Hudzo is rolling thusly
W00t! I'm the 300th person who wants to do this!
4 months ago
That is awesome that there are so many people out there that want to do this!
People who have done this
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How to start a non-profit
It made me
I am not sure.
 "It was hard, and it cost me my health."
How I did it: I started working on idea to found a non-profit organization in October 2003 (for privacy purposes, I will not name the non-profit, its cause, or our mission). The idea to do this had been with me for a couple of years before that, ever since I started working in my first non-profit dedicated to that general cause. I worked with non-profits throughout my entire undergraduate and graduate years, so by the time I graduated, I had a lot of work experience and knew pretty well what I had to do. Come October, I connected with two people who would become co-founders, and began sending letters of inquiry to foundations for start-up grants. Two foundations each committed a USD 50,000 matching seed grant, for a total of USD 100,000 that first year. During these first 10 months before funding came through, however, I created the first round of documents that promoted our work and created the bed-rock of contacts and networks (non-governmental, academic, and governmental) to identify the beneficiary population for our work. I mapped out the "theory" of the kind of services the non-profit would provide, and assembled an advisory committee to give us their opinion on these ideas. Finally, I researched as much as I could about the problem the non-profit would address, and to make sure we would approach it in a completely new and innovative way--all this before the non-profit was legally established in July 2004. More than four years later, the non-profit organization has been growing a steady reputation as a leader in its field. Lessons & tips: There are too many key lessons to list here, but some of the most significant I learned are: - Know your issue, know your issue, know your issue. By this, I specifically mean having researched the problem you are trying to solve, and why the non-profit is doing something new. My advice? If there is already an organization doing something similar to what you are doing, don't do it. The competition for funding is high, and with regards to professional ethics, I always think that if you are not going to add something new and improved to a situation that needs help, best not waste people's time and don't do it at all. Why and how is your idea going to change the scenario where you work? Be specific, not idealistic. - Always make sure that you know your co-founders well. I made this mistake, and paid a very high price--I pulled off all of the work in the first two years of the organization, while the other two co-founders did not put in their share. - Find good, honest, professional people to work with you. I was blessed to find great colleagues right around the two-year mark, that really made the organization take off. I think I would have burnt out had they not come along. - Always be thinking and re-thinking your mission. I would say this is true for all non-profits, but specifically for new ones--test drive your ideas, make sure that your mission is really making a difference and respond to the situation as you see on the ground. When we started, the non-profit "on paper" was very different to what we are now. We were constantly studying the situation, learn from our mistakes, and reviewed what was happening on the ground. I believe a large part of our success was that our non-profit was able to survive in a highly volatile environment, where we were able to provide innovative solutions after we studied the situation thoroughly. Being flexible and quick to take advantage of opportunities became our hallmark--in fact, the non-profit put out monthly or bi-monthly two-page analysis pieces on issues or problems on the ground and our proposed solutions for them, which became very popular among our counterparts. Be strategic--think of the organization inwards and outwards as much as you can. - Update and communicate your successes as widely as you can. I have found that the most successful organizations are those that are able to constantly present their goals/ results as they can, taking advantage of the internet as much as possible (think MoveOn.org or the Obama campaign). Even if you are a three-person team, investing in multi-medium outreach will really help with partner organizations and funders. - Draw lessons from your beneficiary population as much as you can. In thinking and re-thinking your work, always maintain close contact with those your non-profit serves directly, working with them to create solutions and involving their opinion in whatever you do. This has to be a regular task to keep your organization centered as to what is happening on the ground, and is the sole purpose of the non-profit's existence. It is your task to really make a difference, and not become a bureaucratic institution that saps resources on behalf of a cause you are failing to change. - As soon as you can afford to, have a specific person work only on fundraising. Perhaps the main cause of my burnout during the last four years was having to multitask, actually doing the work the non-profit organization was set to do while having to search for funding to do so. Fundraising is a full-time job--make sure it is alloted the time and personnel it deserves to write good, convincing, and interesting proposal and reports. - Make sure you treat your organization in mission as an army, but financially as a business, The commitment the organization has to have to creating change really can be compared to