Non-profit organizations could make money with Web 2.0. Non-profits could make use of some good Web 2.0 and blogging resources that could help them in this regard. They could promote their online products or spread their message through Audio blogs, streaming videos and software that allows you to submit your site to web directories, social bookmarking software, etc. What kind of products do non-profits promote?
Promotional products - You could sell promotional products such as mugs, t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, etc. on your site. You could place your organization's name or logo. You might even print a nice message that catches your visitor's attention. Isn't this a nice way to get your message out and earn money? If you do not want to take a lot of risk you could take the assistance of print-to-order service such as Café Press or Goodstorm. These services are set up to support non-profits.
Educational products - If your non-profit society or organization promotes education or is involved in awareness programs, your website could sell or disperse educational information such as books, CDs or DVDs online. Make sure you get your message out while at the same time you also meet your revenue goals.
E-books - Sale of informatics, educational or entertaining products online is a great way to earn money while limiting distribution costs. You could sell your books, magazine, CD or DVD in electronic form. Scores of people out there are selling all kinds of e-books online these days. The great advantage here is this - once you create an electronic adaptation of your product, the marginal cost of each additional sale is zilch, zero. You could easily see a thousand copies of your product for a small percentage of production cost. The transaction difference between selling out your mission and earning revenue from it is very great. Distributing your product in e-form is a very economical way of selling while making reasonable amount of profit from it.
Affiliate products - Affiliation is the mostly sought after ways of making money online. With product affiliation, you need not deal with production costs, credit card processing, etc. You could check up The Amazon Associates Program, Commission Junction, etc. to join them as affiliates. You could generate revenue from Amazon books or any other affiliate products you mention on your site.
There are some points to consider before you set up your virtual stores: Find out if your visitors shop online, know what kind of products your visitors might want, cost of a set up, etc. Be prepared to make some investment to make your online store look attractive and easy for your visitors to shop online.
If you have a good traffic to your website, your visitors and online community members could become your customers. They might be willing to spend a few dollars for a cause that supports their values.