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- [00:00]
A
You're listening to the number one podcast for nonprofit leaders getting your nonprofit fully funded. This is the Fundraising Masterminds Podcast. He was trying to come up with this elaborate scheme to avoid taxes, and I had to counsel him, like, look, if you're starting a nonprofit to avoid taxes, that's the wrong reason. That's the wrong reason to start a nonprofit.
- [00:22]
B
And of course, you know, one of the things that bubble up from that when you don't have a plan is that you have trouble raising money because people give to a plan. People give to vision, they give to clarity. And if you don't have any of those kinds of things, you're going to have trouble raising money.
- [00:41]
A
Welcome back to another episode here at the Fundraising Masterminds Podcast. I'm your host, Jason Galasinski, and with me, my co host, Jim Dempsey, the chief development officer at crew. How are you, Jim?
- [00:51]
B
I'm good, Jason. Just really enjoyed a nice three day weekend. Memorial Day is always just special when you can have that extra day.
- [01:00]
A
Yep. Hope you guys had a good Memorial Day weekend. We're going be going back to just the very beginning. In a sense. We're going to be asking the question, am I ready to start a nonprofit? Yeah.
- [01:12]
B
I get those questions all the time, you know, because there's people with a real heart and a passion for a particular cause. But I sometimes have to ask myself, are they really ready to do that? And that's going to be kind of the bottom line of our episode today.
- [01:28]
A
You might be someone who is working in the community, doing a regular job, and you have a passion, you have a heart for something, and maybe, you know, you have a heart for children's ministry and you're wondering if you should start a children's camp or maybe you have a heart for teenagers and you're wondering, you know, if you should start a father, son, you know, ministry or.
- [01:50]
B
Right.
- [01:51]
A
You know, or whatever. And it's. It's hard to know, like, when am I ready to actually take the dive or go to the next level.
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B
Right.
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A
I remember there was a friend of mine who, you know, had a heart for helping other moms. Yeah. And she started a podcast actually a few years ago. I think it was a few years ago. Her podcast is called the Mom Next Door.
- [02:13]
B
Okay.
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A
And she was just, you know, interviewing different moms and talking about their experiences as a mom. And so. But she was, you know, having this kind of battle inside of like, I don't know, people want to give me money, but I don't, I don't really know if I want to have money because as soon as I, you know, accept money, now I have to have an organization. And it's just, she was just like a regular person who just really wanted to help people. But then, you know, it was like she had this like battle inside of her of like, I think I should start a non profit, you know, but I don't know if I want to because it's complicated and I gotta create a board and I gotta have a bank account and I don't know if I want to go through all that. That work. And so really what we're trying to identify in this episode is how do you know if you're ready to start a nonprofit? Like what, what are the, what are the things that you need to kind of have in your mind going to go forward to actually create a nonprofit organization?
- [03:10]
B
Yeah.
- [03:11]
A
And how do you know if you shouldn't create a nonprofit organization? So we're going to talk about four reasons why you shouldn't start a nonprofit and then follow that up with four reasons why you should start a nonprofit.
- [03:22]
B
Yep, exactly.
- [03:23]
A
So I'm excited about this one.
- [03:24]
B
Yeah. Sometimes there's confusion. You know, it can oftentimes seem easier to start a business than start a non profit. And people just say, well, why don't I just have a business and make a profit and, and you know, call it a day. But there are real, there are some real benefits to starting a nonprofit.
- [03:42]
A
And that's, I think that's kind of where some people start is, you know, they, they have a business or they, they, they're an entrepreneur, they're running something and then they have extra time, they have extra resources, and they just start helping their community with that, you know, and that's kind of where a lot of people start is like, hey, I have a heart for the homeless. I'm just gonna start feeding them or I'm gonna start volunteering. You just start giving of your own money. But then eventually it gets to the point where other people wanna help out.
- [04:09]
B
You know, and people start liking what you're doing and they wanna help with their time, and then they start to wanna help with their money, and then all of a sudden you have to make that decision.
- [04:18]
A
Yeah. So before we get into why you should start a nonprofit, let's talk about, you know, four reasons why you shouldn't start a nonprofit. So the first reason why you shouldn't start a nonprofit is are you motivated by personal gain?