as an army. Not being a lover of the military hierarchies myself, I still believe that committing to social change is a full-time endeavour, that requires the vocation to serve (perhaps a seminar or convent drives the point home more appropriately). Nonetheless, when looking at your organization's finances, manage them as rigorously as if you were handling a business. Even if your organization is not generating profit, try to get the highest bang for your buck, making a tight budget, sticking to it, trying to see what time/money investments produce the most results, and stick to it. Look for opportunities to generate sustainability as soon as you can, so as not to depend on external funders all the time. There is so much more I could write, but I will leave that for now in terms of lessons that can help you get an organization off the ground. The real personal lesson for me is how much it was worth it. While I am definitely happy to have left something that can make a difference for the lives of others, I have to say that I am still weighing the pros/cons of the personal cost putting out an organization was for me. Because of working 90+ hour weeks those first three years, I developed a serious medical condition that made my body completely give out at age 27. I had to pull myself out (in a not very graceful manner) from the organization I created because of how impairing some of my physical and emotional symptoms became. I cannot blame it all on the organization, as some issues were there before the non-profit came into existence, but the time and energy I had to put to create this non-profit, plus the struggle to make it survive those first few years (which, for any organization, are the hardest) literally ate my body from the inside. I am now trying to recover from this process, having to take a forced sabbatical. While I am proud of what I accomplished, I am also afraid I might have done permanent damage to my health by not taking care of myself sooner, and am having to make difficult health decisions in my twenties that most people make in middle age and over. I also regret not having cultivated other parts of myself in this process that could have balance myself--the non-profit I created literally was my life. So, my advice to you is--make sure you really want to do this. And best of luck to you if you do.
Resources: There are tons of web and published resources to help out starting non-profits, but perhaps the best book I found is "The Earthscan Reader for NGO Management" by Michael Edwards and Alan Fowler.
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More "How I Did It" stories
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Entries
Untitled
5 months ago
It’s always been a passion of mine to help others. I’ve begun research on incorporation and have begun setting the groundwork of the nonprofit.
Save the Snow Leopards
5 months ago
I want to start a nonprofit to save the endangered snow leopards.
I admit it!
7 months ago
I have been working for nonprofits for most of my adult life. I believe in them, but I find that surprise, surprise! they aren’t the best-run organizations in the world. I’ve seen the nonprofits that are run corporation-style too, and while often more organized, they miss some of the heart and passion of smaller nonprofits. So I think I would like to create one based on things that I find important, and really be open to good management techniques, excellent training for the staff, opportunities for staff to grow, honest evaluation, and strong, positive outcomes for the world.
The things that I am passionate about and interested in are:
-urban youth
-writing
-social justice issues, especially education
-girls’ self-esteem
-web 2.0 tech
-community organizing
-mentoring
I’ll come back here as I continue to work on this mentally. I’m just today giving myself permission for this to be a real dream of mine. Before it was just an occasional itch, but now I think I can say that is my five-year goal. I’ve never been able to answer that question in interviews before (So,...where do you see yourself in five years?) but now I can say that I would like to ideally be starting/running my own nonprofit in five years.
I’m currently starting a job in nonprofit development management, so I’m learning the hard skills I”ll need to start my own gig. I have a lot to learn, but I’m on my way.
My non profit is going well!
8 months ago
We are starting to distribute, but I still need to fill out my forms to get non profit status with the irs.
Why not?
9 months ago
My husband and I have been thinking and talking about this for months. Don’t want to be super-big, just need to get started.
Autism Freinds Foundation
12 months ago
I would like to start and Autism Foundation to support the treatment of autistic children ,I need help with rules,policies and regulations
952 Is tired, and content.
Untitled
13 months ago
“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
For Foster Children
15 months ago
I would love to be able to send every child in Foster Care to Disneyland/world. It’s a magical place that every child should get to visit at least once and I know that most foster families could never afford to go, so I would like to send them for free.
I realize that this may not be the type of Non-Profit Organization that changes the world, but it could change the world for one child.
salsafreak is stress free & happy!
www.blacklegacyorg.com
17 months ago
Visit the website for more info! The org is going strong and we are planning a walkathon for August…
One of my next goals will be to raise funds for Black Legacy!
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 Washington, D.C.
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