Starting a Nonprofit with a Sibling

[NYCHILA]

My children are interested in starting a nonprofit together, with the eventual idea of building their “college resume.” They are currently in middle school and freshman at high school, aiming for Ivy League schools.

They work well together and truly believe in their cause. But I worry that being “co-founders” of a nonprofit will dilute the impact and not look as good to admissions as if they were “founders” of different nonprofits. Does anyone have experience in admissions that can speak to whether co-starting a nonprofit is less impressive than starting by oneself?

Thank you!

[skieurope]

@NYCHILA

My children are interested in starting a nonprofit together, with the eventual idea of building their “college resume.”

Not a reason to start a nonprofit

@NYCHILA

I worry that being “co-founders” of a nonprofit will dilute the impact and not look as good to admissions

Admissions will roll their eyes regardless

Ladies and Gentleman, may I present the most overused EC of 2022. Starting a YouTube channel has now slipped to #2.

Without getting into semantics on the definition of non-profit and 501(c)(3), starting a non-profit for the purpose of assisting people long after you’ve left HS is great. The challenge is that many students want to do so to pad their resumes thinking that college admissions simply requires completing a checklist. Start a non-profit. Check. Publish a book. Check. Get 100K views on my YouTube channel. Check. Unfortunately, admissions does not work that way, and AOs will see right through the obvious ploys.

MIT actually says it really well:

Some students feel so much pressure to get into the “right” college that they want to make sure they do everything “right”—even do the “right” extracurricular activities. Fortunately, the only right answer is to do what’s right for you—not what you think is right for us.

Choose your activities because they delight, intrigue and challenge you, not because you think they’ll look impressive on your application.

http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/highschool

The person who starts a non-profit will intrigue the AO not simply because s/he checked a box, but because of other factors related to it, some of which are intangible. The same, though, can be said for other ECs.

[Lindagaf]

@NYCHILA

My children are interested in starting a nonprofit together, with the eventual idea of building their “college resume.”

This is the wrong reason to start a nonprofit.

As for diluting their achievements by working together, no. They are going to look stronger by collaborating, as long as they are actually trying to create something sustainable, meaningful, and impactful. Not something that’s going to disappear the minute they both leave high school. And definitely NOT something that is created with an eye to getting into college.

And should add, AO’s can see right through the non-profit that’s created just for college applications. Most kids getting into tippy top colleges aren’t getting in by creating non profits. They get in by making an impact with things that already exist and by showing through their app that they have genuine interest in other things, which may or may not be related.

[Parent42]

There are plenty of legitimate ways that your kids can make the world a better place while also strengthening their skills, with a side effect of adding to their college resume.

Eagle Scout
Girl Scout Gold Award
High # of meaningful service hours
President of Key Club/Interact/other high school service club

If they want to run non-profit organizations SOMEDAY, let them know about majors in humanitarian studies, poverty studies, and the like. Business courses that focus on non-profits and their legal requirements would be helpful. Non-profits and their actions in the community are complicated, and require advanced experience and education.

[blossom]

I don’t think it “dilutes” their achievement- but it introduces a layer of skepticism that they want to avoid.

Why? Starting a non-profit for a middle schooler means asking parental friends and extended family for money. It’s not like a middle schooler can write a detailed grant application for the Gates Foundation or Pew, including longitudinal statistical analysis on the problem/proposed intervention, and walk away with money. So it means bugging friends and family. That’s skeptical issue number 1. And check your privilege- kids who grow up in economically fragile circumstances don’t get to ask mom’s boss for a check. Sell mom’s boss candy or wrapping paper at the school’s annual fundraising drive? Yes. Ask for a check for a new non-profit? No.

