I have a few good ideas and I am considering “starting a non-profit organization”. First, I’d like to review mission statements and the general structures of the group. I have a small list of organizations put together but one is always bound to miss a few and i thought this would be a good place to come to find the ones i couldnt weed out of google.
If you would, please provide the name and link of any non-profits you know of. Thank you!
Go to http://www.charitynavigator.org It has everything you need including mission statements and organizational structures.
beautiful
I work as a Program Officer for a community foundation, and the first thing I would suggest is for you to get to know what is available in your community’s nonprofit organizations and the services they provide. Call and talk to the Executive Director and set a time to visit the organization and take a tour. Chances are good that you will find at least one nonprofit who provides similiar services as your idea. (Funders get irritated when we hear of nonprofits opening that provide similiar or exactly the same services as another in the community. Competition in the world of nonprofits is not necessarily a good thing.)
If they offer similiar services as you’re planning, I would strongly suggest that you talk to them about collaborative partnerships and how the two of you can work together. (Funders also do not want to see two nonprofits who provide similar services NOT working together.)
Guidestar is a good service to find area nonprofits already in existence in your community. I would also suggest that you do a websearch to find out what funders are looking to fund–find out who they’ve funded and what they’ve funded in the past. If you have a highly specialized area, and there’s not much funding out there, then it may be very difficult (if not nearly impossible) to find financial support for your nonprofit, making it impossible to provide services.
Have some professional back up to guide your business plan–and make sure you HAVE a business plan. You’d be surprised at how many nonprofits have focused so strongly on the services they provide, that they’re experiencing financial struggles because they don’t have a business plan, and no one to help them with one. Get support through developing board members who know what they’re doing. Do NOT recruit friends to be on a board–hunt down professionals in the business world who want to volunteer their time and experience to guild and support your nonprofit.
I’ve got a billion other suggestions, having worked on both sides of the nonprofit world. Email me if you’d like.