{"id":846,"date":"2024-02-23T11:56:22","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T19:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/?p=846"},"modified":"2024-03-18T15:20:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T22:20:00","slug":"dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my career, I\u2019ve been asked \u201cwhat does it take to start up and run a nonprofit organization?\u201d more times than I can count. I know this question comes from a deeply heartfelt place, asked by someone who is dreaming of the opportunity to make a lasting impact or to create a positive change from something they\u2019ve experienced. Such inspirational planning can range from supplying cuddly soft teddy bears to every child entering a hospital emergency department to making the kind of mega-sized donations that helps solve a baffling medical mystery. It is not at all unusual for such motivation to be associated with a person\u2019s experience in life, and it can be incredibly healing to contemplate these ideas during any kind of life crisis or grieving process. I have no doubt that within the scope of our basic human nature is a fundamental desire to help others avoid the pain, loss, sadness, and suffering that we have felt.<\/p>\n

Many people are surprised to find starting a nonprofit organization can be rather easy. You send some forms to the IRS to create a 501 organization to obtain an EIN number, do some rudimentary corralling of resources and people to form a board, and you are on your way. If the financial assets are under a certain dollar threshold every year, you can file a basic 990 postcard tax return that doesn\u2019t require a whole lot of effort. Clearly, when considering the 1.8 million IRS-registered nonprofit organizations that are currently fulfilling humanitarian, societal, and artistic interests as diverse as anyone can possibly imagine, the indomitable spirit of inspired charitable giving is alive and well.<\/p>\n

What is not an effortless easy button to push is the long game of fulfilling the dream. In its first year, leading a new nonprofit can be packed with equal measure of excitement and anxiety. There will be great anticipation for all that can be carried out while also working through unfamiliar concepts, plus tackling governance, and organizational processes. And then, there will be the fiscal maintenance and recurring management tasks. Frankly, it\u2019s this part of running a nonprofit which is very much like running a small to mid-sized business, but even more so with specific compliance requirements to stay in the State\u2019s and government\u2019s good graces. Oftentimes, this is when the luster of the nonprofit dream wears off quickly. Statistics prove that it\u2019s usually within the first year or two that most nonprofits stall or fail completely.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, in recent years, there\u2019s been the development of several excellent and affordable online\/remote courses available to the public. It\u2019s well worth the investment of time to discover whether your dream is achievable and sustainable developing your own nonprofit. For example, San Diego State University offers a six-week course for a reasonable $147. Their course content covers: Why do you want to start a nonprofit, the roles\/responsibilities of a Board of Directors, governing documents, writing your mission statement, the final steps to obtaining your nonprofit status, creating your first budget, planning for success, fundraising options, marketing and media relations, and internet\/social media outreach. These are the fixed pillars of nonprofit management, of which the absence of one or several will be contributing factors for a stall-out.<\/p>\n

So, how do you pursue the freedom and flexibility of fulfilling your dream and making impactful changes for others without the fuss, compliance, and oversight of a nonprofit start-up, you ask? This is where Community Foundations play an important role, as they offer all the infrastructure pillars needed to fulfil someone\u2019s vision of making a difference, without their having to do it all by creating a nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Unique to Community Foundations is the ability for these 501(c)3 organizations to create \u201cspecial initiative\u201d funds, delivering on all the overarching goals that put dreams into action. By starting such a fund and being the fund holder or fund advisor, distributions from the fund can be made in the form of grants that support a specific program or service, covering a wide variety of interests. Even more intriguing, developing special initiative funds can become a community-wide catalyst, creating a collaboration between several (or more) nonprofit organizations who bring all their resources to bear to solve larger problems.<\/p>\n

