![]() One of the biggest mysteries for nonprofit founders is about the Board of Directors. How do you find the right people? Is it ok to start with friends and family? How many do I need and when? What do I even do with them? First, we need to clarify the purpose of the board of directors.
Formally speaking, the Board of Directors has three legal responsibilities and 10 traditional roles/duties. These things are essential but there is an even bigger picture why your Board of Directors is critical to your success.
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Let’s imagine that Sunshine Senior Services is a program for the elderly community focusing on improving the lives of people with dementia and their families. We’ll occasionally use this fictional nonprofit start-up as an example in this blog series.
One of the things you must have to make your start-up charity successful is alignment between your mission and your programs. Charities serve the public good. They provide a service or serve to create change. The mission of an organization should make clear what kind of results or improvements the charity will provide. Is the organization improving health, providing an education, or making people safe? Is it preventing an unhealthy behavior? The missions on which charities focus are usually complex. Eradicating hunger, reducing the number of people in poverty, and reducing the dropout rate are massive tasks, and any one organization by itself may not quickly produce a noticeable change across a large community. Having clear alignment will help show where you intend to make an impact and may even show that you’ve “moved the needle” in a significant way at some point. Part one of the “Must Read Series for Nonprofit Founder” talked about the governing structure of a charity and the Board of Directors. Now we’ll look at ways that charities are different from for-profit businesses and how starting a charity is more complex.
I have spent my career in nonprofit planning and administration. I’ve been involved in the early start-up of five charities and now specialize in helping nonprofit start-ups succeed. There are many urban myths about the nonprofit sector. It’s almost as bad as losing weight or having a baby. Everyone may be entitled to their opinion, but wouldn’t you rather be operating from facts?
We at Thrive South have no desire to deter anyone wanting to serve their community. But, much like the medical field, there is a lot at stake when caring people try to help others. Well-meaning but knowledgeable people offer poor advice and founders often put too little effort into planning before filing legal paperwork. Then, they are not prepared to be fiscally responsible, legally compliant, and mission focused. Read on to see some big misconceptions about how a 501(c)(3) charity is formed. You’ll find that some charities don’t follow these guidelines. Sometimes, leadership may be breaking the law. In others, they may not know better, or they just don’t care. Before you seek to create a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, consider if that is the best, most sustainable option for your community. Some in the sector will argue that as the United States allows more charities, the field becomes more crowded and less able to support the number of charities trying to do good. We are going to look at the different “good reasons” to start a charity separately so we can look at some examples. Here is the first one.
You have a plan that addresses a root cause of a problem. I was speaking with a start-up founder this week and it was if I experienced de’ ja vu. Ken was telling me about the advice he was getting and in my head I was shouting, “Don’t listen to them! Every experience is different! They aren’t an expert and don’t know what they’re talking about!” There’s something about milestone moments in our lives that invite people with advice to come out of the woodwork. Whether it’s having a child, buying a house, or making a major employment or business decision, everyone wants to share their story and share with you some helpful “tips.” |
Mentor Kimberly MasseyIn addition to my work in the social impact field, I have a great husband of 27 years and an incredible 20 year old daughter. Our family lives in central Mississippi and we provide a loving, but sometimes chaotic home to two awesome dogs and a turtle. Archives
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