- [04:31]
B
Right. Well, you know, you do have to do some introspective thinking. On this. Is this something that I'm doing to make a difference in my world and really give back to others, or is this filling a void in myself that is giving me self gratification? I like the kudos that people give me. You're doing good work. We like what you're doing. We like who you are. You're a good communicator, whatever it is. And that, that self gratification can, you know, really inflate your head to some degree. And yeah, there's probably too many narcissists who have started nonprofit organizations. And you see those kind of individuals because they're, they're tyrannical sometimes in their, their leadership style, the way that they run things, and eventually they burn off people. And I have to look back and say, was that the right thing to do to start, even start an organization?
- [05:34]
A
Yeah. Well, and another reason kind of along those lines is, you know, if you're trying to avoid taxes.
- [05:39]
B
Yeah, right.
- [05:40]
A
I, I talked to a person I was probably six or seven months ago where, you know, basically he was trying to figure out how to save taxes. And he had this like, idea for, you know, how he could avoid taxes. And so he thought, well, if I start a nonprofit, then I could do this and this and I could, you know, donate to, you know, this and that. And then, you know, kind of. Yeah, he was trying to come up with this elaborate scheme to avoid taxes. And I had to counsel him like, look, if you're, if you're starting a nonprofit to avoid taxes, you know, wrong reason to start a nonprofit and you're not, it's really not going to help save you a whole lot.
- [06:18]
B
Well, I, you know, I. Even in defense of the federal government, I think that it's, that opportunity is there as, as icing on the cake. It's not why you should start. It happens to be a nice benefit, but it should never be your primary reason why you start a nonprofit.
- [06:35]
A
Yeah. So the second reason why we don't want to start a nonprofit is if no one supports your cause.
- [06:40]
B
Yeah, yeah. If you aren't getting feedback from people that's positive, you know, it's almost like discerning God's will, like even determining whether you're spiritually gifted in an area. If you aren't getting positive feedback from people, if you aren't getting individuals saying, wow, you are right in your sweet spot. You're accomplishing some great things, good things are happening, you won't go much further than that if you don't have support from the community.
- [07:07]
A
Right. So in a way you already need to be doing right. What you're, that's right. You're passionate about going back to that example of the Mom Next Door podcast. Right. She was already doing it and people were reaching out to her and wanting to get more involved and you know, wanting to donate. And they're like, how can we support you? How can we, you know, come along? We really love what you're doing. And she was like, oh, you know, I don't really have a way for people to donate to me.
- [07:34]
B
Right.
- [07:34]
A
I should probably figure that out.
- [07:37]
B
Yeah.
- [07:37]
A
So that's, that's an example of you have people that are starting to kind of push you in a sense to start a nonprofit.
- [07:45]
B
There's a community groundswell that is a good reason to start one.
- [07:49]
A
You also shouldn't start a nonprofit if you haven't done your research. So that's our third point.
- [07:54]
B
Absolutely. Well, you've got to do your homework and essentially count the cost. I mean, that's scriptural and you shouldn't venture into anything unless you've counted the cost on things. Making sure you know how much it's going to cost to get things started. Make sure that, you know, the amount of time. Because starting a non profit organization is very much like starting a business. It really is all consuming. Yeah. And you know, actually it's very similar.
- [08:21]
A
To starting a business. The only difference is, I mean, you even have to have entrepreneurial skills.
- [08:26]
B
Right.
- [08:26]
A
You know, so if, if you're the type of person that, you know, likes to be told what to do and you like to comply and you want to just go to work and do a job, you know, starting a nonprofit is probably not for you.
- [08:39]
B
No, really, you need to have that entrepreneurial spirit, that self starter phase and, and ability. It's so important that you, you understand that. I mean, if you, to put in 20 hours a week in this, we're talking more like 60 to 80 hours a week with a non profit organization, you probably will find that you've never worked as hard as you did when you started a non profit.
- [09:06]
A
So it's so important and you know, understanding the IRS regulations, understanding, you know, what it, what it's like to have a board, you know, because when one thing about running a business is you literally work for yourself.
- [09:19]
B
Right, Right.
- [09:19]
A
But when you start a non profit, you're working for the board, you're working for yourself.
- [09:24]
B
That's right.
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A
It might seem like you're working for.
