By popular demand, this year the Foundation Center is offering a series of special events specifically for people in the midst of starting their own nonprofits. Last year, we offered two seminars on Launching a Nonprofit Organization, led by consultant Danielle Lanyard, a seasoned expert on start-up organizations. Based on the overwhelmingly positive response to those programs, Danielle is back to lead our new Lessons Learned series in 2012.
The first of these events took place on January 5, and was titled Launching a Nonprofit Organization: Lessons Learned from Successful Founders. In this workshop, Danielle invited Mallory King, executive director of Arts to Grow, and Richard Webb, executive director of the Pro World Foundation, to share of their experiences of starting their own nonprofits, and to offer advice to anyone currently embarking upon a start-up journey of their own. Soon we'll have the full video from the event available for viewing on Grantspace, but in the meantime, here is a selected sample of tips from our panelists on how to raise your group's chances of success in its earliest stages of formation.
Build the Right Type of Team. When starting your nonprofit, you'll need at least three board members (at least in most states, including New York) at the time of incorporation, and you'll want to make sure that you're assembling the best team that you can.
One mistake to avoid would be choosing board members whose interests, career experience, and outlook are too similar to your own. While you want to find people who have a passion for your mission, it's counterproductive to have your board be an echo chamber. If you can find partners who have interests and audiences that are separate from your own, your team is likelier to come up with new strategies that might not have been introduced if your board had been more homogeneous.
Consider putting together a "functional" board, with members who bring skills to the table that you'll need during your nonprofit's early days. For example, a lawyer would be a helpful addition to your board if you have a limited budget and cannot afford legal assistance during your incorporation process, and an accountant can be very useful as you're navigating the group's finances.
Finally, our panelists asserted that certain personality types are preferable for working with a fledgling nonprofit. While a rigid, risk-averse person may have a difficult time coping with the bumps in the road that you're guaranteed to experience, your best bet is to partner with flexible people who have a high tolerance for uncertainty and a long-term vision. Your organization is not going to get off the ground overnight, and there will be plenty of challenges along the way. You want people on your team who can ride the currents rather than becoming mired in frustration.
Get Creative in Your Fundraising. Securing funding will be an uphill battle in the current economy, and fundraising is usually trickier for a new, untested organization than for an established one. Be prepared to put in plenty of effort and to exercise some resourcefulness. Those well-chosen board members from outside your usual field (as mentioned above) will be helpful, as each person is likely to know different people and places from which to seek funding.
When seeking out funds for a new nonprofit, you may not have a proven track record of success to which you can refer, so it will take more finesse to persuade your potential donors to take a chance on you. What can boost your odds of success? According to our panelists, your group must to work on "selling your impact." If you're talking to a donor from within the community where your programs will operate, discuss the impact that your services will have upon the community, and how that impact can in turn present a benefit for the donor. If you're asking a corporation for funding, find an argument that demonstrates what benefit your programs can produce for the company.
Find a way to quantify this potential impact if you can – numbers are important at this stage. Depending on the type of donor, this impact-focused approach can sometimes yield better results than a more qualitative approach and can give you a more solid footing when your nonprofit is in its uncertain infancy.
Finally, pursue alternative income streams. To keep afloat financially, you'll want to seek your funding in a broad variety of ways. For example, try reaching out to new audiences through social media, or even a crowdfunding platform such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or RocketHub, or consider holding an inexpensive event to raise money for your group. If you're an environmental group, visit the ioby web site.
In addition to seeking donations from individuals, try looking at companies and foundations as well, and also consider the option of earned income, in which you can earn revenue through selling goods or performing services. Earned income can be an extremely valuable option in a tough economy, as competition for funding is increased. Read more about it in our Knowledge Base article.
Don't Forget to Launch! Our panelists noted that one of the biggest mistakes that nonprofits make is waiting too long to launch. Founders from the business world in particular can sometimes find themselves overly wrapped up in their business plans, reluctant to set sail until the plan is "perfect." However, no matter how many times you revise everything, your business plan is never going to be perfect. If you allow yourself to be paralyzed into inaction out of a fear of making mistakes, you might never get around to launching, and the community might never receive your services.
As it is, incorporation can already take a long time to complete - our presenters estimated that with the use of volunteer lawyers, the incorporation process can take a year to a year and a half. Rather than waiting for the unattainably perfect stage to launch, know when to let go of your carefully crafted plan and finally get off the ground, mistakes or no mistakes.
Stay tuned for the video of January 5 event for more suggestions from our speakers, and you can also view the full video of one of Danielle Lanyard's presentation with us from last May, which explores the online resources you can pursue as you set up a new organization. For even more information, refer to our Knowledge Base article, "How Do I Start a Nonprofit Organization?", our Establishing a Nonprofit online tutorial, or one of the most popular books in our library, How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation, by Anthony Mancuso.
Finally, if you're interested in signing up for the other programs in the Lessons Learned series, here they are:
We hope to see you here for these programs, too!
Tracy Kaufman
Library Assistant
Foundation Center-New York
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