Taking a Trip Down Non-Profit Road...

Ha! Like I am some kind of expert or something. NOT!! But I have been through it recently and continue to experience and learn, so I thought I would share a few tips:

First, make sure what you want to do is something that can fit under the non-profit status description and that it is something others will support. Trying to raise money to support shoe shoppers on Rodeo Drive will probably not fit under the description, however, collecting shoes to provide to homeless individuals might.

Then, find some people who have the same passion, vision, and similar mission as you do and get together for some talk time. LOTS of talk time. Get to know all you can about these people, even if you already know who they are. Taking a trip down non-profit road can be a long one and you will want to make sure you can handle the ride without any major road blocks. Be honest and extremely blunt about your ideas and agenda for your non-profit idea. (Everyone has an agenda!!!) Find out what special skills each of you has because you will need people with writing skills, community contacts, non-profit law knowledge, non-profit experience, and many other skill areas to help you create a great organization.

Oh, and be prepared to invest a bit of money. The non-profit status paperwork charge has been upped recently and it's not cheap. Nor is filling out the paperwork something you can do in one day. It requires certain documents and filings to be completed first so do your research and have everything in place.

And that is how it all starts really; a vision, a passion, people to share it with, and the courage to move forward.

And the Winner Is...

I have given myself some time to think things through, and while my experiment was a noble one, I just can't make walking every day and eating my veggies interesting enough to want to continue writing about. So, I have decided to start a new experiment.

Over the course of the last year, some friends and I decided to start a non-profit organization. It is called... well, should I share that here? Hmm... maybe I should just share about non-profit building in general without names and places and such. I wouldn't want to upset the tea cart so to speak. Anyway, we started a non-profit organization and I feel that there is so much more of an interest there for me that I could easily write about it. So, that is what I have decided to do.

Perhaps someone will find some interesting insight, or good advice on what not to do through my experiences. I'm not sure. I do know that before starting my non-profit I was clueless on just how to get started. I kept wondering what the special thing was that had to be learned or who that special person was that you had to talk to. I realize now that there is no real special thing or someone. You decide to do something and you do it. It requires forms and some money. Some knowledge is useful, but I've met people with no formal training or education in the field of non-profits and they have managed to do really well. So, I will begin with sharing just how we managed to get our non-profit off the ground, and the bumpy roads we have shared and still have ahead.

So, that is the new subject of this blog. Enjoy!