- [09:26]
B
Yourself and surprisingly or not surprisingly, you're going to have a Number of opinions from people who might not be the same way. And you're going to ask people to be part of your board who may or may not have the same vision. They may have the same end results, but how to get there may be different. And you've got to be willing to butt heads with people and have people think differently than you and, you know, will you willing to accept that?
- [09:55]
A
Yeah. Well, that brings us to our fourth reason why you shouldn't start a nonprofit, which is you don't have a strategic plan.
- [10:01]
B
Oh, absolutely.
- [10:02]
A
So, I mean, how many people start a nonprofit and they're just like, okay.
- [10:06]
B
Where do I go next?
- [10:08]
A
You know, or they just start doing it.
- [10:09]
B
Right.
- [10:10]
A
You know, they're busy. Like, they're busy bodies, and they're busy, you know, feeding people, you know, or clothing people or. Or, you know, getting out there. But then, you know, they don't actually take a step back and say, okay, where do I to be in five years? What's my dream vision? Where's. Where do I want to go? How am I going to get there? How am I going to get people to support me?
- [10:30]
B
And yeah, I've used the term, you manage momentum, and that's all you're doing, which means you get in survival mode. You don't get into thriving mode, and you're not getting out ahead. All you're doing is just staying one step ahead of things, whether it be, you know, the. The vendors, whether it be your board, whether it be your staff, you're just one step ahead, and that's never a good place to be.
- [10:54]
A
Yeah. So that's definitely easy to happen. It's easy to just start something and just go right. You know, I know lots of people who don't have a strategic vision in there. Actually, a lot of people who joined the perfect vision in our mentorship program, I'd say maybe 30, 40% of them don't have a strategic vision.
- [11:13]
B
Right.
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A
And that's one part of the reason why they joined the program is because they want to help. They want us to help give them a strategic vision.
- [11:20]
B
Well, and of course, you know, one of the things that bubble up from that when you don't have a plan is that you have trouble raising money, because people give to a plan. People give to vision, they give to clarity. And if you don't have any of those kinds of things, you're going to have trouble raising money. And of course, they come to us, and we will help them identify those kinds of things.
- [11:43]
A
Yeah. Well, let's talk about the Four reasons why you should. Now, this isn't an exhaustive list, but this is just four ideas of things that we came up with.
- [11:52]
B
Right.
- [11:53]
A
The first one is that you need to be filling a gap in the community. So there needs to be some kind of void.
- [12:00]
B
Right.
- [12:00]
A
That. And you see a need and you want to fill that need. There needs to be a problem that you're trying to solve.
- [12:07]
B
Yes.
- [12:08]
A
Right. If there's no problem you're trying to solve and you're just starting a nonprofit for the sake of it.
- [12:13]
B
Right.
- [12:13]
A
You're not going to get very far.
- [12:14]
B
Yeah, well, it's, you know, we. We use the analogy of starting a business. It's exactly the same way you start a business because you find that there's a void somewhere. There's. There's. Find a little niche that nobody else is doing. It's so important that as you start your nonprofit that you look for those things, that you're unique. What. What do you do differently? Just starting up a pregnancy center two blocks away from another pregnancy center kind of defeats the purpose. You're all doing the same kinds of things. But if you've got a unique way to do ministry and you are filling that void or that spot that nobody else is doing, it might mean that it's time to start a nonprofit.
- [12:56]
A
So the second reason why you might want to consider starting a nonprofit is because you're already doing the work.
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B
Right.
- [13:02]
A
So in the example of my friend who started a podcast because she had a heart for moms, and she, you know, was writing newsletters and just really just had a heart for helping moms where they are. She just really remembered what it was like to have babies in diapers and, you know, not getting any sleep and, you know, just all that emotion. And, you know, she really wanted to help moms get to a better place and to be sane.
- [13:29]
B
Right.
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A
You know, and so she's already doing it. She's already has a podcast. She already is bringing people in.
- [13:34]
B
Yeah.
- [13:35]
A
She already is having people come to her and say, hey, I want to support you. How do I give? How do I get involved?
- [13:41]
B
Right.
