What steps should be taken to create a successful non profit organization?

I've worked for, and been on the boards of, a couple of nonprofit orgs. They were all mission-driven, meaning they had a particular focus on improving some particular corner of the world.

A nonprofit org is a kind of business. It's more helpful to call it by its full name, "not-for-profit." Like any business, if you don't raise or earn a surplus of funds (a "profit") at least sometimes you won't be around for long. If you do raise or earn a surplus of funds, you are expected to use those funds to expand your work, not pay your shareholders.

STARTING a non-for-profit is easy: just do it.

First: figure out your mission and write a mission statement. You wrote "for student mental health." You need to refine that.

Will you "offer mental health counseling for first generation college students to help them succeed"? Will you "offer counseling and medical services to help women undergraduates and graduate students improve their mental resiliency?" Will you "give hope and healing to students who are veterans struggling with PTSD?" Will you "advocate for an environment of hope and healing in XYZ University?"

Do you see what I mean here? You NEED a clear mission statement. Whom are you hoping to serve? What are you hoping to do for them? How will it improve your corner of the world? Why? Is your org to be focused on service delivery, on advocacy (harassing people in power until they agree to do a better job), or both? Crafting a good mission statement is not easy: it needs to be precise. It needs to be specific, but not so specific that it limits you.

Seek out other orgs with similar mission statements. Have conversations with their leadership people. Maybe take an internship or job with one of them. You'll learn a lot, and you'll get to pursue your mission.

Start carrying out your mission statement. Recruit people to help you. Find a mentor who shares your goals and put her or him on your board. Keep doing those things.

Keep track of your successes and failures. A good org has institutional memory of what works and what doesn't work.

At some point, you'll probably need money to do what you do. How will you get that money?
-- You'll eat corn, beans, ramen, and peanut butter for a while.
-- You'll hit up relatives and friends to help you pay your bills.
-- If you're a service delivery org, you can ask to be paid for services. Many nonprofits bill governments or other organizations for their work.
-- Will you take health insurance for your mental health services?
-- You should seek grants from foundations. You'll need to write grant proposals to do that.
-- You can raise money from private donors.

NOTICE the importance of your mission statement in doing these money-raising activities. Your mission statement should motivate donors -- from yourself and your mom to the Gates Foundation -- to open their checkbooks.

Fundraising usually requires your org to be a registered charity so your donors can claim tax exemptions for their donations. In the US that means you'll need "recognition of exempt status" by the IRS under rule 501(c)(3). Your favorite search engine will find the irs.gov web site with instructions on how to do that. (BEWARE ONLINE SCAMS of people offering to do this for you for a fee.)

You may also be able to enter into a "fiscal sponsorship" arrangement with another not-for-profit in your area. Under such an arrangement, you can raise money with their tax exemption. One way to do this is in partnership with a church or other house of worship. If you trust them, fiscal sponsorship can be a great way for a small org to avoid lots of distracting paperwork. If you don't trust them, well, you'll eventually need your own mental health services if you try to do this with them. :-) If they're a church and you don't trust them, double the trouble and add ten. :-) :-)

Finally, a few years in, figure out your role. Are you the right person to serve as "executive director?" "program director?" "director of development?"

One last thing: There's a terrific nationwide org out there called SCORE (http://score.org/) whose mission is to help new businesses succeed. They offer free and confidential business counseling.When you have your mission statement at least partly done, make an appointment with a local SCORE counselor to go over it with you.

I admire you for doing this! Go for it! Be patient with yourself, and with the process of starting an org.

Dear Deana,

Wow! I am impressed by your ambitious career plans. Unfortunately I know almost nothing about starting a non profit but contacting existing ones in your area and asking their leaders how they got started would be a start. Since I also live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area I especially recommend that you contact Mental Health America (formerly the Mental Health Association), which is headquartered in Fort Worth, and which already does what you are interested in.

Best of luck with your education and career plans.

Ray Finn

i would suggest that you contact the CEO of a nearby non-profit and ask to meet with them and get their advice. i've never worked for a non-profit so i don't have a clue... sorry!

Hi Deana:

What a fantastic goal! There is definitely great need and a clear path for such a non-profit. If you haven't already, volunteer for a mental health support organization. You will see, first hand, the challenges, the rewards and the operations involved.

Find a high quality benchmark and seek to emulate the work they perform. Active Minds is one such non-profit. You will find much there to educate and model yourself.

If there isn't one already, you might begin by establishing a chapter: http://activemindsblog.org/category/chapters/

Thank you for caring and best to you,

Bridget