.

Usually means paying more.

This shows up a lot in summer when turnout is higher and things move faster.

Wrong mix

Not everything moves the same.

Some items sit around longer than expected. Others disappear almost immediately.

You probably already know which ones without even tracking it.

End of an event, you still have boxes left of certain things, but one item was gone halfway through.

That’s not really a supply issue.

Just buying the wrong balance.

What actually helps

Nothing complicated.

The programs that stay on top of this usually:

Order a bit earlier than they think they need to
Have a rough idea of what moves fast
Try not to split orders too much

That alone fixes most of it.

Final thought

You don’t notice this in one order.

You notice it after a few months.

That’s when it starts to add up.