Then, being able to devote enough time to building a sustainable organization (for the both the HS and middle school kid) is time away from all the other things that kids that age need to do- so that inevitably begs the question “how much parental help was involved here?” and you can double the number since there are two kids from the same family involved. Kid is in the middle of a math test when a critical phone call needs to be made to the landlord offering a no-cost lease for the organization. Does the kid miss the math test? Probably not. Mom makes the phone call. Kid is in chem lab when a representative of the state Attorney General’s office calls with a question on the 501 -C3 application…does the kid take the call, or ask Dad to handle?

So your kids are participating in a family run non-profit. Which is great. But it isn’t any better than any other family activity that other kids are involved in, and likely raises more questions.

[1dadinNC]

You should have them start 2. That way each can furnish their own claim on the ivy league applications.

I must say that starting in middle school is a bit late. It is hard to become truly impactful in 4-5 years. I heard some parents are buying into functional non-profits with longer operational history and impact. I suggest you stop dilly dallying and find two of those right away!! I suggest looking at ones that were started by students a few years back and are now languishing. There are many. Look for Bay area teens on LinkedIn.

Good luck and all the best to you.

[cinnamon1212]

The best advice I can give is: stand out. Don’t do things lots of other kids have. So that nixes founding (most) nonprofits! Have them take up bagpiping, and donate their time to play bagpipes at veterans funerals, and develop a hobby of perfecting scottish cuisine or something. << tongue in cheek But, be the only kid, or one of a handful, that have that profile, not one of thousands.

[1dadinNC]

@cinnamon1212

Have them take up bagpiping, and donate their time to play bagpipes at veterans funerals

I think they should consider playing bagpipes to orphaned guerillas in Africa or elephants in Thailand to truly stand out.

[blossom]

I have only heard bagpipes at one funeral. It was a police officer after 9/11… so it was a gut-wrenching day altogether. But then the pipes. OMG. Otherworldly.

I knew you meant it as a joke, but I cannot think of a more noble way for a bag-pipe enthusiast to do community service!!!

[cinnamon1212]

I was actually serious/not serious. If a kid truly loved bagpipes and did more with that then just took lessons, that would be an excellent EC (IMHO). However (as you well know) the kid has to be genuinely interested in playing the bagpipes, so for 99% of the population, I was not being serious.

[DadOfJerseyGirl]

@1dadinNC

You should have them start 2. That way each can furnish their own claim on the ivy league applications.

Make sure one of them promotes girls in STEM and the other is focused on climate change.

Will totally turn up the dial on their Ivy League applications.

[CCName1]

I have a kid who started something at a young age and has had incredible success with it.

She started it because she had a personal experience and was compelled to act. She is years into college and she continues to do this same work because it is personally meaningful and fulfilling for her. It has nothing to do with her major or necessarily with her future plans, but she is committed to it.

When she had the idea and started working on it, college wasn’t a blip on her radar. She was young enough that it never occurred to her, wasn’t a motivation, and had no bearing on any of her decisions. She has only ever done what she or someone (friends and classmates mostly) working with her can do. Because of that, there is no website, not glitzy marketing stuff, etc.

Guess what? She achieved the dreams you have for your kids — not because she created a 501c3 to look good for college admissions (it’s not even a 501c3; she has a component fund at a small community foundation), but because she has passion and has made an impact.

Frankly, what you are doing is exactly what gives youth-led work a bad name. There are some kids out there who are doing things out love, passion, and compassion. Family efforts like yours make everyone else look at anything a kid starts with skepticism.

As others have said, there are a million ways for kids to show commitment/leadership/engagement without starting something new. There is also rarely a need to start a 501c3. My daughter is part of a cohort recognized for a broad swath of youth impact. The organization who has recognized/rewarded them purposefully looks for impact beyond 501c3. They know that 5013cs are typically unnecessary, unnecessarily complicated, expensive, time consuming, and parent-led. They are a sign of privilege, not a sign of ingenuity or service.

I am intentionally being vague about the organization who recognized her, but I assure you it is something that you would want and would think your kids might get for doing what you are planning. They won’t. Your motivations will be transparent.

