How to Estimate the True Cost of Moving Your Nonprofit’s Location

By Stan Hutton and Frances Phillips from Nonprofit Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Nonprofit organizations with what seem to be straightforward plans for moving into new facilities often overlook the true costs of making such a move. Some spaces may need to be altered to suit your organization’s needs. Even when you fit right into your new offices, you encounter one-time charges such as signs, cleaning deposits, phone and Internet hookup, and fees or deposits for starting up your utilities.

You should organize those costs into four general categories:

Moving
- Moving van rental or moving service
- Boxes and shipping containers
- Thank-you party or recognition gifts for volunteers
Setting up services
- Transfer of utilities (garbage, water, and power)
- Transfer of services (phone, cable, and computer lines)
Making alterations
- Constructing new workspaces, service spaces, and shelving
- Moving electrical outlets and adding phone and computer lines
- Furniture, computer, and fixture purchases
Announcing your change
- Public notices about your move (postcards, newsletters, press releases, website revisions, and e-mail announcements)
- Revising basic printed materials (brochures, stationery, and other publications)
- Signs on your new location
- Open house or party for constituents

The most important things for you to move are your constituents. You want to make a thoughtful, sustained effort to invite them into your new facility.