Legacy Endowment Community Foundation is the North County resource that is helping individuals carry out \u201cdream big\u201d goals, offering the same great feeling of making a lasting impact without having to manage an entirely new nonprofit. For some individuals, leading your own nonprofit will be the best answer and an extremely rewarding experience; I know many individuals who thrive within this type of\u00a0 nonprofit model. However, using a Community Foundation like Legacy Endowment may serve the same purpose with less paperwork and mundane oversight. This much I know, for those who are feeling inspired and motivated to create a lasting and positive change in the world, you have the kind of intrepid spirit that put men on the moon. Such noble aspirations are to be encouraged and to that end, we will always be here to offer guidance, mentoring, information, helping turn your plans into action.<\/p>\n

This is a reprint of Jean Larsen’s article in the Village News <\/strong><\/a>on February 9, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is part of a series of articles written to share important information about charitable giving and the various ways you can easily support your favorite charities and community.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my career, I\u2019ve been asked \u201cwhat does it take to start up and run a nonprofit organization?\u201d more times than I can count. I know this question comes from a deeply heartfelt place, asked by someone who is dreaming of the opportunity to make a lasting impact or to create a positive change from something they\u2019ve experienced. Such inspirational … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my career, I\u2019ve been asked \u201cwhat does it take to start up and run a nonprofit organization?\u201d more times than I can count. I know this question comes from a deeply heartfelt place, asked by someone who is dreaming of the opportunity to make a lasting impact or to create a positive change from something they\u2019ve experienced. Such inspirational ... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Legacy Endowment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/legacyendowmentcommunityfoundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"673\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Benton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@legacyendowment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@legacyendowment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Benton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Todd Benton\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c4f0b99a07287b4c3e096c26ac0fafb4\"},\"headline\":\"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\"},\"wordCount\":909,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\",\"name\":\"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":673},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/\",\"name\":\"Legacy Endowment\",\"description\":\"Connecting People Who Care with Causes That Matter\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Legacy Endowment Community Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Legacy-2022-mobile-No-Border.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Legacy-2022-mobile-No-Border.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":161,\"caption\":\"Legacy Endowment Community Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/legacyendowmentcommunityfoundation\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/legacyendowment\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/legacy.endowment\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/legacy-endowment-community-foundation\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c4f0b99a07287b4c3e096c26ac0fafb4\",\"name\":\"Todd Benton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dca521337b6869a9b1b9f430ab9c7b7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dca521337b6869a9b1b9f430ab9c7b7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Todd Benton\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/author\/toddbenton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment","og_description":"In my career, I\u2019ve been asked \u201cwhat does it take to start up and run a nonprofit organization?\u201d more times than I can count. I know this question comes from a deeply heartfelt place, asked by someone who is dreaming of the opportunity to make a lasting impact or to create a positive change from something they\u2019ve experienced. Such inspirational ... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/","og_site_name":"Legacy Endowment","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/legacyendowmentcommunityfoundation","article_published_time":"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":673,"url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Todd Benton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@legacyendowment","twitter_site":"@legacyendowment","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Benton","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/"},"author":{"name":"Todd Benton","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c4f0b99a07287b4c3e096c26ac0fafb4"},"headline":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization?","datePublished":"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/"},"wordCount":909,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/","url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/","name":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization? | Legacy Endowment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp","datePublished":"2024-02-23T19:56:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-18T22:20:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/22245-lr.webp","width":1200,"height":673},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/dreaming-big-of-starting-your-own-nonprofit-organization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dreaming big of starting your own nonprofit organization?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/","name":"Legacy Endowment","description":"Connecting People Who Care with Causes That Matter","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#organization","name":"Legacy Endowment Community Foundation","url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Legacy-2022-mobile-No-Border.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Legacy-2022-mobile-No-Border.png","width":500,"height":161,"caption":"Legacy Endowment Community Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/legacyendowmentcommunityfoundation","https:\/\/x.com\/legacyendowment","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/legacy.endowment\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/legacy-endowment-community-foundation\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c4f0b99a07287b4c3e096c26ac0fafb4","name":"Todd Benton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dca521337b6869a9b1b9f430ab9c7b7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dca521337b6869a9b1b9f430ab9c7b7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Todd Benton"},"url":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/author\/toddbenton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions\/848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacyendowment.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}