A big red flag for me was not only that you said you wanted to do this for college admissions, but also that your first comment was to “start a 501c3.” You didn’t say that they wanted to help people, make money, build something, invent something, educate, explain, unite…you said they wanted to start a nonprofit.

The next red flag was that you were worrying about formal roles and titles in a non-existent organization. Why? Your kids are probably 12 and 14. If they cared about doing something meaningful, why do they care about titles at this point?

Your kids may well get into an Ivy League school, but it won’t be because they started a 501c3. In fact, it might be in spite of it.

[thumper1]

Starting a non-profit is the 2022 equivalent of the mission trip that was so popular years ago. If the reason your kids will be starting a non-profit is to pad their college resume, they might want to think again. If this future non-profit has any usefulness, it MUST be sustainable when your kids actually go to college. They will need to demonstrate exactly what this non-profit did, and for whom. If there is any money involved, I would strongly suggest an honest accountant to help with this.

But really…there are TONS of well established non-profits that could use the help your kids could provide…and in my opinion, that will speak better than just starting a non-profit. So start looking for opportunities.

[MITPhysicsAlum]

@cinnamon1212

and donate their time to play bagpipes

A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes.
But doesn’t.

[blossom]

MITPhysics wins the internet today!

[MWolf]

@NYCHILA

whether co-starting a nonprofit is less impressive than starting by oneself?

The only thing that is less impressive that starting a nonprofit is being the president of the school club that you established. All that it means is that a kid’s family has the money to pay the legal costs in getting their nonprofit status approved.

I am sorry, but “starting a nonprofit” is NOT social activism. A person or a group of people start a nonprofit when they realize that their activism requires this, and no organization exists which can do it. They do it after they have reached out to other entities which engage in this activity, and verified that they cannot start a branch of a larger existing organization.

They do it with a team and a five-year plan.

@NYCHILA

My children are interested in starting a nonprofit together, with the eventual idea of building their “college resume.”

My advice is your kids is to do something that will actually make a difference for a cause, not establish a vanity nonprofit to pad their resumes.

My kid is attending a top college on a full tuition scholarship without even establishing a club. That scholarship is based on her leadership skills and her activism. She continues her activism under the umbrella of existing organizations.

@NYCHILA

aiming for Ivy League schools.

Seriously? They’re in middle school and a freshman. If they “aim for Ivy League Schools” as their main high school goal, not only will they most likely miss them, they will also miss their entire high school years.

“Being accepted to an Ivy League School” is a terrible goal for any child.

[compmom]

It sounds like the parents’ goal is Ivy League colleges, and this is no doubt being transmitted to the two kids at a relatively young age (8th and 9th grades are too young to have their own goals, it seems).

Why do the parents want an Ivy League school? Are the parents well-informed on other choices? To the OP, check out “little Ivies” (google) and the Colleges that Change Lives website, then let your kids enjoy high school. They can work hard, pursue authentic interests, make friends, and eventually find the right fit for college.

As I have written before, find a college that fits the kid, don’t spend these years trying to fit the kid to the college.

ps yes non-profits have become an eye roll and only show that the family has the funds for legal help

[Mjkacmom]

We had a piper at my mom’s funeral, they are very popular here, especially the month of March (my competitive Irish dancers saw a lot of them every Saint Patrick’s day season). My son and friend went to free bagpipe lessons for almost 2 years but dropped them when they started to interfere with soccer, I thought it would be a nice add to the college applications, but no. The lessons were not very organized.

[momofboiler1]

Lets please stay on topic. Users are welcome to start a new thread in the cafe about pipers if they would like.

[sgopal2]

Starting a non-profit won’t help get into an Ivy league school. In fact it will probably have the opposite effect. The admissions officers know that the parents do all the work for the purposes of resume stuffing. I don’t even think its possible for a minor to sign all of the 501c3 paperwork on their own.