Building the Foundation for a Successful Non-Profit

The needs are great in a hurting world and many new non-profits are starting up to address those who require assistance. Whether it be a food pantry, after school program, animal rescue society or elderly assistance, all charities need to build a similar foundation to ensure a promising future.

The first step is to create a board of trusted and skilled individuals who share the passion for your cause and have different talents to bring to the table. Ideally, find professionals who have a strong financial background, marketing experience, and business acumen along with others who have worked in this area and are willing to get creative with ideas on how to prosper your organization. Creating a strong mission statement will align your board to your vision and bring unity at the get go. Another important thing to consider when selecting your board members is how often you want to meet and if the member can dedicate the time it takes to attend meetings, fundraisers and media outreach events. Financial investment and professional peer influence are also assets that they can bring.

The next step is to create a name, symbol and slogan for your new charity. Being creative is great, but being too creative can cloud the purpose of your organization. This is going to be on every letter, website, staff shirt and promo that you distribute so it needs to be timeless, simple and relevant. Brainstorm a list of names and then double check to see what comes up on the internet. I worked with one non-profit that had to change their name because they didn’t research it enough and found a conflicting cause in another state that had the same name. They had to re-file several forms and reprint stationary which wasted quite a bit of time and money.

Start small, focus on a few goals at a time and do them well. Create a set of long term goals and short term goals and decide the three most important jobs on each list. Develop a timeline to achieve those goals and a plan of attack. For example, you may have the priority of generating a donor list of 200 people and securing a certain amount of funds in your bank account as a short term goal. The long term goal would be to find a building to rent or purchase. Another short term goal could be to help 10 people consistently as part of your outreach. The long term goal would be setting up an afterschool program at several schools.

Once your board, mission statement, name, and goals are established, create a website to spread the word. Use Facebook and Twitter to tell your friends and family about what you’re up to and direct them to the website. You may be working out of your home office, but a stellar website can set the standard of professionalism. It also makes fundraising more convenient and accessible to those who want to contribute.