I’m currently trying to start up a nonprofit. I have the idea, as well as a couple teacher and some classmates interested in supporting me and helping me to achieve this goal. However, this is my first rodeo, and I’ll admit that I have very little experience in this domain.
I was wondering if any of you would be willing to explain the general course of action that you (or someone you know) has taken in order to get something up and running? What were your successes? What were your failures? Regardless of whether or not you succeeded, what advice do you have?
That’s the problem…I don’t personally know anyone who has done this, yet I am reading about several kids on college confidential who have succeeded in this venture.
You will need to register your nonprofit organization with your state’s Secretary of State office. They might ask you things like whether your nonprofit will have paying members or not, and whether it will be doing any political activism. Most nonprofits have a board of directors made up of influential people who give advice to the nonprofit. You will need to decide if you plan to recruit such a board or not. If you plan to do fundraising, you will likely need advice on handling the money and accounting for it properly, and paying taxes on time. In other words, there is a lot more to having a nonprofit than simply the main purpose of the nonprofit – whatever you are hoping to achieve with it. If your nonprofit will require lots of volunteers, you will need to consider how to recruit and manage them, and also how to promote the organization online with a website and social media sites.
Is this a project just to help with college admissions, or is this something that is planned for the long term, to continue throughout college and beyond? If it is just for college admissions, then it might make more sense to simply help out an existing nonprofit organization by organizing a fundraiser or doing publicity, etc. – whatever tasks demonstrate the skills you are hoping to showcase to prospective colleges based on major and career interests.
Agree don’t do it just to impress colleges. If you are truly passionate about a cause start by working with an established non profit that is involved in that cause. They already have the infrastructure to have an impact and can probably use the help. Organize a fundraiser or an event to benefit them.
While I did go through a phase in which I did a lot of things for college admissions, this is not something that I would like to do for that purpose. I hit a point where I got tired of everything that I was doing being to impress some college admissions officer. If that sounds arrogant, I understand, but this is something I’m doing because I want to, not because I feel like I need to impress someone.
The idea originated from a club that I joined that my history teacher was the leader of. It was a club that allowed high school students from a rich suburban neighborhood switch high schools with an inner city, poorly funded school (I live by chicago). What happened there was that I was paired with a girl a year younger than myself (The girl I was to switch with), and that relationship was what inspired me.
This girl was clearly smart, and I knew that she could go pretty fair in life if she wanted. Her dream school was purdue, and after listening to her talk about her academics and all the things she did to push herself, I wanted to help her achieve that. Growing up in a neighborhood with so many resources, I knew the college game pretty well, and I knew what she should do in order to stay on top of college applications. She is now a little less lost as a result in of our relationship.
I want to create a system in which high school seniors can mentor high school sophomores and juniors from different backgrounds, and help them reach the college of their dreams. This girl was willing to use all the resources in her grasp, she just didn’t have very many she could use. I want to create this system to help students like her, to give them another resource.
I’m currently taking an online course in web design and programming, to try to create a website for this so I will be able to continue to monitor this after I go to college. My one problem is that I don’t know how to get this started in the physical world. I know that I’m inexperienced, and maybe even naive in attempting this. I honestly don’t expect to be able to make this a reality, but I would like to give it a shot.
I hope that better explains where I’m coming from.
Don’t be so stuck to the idea of a “non-profit.” That’s just a flashy word thrown around a lot nowadays. Now, there are tons of great nonprofits out there, so I’m not trying to discourage you.
I’d say start the web design/website, create a “forum” of some sort (like a smaller/simpler version of CC), and absolutely notify your school and your teachers about this great idea of yours - someone’s gotta know! You could try and incorporate stuff like a Trivia/points system, or write your own blog posts/articles talking about the benefits of college (like ROI), maybe throw in info about QuestBridge and scholarship stuff because of the inner-city crowd. Try and “pitch” the idea at first and take those baby steps. Later on, you can register it as a nonprofit, 501c, and all that good stuff. That shouldn’t be worrying you though - just map out a possible website or network to see how this could be possible. Get some friends who might have a similar interest. Who knows, it could just be a group of a couple of kids who are genuinely making a difference - It might not even turn out to be a club or nonprofit.
So anyways, throw out the word “nonprofit” from your dictionary (for now). There’s plenty of time to register it and make it “official.” For instance, I’m working on a financial literacy project to educate kids/teens across the world, but I’m not calling it a “non-profit” - I just do my thing, and at the end of the day I enjoy making a difference. I’d assume that you wouldn’t be “rushed” on registering the nonprofit since it seems like you truly enjoy this, rather than you just trying to squeeze it on your resume last-minute before October/November/December.
@aneeshs17 Okay, thank you for your thoughtful feedback!
I think that you’re right about the whole “non-profit” thing. I’ll keep that in mind moving forward.
I also am a big fan of the whole keeping it like a simple website. I just want there to be a certain element of where one person can directly work with another person, a sort of matching system.
You will be subject to rules about who can be on your board, how often you have board meetings, how and where your minutes are posted, how you obtain and spend money, what kinds of activities are permitted, and what happens to funds, equipment, and other property if your organization disbands. Breaking these rules, even accidentally, often constitutes a crime.
You will have to file an annual tax return with the IRS, though this is quite easy for very small orgs. If you fail to file, your status can be revoked.
Nolo Press has a good book about this. I suggest reading it, and maybe one or two others, before you attempt such a thing.
You point out a lot of legal paperwork and pretty intense procedures for creating a “non-profit”. I wasn’t aware of the procedures that are necessary. Again, this is going back to the whole naiveness that I am I aware I have.
I think I’m going to try an alternative route. I don’t think that at the present moment I have time to go through this intense process…(I just saw a lot of people on this website who had stated that they had created a non-profit, and I thought that it wasn’t quite as intense)
My modified plan is create a club at my school (my school has 4000 students, so I know I’ll find at least 5 kids interested) and to create a website to connect my school to the other school that my school is already affiliated with. It will start small, but hopefully I will be able to grow it over the course of the year.
Thank you all for your feedback! Let me know what you think of this new idea?