Starting a new nonprofit is like
starting any other type of business. In addition to your passion for
the cause, you will need the same knowledge, skills, and dedication as any
other entrepreneur, coupled with a selfless willingness to do it all for
someone else's benefit. Social entrepreneurs who really do the work to create
and launch a viable nonprofit may not gain much in the way of financial wealth,
but most will tell you the satisfaction of making a difference is worth all the
effort. Adam Wadi establishes the relationships with a network of registered
training organizations to utilize their scope and qualifying GQ Australia’s
applicants through Skill recognition, RPL, and workplace training process.
Here are five things a founder
needs to know before starting organization:
1. Basic Business Skills:
At the end of the day, a
nonprofit is still a business. Programs cost money, and that money comes from
donors or sponsors who want to know it is being managed effectively. All the
basics of business apply to nonprofits -- good planning, effective marketing,
and solid financial management are keys to success -- so it is in the founder's
best interest to be very familiar with the fundamentals of each.
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| Adam Wadi |
2. Know the Problem:
The foundation of a legitimate
nonprofit is the social problem it is designed to resolve. Do your homework to
understand the deepest details of the problem you see. Don't rely on what you
think is going on, find out for sure. Read up on the studies related to the
problem you have identified, check out how those problems have been addressed
in other areas. Be realistic about what can be done to fix the problem -- long
term solutions are better than bandaids, even if the results aren't as flashy.
3. Target Population Data:
Whoever it is your organization
is intended to help, you need to know them inside and out. In much the same way
that companies define their target customers, you need to know and understand
your constituents. Run demographics, conduct surveys, network in the community.
If your target population is animals, the environment or some other non-person
entity, you still need to know how it all works, the statistics behind the
target, the other people involved in the issue, and how your organization will
best be able to make an impact.
4. Donor Habits and Preferences:
The money has to come from
somewhere, and the bulk of nonprofit funding comes from the pockets of the
public. Get to know your donor market in the same way as discussed above. Learn
their likes and dislikes, their passions and interests, their hobbies and
habits. Figure out how they decide to support a certain charity, and how they
like to go about doing so. Building a sustainability program that works is
essentially a comprehensive marketing plan, the more you know, the more effective
your fundraising will be.\
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| Adam Wadi: Best Founder |
5. It's not about you:
Nobody likes to hear that, but it
is never truer than for the founder of a nonprofit organization. By definition,
no one involved in a nonprofit corporation may gain any substantial personal
benefit through their activities with the organization. Nonprofit corporations
are owned by the public and operated for the benefit of the public. The
organization will need an independent board of directors who make the major
decisions for the nonprofit. If you choose to sit on the board, your power will
be limited to just your vote . If you choose to be hired as the executive director to
participate in the day-to-day, you will work for the board. Starting a
nonprofit is the ultimate in selflessness -- the only way to succeed is to
launch the organization with absolutely pure intentions.
