STARTING A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
It’s not hard to start a nonprofit. The barriers to entry are pretty low: Find a name, get an EIN, register with your state, file a 1023-EZ. It’ll cost a few hundred dollars and a few hours. But then what? Running a nonprofit and growing it to a size where it can most effectively serve its constituents takes resources. Will you be the only one working for the organization? Will you need to get paid? How will that happen? Where will financial support come from? Will you want to add more people to deliver the great services your organization will provide? How much will they cost? Where will that financial support come from? Of course, these are not the only questions to ask, and any new organization should think through what actually running the organization will look like once it gets started.
There are economies of scale that can be achieved by nonprofits, just as they can be by for-profits, but most nonprofits face significant uphill battles in getting to scale. Many never get there.
We can help you understand the process and answer the ten (10) most important questions surrounding the start-up of a nonprofit organization:
- Why are your doing this?
- What is you mission?
- What is your elevator pitch?
- What are you going to do?
- Is it practical?
- Is it viable?
- Who is going to lead the nonprofit?
- Who is going to manage the nonprofit?
- How much is it going to cost?... and how are you going to pay for it?
- How will you stay in compliance?