So I am thinking of staring non profit organization focusing on stem, so does anyone have experience with this?
Recognized 501©(3)? Long process and $400 if you’re looking to gross >$5K in grants, in addition to state nonprofit filing fees. It’s a big commitment and can be pretty time consuming. Do you really need to undergo official registration or can you do what you want to do without a Non-Profit label.
@PartyNextDoor so i don’t need non profit registration?
@PartyNextDoor, registering as a 501©3 makes donations tax deductible and will help donors to take you seriously, but you don’t have to be a registered charity in order to do charitable work.
If you decide you want to go ahead with registering as a nonprofit the first thing you need to do is write a formal mission statement. This is where you say exactly what your organization’s purpose is and how you expect to go about it.
Next you’ll need a board of trustees (minimum of 3 people over 18) willing to help you. You’ll need to write up Articles of Organization and bylaws and file them with your state. You should have these documents reviewed by a lawyer. It’s important that you get these right because they will determine the shape of your organization and whether your group will be eligible for tax deductibility.
Once you are approved as a charity in your state the next step is to register as a 501©(3) organization with the IRS. The advantage to registering with the IRS as a charity is that it makes contributions tax deductible. The disadvantage is that the process is time consuming and expensive. The minimum registration fee alone is $400 and you’ll have to do a ton of complicated paperwork, including annual reports and tax returns.
There are many other steps (getting an EIN, bank account, registering the name, etc.) but these are the big ones. As you can see, unless you have a lot of help and plan to continue your group well into the future you’re likely to be better off organizing your group as a community service club without the formal trappings of a 501©(3).
There are a ton of great resources on the internet. I found them very helpful when I created my nonprofit 8 years ago. Many of them are from nonprofit groups whose mission it is to help other nonprofits. The IRS on line publications are also surprisingly helpful.
Feel free to PM me with questions.
“So I am thinking of starting non profit organization focusing…”
Be honest with yourself. If another person had suggested a “club” a week ago that matches that you envision for the STEM club that you’re proposing, would you be equally enthusiastic about joining and making the club work? because its mission/purpose has such a compelling call for you?
Or is the idea of being a “founder” of a club really what’s driving you?
Not that clear to you how to answer? How about this: what’s your succession plan on grooming the follow-on officers? Don’t have one?
Use these questions as litmus tests to whether this club is resume padding or truly worthy of “founding” purely on its own. I highly suspect the former – because if it were the latter and how it “looks” to colleges. Sorry if you find this cynical but I think my head would spin the day a high achieving HS applicant says they were EXCITED to be the vice-president of an org.
OP: I’ve read some of your history. You seem very inquisitive about SAT ranges for top schools and whether you should take path X or Y.
Your goal should be to be the best person YOU want to be – not to work towards some ideal college applicant. It comes off as fake and contrived. Are there upperclassmen who influence your school greatly in a positive manner? Relatives whom you admire? Why? What kind of people are they (not what they did)? Emulate that. Not try to Xerox their resumes.
There’s a book called “How to be a HS superstar” by Cal Newport. Maybe look it over? Good luck
And if you’re interested in STEM work, there’s probably a non-profit in your area you can volunteer with that already something similar to what you want to do.
I would suggest starting with a community service club first. Once you’ve started to attain your club’s goals (and become locally known ideally with some press coverage,) you will be in a better position to become a more successful nonprofit capable of generating measurable results in the area of STEM, attracting funding, and convincing funders that you have a sustainability plan.
@CheddarcheeseMN I pose to you the same question I posed to the OP. Why should he/she “start” any club? In your school, do no community service orgs exist? Why should you waste time “starting” a club when joining a functioning one would be more expeditious to serving?
Unless of course, service is of secondary or tertiary concern…