Have a dream? Want to make the world a little better then you found it? Many people dream of starting their own non profit organization but don’t have a clue where to begin. It IS true that starting a non profit is a huge undertaking, but if you break it down into steps and know what you are doing……I promise it’s not so bad. I founded, Hear My Hands a little over ten years ago. This is a non profit organization dedicated to producing film and video in American Sign Language. www.hearmyhands.org My first step was contacting the local Legal Aid organization in my city. They provide lawyers, free of charge, to work on just such a project as this. I was required to fill out some basic paperwork from Legal Aid and then about a week later was assigned a lawyer to walk me through the process. This involved creating articles and bylaws, and filling out all the forms required of a non profit.
Once you have your lawyer working with you, you will need to establish a Board of Directors. The board can always grow over time, but try and start out with at least 6 members. You want to find people who believe in your mission and what it is your non profit wants to accomplish. But, you also want to find individuals who bring something to the table. Some great board members might be: Graphic artists, Bank Managers, Lawyers, Teachers, Cooperate Business folk from large companies, or Advertising people. You want your board to be an asset in and of themselves, so try and bring in some key players. Be patient when working through the questions of the non profit application. Think about each answer, because each answer will be important. After you send in the initial forms, you will wait for a response. You may be approved, denied, or, they may give you more questions to answer. I experienced the latter. It was at this point I pulled my potential board of directors together, and we sat down to go over the questions together Having added insight really helped in answering the questions. Once you are approved, you will be on a “trail” period for about five years. You will be given a certificate that allows you to function as a non profit even though you are on the trial time period. At the end of the five years, they will examine your history and if all is well, award you your final non profit status.
IMPORTANT: Just because you achieve non profit status may not allow you to actually fundraise. Check with your state to find the regulations as to what is required to legally fundraise. For example, in the state of Florida, non profits must acquire a certificate from the Department of Sales and Agriculture to be allowed to fundraise. I also can not say enough how important it will be to be working with a Certified public accountant who is familiar with working with non profit organizations They can keep track of what forms are due when and keep your non profit in the good graces of the government. Your Board of Directors is usually required to meet at least once a year, be sure and assign a Secretary who can take the minutes of any meetings you hold. Another resource you can use is The Heritage Foundation, they work with people who want to start a non profit but do not wish to go through the process, working with the Heritage Foundation can be helpful as they take care of most of the paperwork for you, but keep in mind while you are functioning under their jurisdiction, you will have to adhere to their rules and regulations and won’t have the exact freedom you would have if you are your own non profit entity. You can visit them at www.nhf.org Take some time to some research in your city to see if there is a orgnaization that supports non profits by offering seminars, classes and other helpful services. These can be wellworth the membership cost to learn some very insighful information on running a successful non profit organization.