- [13:42]
A
And. And she's like, oh, you know, I. I don't really have a way for you to do that properly. You know, like, they can help, but it's not, like, official. Right, Right. And that's. Those are. If that kind of thing is happening to you where you're already, you know, doing something, and then people are coming to you and saying, how can I help you? How can I get involved? You know, that's a good indicator to know, like, oh, I should probably start a non profit and make this official.
- [14:07]
B
Yes, that's exactly right.
- [14:08]
A
So many of you know that I started an organization called Reaching the Heart of Zambia. Yeah, we serve children in the slums of Zambia. We started a. A school there and we. And it's a free private school for street kids.
- [14:22]
B
Right.
- [14:22]
A
And we rescue them off the street, we give them, you know, food, and we help them get their lives back together, you know, and it's a. It's a pretty incredible ministry. But in my case, you know, it was something that our family had a heart for. Missions.
- [14:37]
B
Yeah, you'd been to Zambia and I've.
- [14:39]
A
Been to Africa several times. And we were looking to get involved the way that that whole organization started. We actually started by sponsoring some kids in Compassion.
- [14:53]
B
Yeah.
- [14:53]
A
And we, we kind of thought it would be cool, you know, I think it was for Christmas one year or something, we thought, or maybe for the child's birthday, we thought we could sponsor a child on their behalf, you know, and so. And one of the things Compassion does really nice is you can write letters to them. And so the kids were doing that and, you know, it kind of created kind of a desire to, you know, help the least of these or help children in need. And then as we were doing that for a number of years, some kids dropped off and moved on. And we just thought we were reading some other books of people who had gone into the mission field and got their hands dirty and just were really getting involved in their lives. And we just thought, well, that would be something really cool to do. And so we knew some other missionaries in Zambia who were already doing the work, and we started to come alongside of them and say, can we help? Can we get involved? And so we just started helping a little bit here and there. And then it eventually kind of led to a trip going there, and then just one thing after another. It's just like they needed help. I think one of the first things we did for them was when we got there, they were all driving this busted up Honda Civic kind of vehicle with no shocks. And we were going into the village, you know, to, to minister to people, and the car kept bottoming out. And I just thought to myself, why do these guys, you know, they, they need a truck? You know, you can't, you know, this car is not going to last more than six months, you know, and so I just thought to myself, well, could I do a fundraiser to raise a, you know, raise some money for the truck?
- [16:32]
B
Right.
- [16:33]
A
You know, as soon as that idea kind of entered my mind, I was like, well, we're going to need to start some kind of non profit. We're going to have to funnel this through because people can't just give to me.
- [16:42]
B
Right.
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A
You know, so those are the kinds of things that started to happen where it was like there was a need that I was wanting to fill.
- [16:49]
B
Right.
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A
And then, you know, in order for that need to be filled, we had to start something. Yeah. And then, you know, from there it just kind of went, you know.
- [16:57]
B
But it started with something you were doing already.
- [16:59]
A
Yeah. I mean, we already, you know, we didn't, we didn't sit down one day and say, gee, I feel like starting a nonprofit seems like something I should do.
- [17:07]
B
Yeah. Or starting a nonprofit in Zambia or whatever.
- [17:10]
A
Yeah, yeah. No, and it's not like I said to myself, you know, my business made a lot of money and I don't want to pay taxes. So I think I'm going to start a non profit to, you know, so I could write myself a check and avoid taxes, you know, and, you know, it's like you already have a heart for something and you're already doing it.
- [17:30]
B
Right. It just makes sense.
- [17:31]
A
Sense. Yeah.
- [17:31]
B
Yeah. Well, the next reason you should start a non profit, if you have a strong support base, it is so important that you start with a base of support already. That would be personal backing. Individuals who just give you affirmation, we like what you're doing, we think this is good, we want to be part of that. If they come alongside and say, we'd love to give to you, how do we do that? Those kinds of things are so important. Having a nucleus of individuals who already support what you do, like what you are, you know, producing from your ministry. It's so important that you have that strong base of support because once you get going, you're gonna just, you're gonna have momentum. And as I said, managing momentum's not a great thing to do. You want to be forward thinking. And so it's important. I mean, you're gonna have just a myriad of expenses once you finally get in there. And you're going to have to have people. I mean, it will help. And you're probably going to have to use some of your own dollars to get started. But it really helps if you've got the backing of family, friends, neighbors, co workers.
