Grant writers talk a lot about Grant Readiness — myself included. It’s essential for any nonprofit wanting to enter the world of grants.
But today I want to back up from that concept and ask an even more existential question:
Should you start a non-profit?
You are at the point of having a serious passion, seeing a problem in our society that you can work to fix, and the gumption to care about it so deeply that it consumes you. But should that next step be to start a non-profit? Is the next step to go to IRS.gov and fill out their 501c3 paperwork?
Maybe the question you should ask yourself is rather:
If I start a non-profit, will I be able to sustain it?
So the next step should be to ask for community support. Why? Because unless you alone can make the lift your non-profit would require to accomplish your mission, you will wear yourself out, your idea will not be sustainable, and all your effort and caring will be for naught.
Community support manifests itself in many ways: it can be time, talent, or treasure. I would make sure you have support in all three domains.
- Time: people willing to volunteer for you, give of their time
- Talent: people from throughout the community willing to donate their expertise in the form of board service
- Treasure: people willing to donate money to your cause
Why do I say Community Support should come first?
Well, first of all because it’s essential to being sustainable and accomplishing your mission. You have a tough road ahead if you are the ONLY one working in support of your idea.
But Community Support should be an essential step in deciding to start a non-profit because it factors heavily into your potential Grant Readiness! [And Donor Readiness too…]
If you can show a prospective funder (or donor) that you have the:
1) volunteer base (support in the form of Time);
2) board that represents the community (support in the form of Talent); and
3) a diversified income stream (support in the form of Treasure),
then your idea for a non-profit can demonstrate it has traction, it has the potential to snowball, and it has the potential to be sustainable — something all grant funders are asking for these days.
Now what happens if you do not have these essential pieces and parts I mention: the Time, Talent, and Treasure? Well, there’s a few things you can do:
1) You take your idea to a fiscal agent. A fiscal agent is a larger, more established agency, that has its 501c3 status and can take donations on your behalf. Depending on the arrangement you make with them, they could help you apply for grants and get the money you need to launch your program. They would have fiscal responsibility over any grant funds you may receive, meaning they would manage any grant funds. They may take an administrative fee, but you get to leapfrog over the administrative end of establishing and managing the finances of your program idea.
2) You take your idea to a larger, more established agency. See if they want to put your program idea under their umbrella, and maybe help you run it. They have community support already in place, they have staff and resources, and they have Grant Readiness. You accomplish your mission and solve the problem you seek to fix. Maybe it’s not exactly as you dreamt it, but you get to see your idea blossom and grow beyond your wildest dreams.3) You wait. Work to build the support from within your community, and start strong when you decide to go for it!
a. Start collecting data NOW to get your baseline info, and along the way to be able to show the difference your program idea can make. Be systematic and build collecting data into your program design to make it foundational.
b. Build awareness of your idea: crowdsource, get your social media pages and/or website in place to share information (on your baseline data to show the need you hope to address, and then your subsequent data to show your effectiveness), hold events, send press releases to gain media attention, etc., etc.c. Identify potential board members from a diversified field of supporters to get the Talent in place (marketing, HR, law, accounting, etc.), build a volunteer base and get them excited about carrying out your program, or putting on a fundraising event, and get systems in place to solicit and collect donations.
All this is to say, before starting a non-profit, before applying to the IRS for 501c3 status, get ready with more than just a good idea. If you think about the sustainability of your good idea — look at it a year from now, five years from now, etc. — you should not only think of what it will look like, but HOW it will get there.
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