Part II: Starting a Nonprofit?

Please allow me to crush your dreams.

In my last post, I began trying to crush the dreams of people wanting to start a new nonprofit. Sounds harsh, doesn't it?

Truthfully - I don't want to crush anyone's dreams. I would rather see those dreams succeed beyond their wildest imaginations! That kind of success, however, might be better achieved by NOT starting a new 501(c)(3) organization.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics:

• In 1999,  there were 631,902 nonprofit organizations in the U.S. 
• In 2009, there were 1,006,670 of them - a 59% increase. 
• In 2012, there were 1.4 million. That's about a 120% increase in 13 years!

Even more amazing is this: in 1999, only 32% of nonprofits had receipts less than $25,000 a year. By 2009, 79.4% of them were that small.

Thus: only 18% of the new nonprofits started in 13 years have enough revenue to hire even ONE full-time employee. The rest of them - all 691,008 of them - are tiny.

In my mind's eye, I see all those 691,008 nonprofits scrambling like ants - working hard for every little crumb they can get. And more ants are arriving on the scene daily to compete for those crumbs.

Is your dream crushed yet? 

I hope not. 

If you are truly committed to making the world a better place through charitable work - please do it! In fact, we should all be doing that anyway. But if you think a NEW nonprofit is the BEST way to do that, please answer these questions first:

• Are there other, already-established organizations doing related work, even if it isn't exactly the same as what you are envisioning? In your community? In your state? Anywhere? You can do a Google search to find them or go to Guidestar and do some research there (it's free).
• If yes, can you offer your time and passion to help them achieve their mission? If there isn't a local group, is there a regional or national group you could encourage to come to your community? Could you ask them to adjust their programming to meet the need you've identified? There is TRULY no reason to re-invent the wheel. If another group is working to meet the need - don't duplicate them; help them!
• If no, check again. Of all those 1.4 million nonprofits, I seriously doubt that there isn't one addressing that issue in some way.
• Still want to start your own nonprofit? Okay, then keep going.
• Do you realize that, if you start a nonprofit, it will not truly be "yours?" You will have to establish a board of directors, who will become your boss. They can even fire you (it happens all the time). Are you okay with that?
• Do you have sources of funding up-front? Lottery money or rich uncle? A circle of friends with deep pockets?  Nonprofits take money and grant-makers are seldom interested in start-ups.
• Do you have the skill set needed to run a nonprofit? Business acumen? Bookkeeping knowledge? Organizational skills? Vision? Communication skills? If you have deep pockets, you can hire people with these skills but, in all likelihood, you will be doing them all.
• Finally, answer this question as honestly as possible: WHY do you want to do this? I often get some version of one of these answers:
• To honor someone I love;
• Because I need a job;
• I don't have anything else to do;
• I used to volunteer for another organization but they made me mad and I knew I could do it better;
• I don't really know why - but I just know that I want to.
• None of these answers - by itself - is a good enough reason to start a new nonprofit.