- [18:44]
A
I was going to say, I was almost going to say. One indicator to know if you should start a nonprofit is, is everyone else is telling you you should do this. Oh, yeah, you don't want to, right? You're like, I don't want to do it. Oh, it's just, I just, I don't want to go through all that work and you know, and everyone else is like, but this is your calling. This is your, this is what you're doing. You know, like, you should really consider this. Like, or, or maybe you do. You are kind of thinking about it, but the point being that you, you have other people around you encouraging you to do it, you know, and it's, it's not just your idea. And everyone else is saying, you know, gee, I don't think you should do that. You know, you really want confirmation from your close family and friends and church pastor. You know, people who know you well are also agreeing with that.
- [19:33]
B
Well, and starting a ministry is a calling, Jason. And it is so important that part of your innocence basis support is making sure that this is what God wants you to do. Because if you're doing it for the wrong reasons, it will fail. But you've got to make sure that part of that base of support is making sure that God legitimately has called you to do this and to start this up, because you're going to have to rely on him. You and I both know how important God is. He's God's participation, involvement, advice, counsel. Wisdom is irreplaceable. There's nothing more important than God being in something and all. You and I have both seen enough organizations where we've said, I don't know if God is in this. We've seen enough events where say, God didn't show up for this event or God didn't make himself present, that's for sure. But it's important that part of your base of support is making sure that God is.
- [20:32]
A
Well, that's a good point. And that leads me to a question. You know, how do you know if God is calling you to something?
- [20:38]
B
Well, you know, God uses people. God uses scripture. God uses different ways to affirm what you're doing. If you're trying to decide, do I open up a rescue mission? Should I start a pregnancy center? So important. Start with the word. See what God has to say about doing those kinds of things. Is it something that we are called as believers to do? You know, helping widows, helping the poor? We know those kinds of things are directly in scripture. Then go to people that you trust, like you said earlier, your pastor, other people who are strong followers of Christ. Go to them, seek wisdom, seek counsel in that. Do you believe that this is something that God's in there. Pray fast. Make sure that you have assurance of God's calling.
- [21:32]
A
Yeah, no, that's good. And I was going to say, you know, when we align with the things that God's passionate about, like if God's passionate about, you know, the orphans and the widows.
- [21:43]
B
Right.
- [21:44]
A
And then you're praying along the lines of God, you know, please give me the orphans and the widows. You know, please help me to, you know, I wanna, I wanna do this.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, then that's in line with his will already.
- [21:55]
B
That's right.
- [21:56]
A
A lot of another thing that I've heard people say is, you know, you wanna find out where God is already working in the world and then just go join up with what he's already doing.
- [22:05]
B
Oh, that was Henry Blackaby. That was. His whole premise was find out where God's working and run to that.
- [22:11]
A
Yeah.
- [22:12]
B
And that's what if you, if you're doing that already.
- [22:16]
A
Yeah. Then in a sense that's kind of what happened with, with our ministry in Zambia. Because I didn't actually start the ministry in Zambia myself.
- [22:23]
B
Right.
- [22:23]
A
It was. There were already a group of people that had gone into a village and shared the gospel and there was a kind of a revival that broke out. Right. And God was already working.
- [22:34]
B
Right.
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A
And then I kind of just came alongside of them and said, hey, how can I help you? How can I undergird, you know, and support what you guys are already doing?
- [22:41]
B
Yeah.
- [22:42]
A
You know, so in a sense, you know, God was already at work there and he still is at work there, you know, so, yeah, that's.
- [22:48]
B
Yeah, probably bringing people from the slums into private schools was probably not originated with you, but you, you saw that this was a, a really wise way of ministering to people, and you went to that and you poured your life in it. You poured your resources in it. And then you said, you know what? It's time to start a nonprofit myself.
- [23:10]
A
So I think that's, that's a good point that you. And you know, another thing along those lines is just spend a lot of time in prayer, you know, and just really make sure that you are at a point where you feel a burden. If you're just doing this because other people think you should, or you think it's the right reason, or, you know, you just want to make a difference, but you don't really feel like personally called.
- [23:35]
B
Right.
- [23:35]
A
You know, I think it's really important that you feel called to what you do because. And that you enjoy it. You know, because if you, if you don't enjoy it. Eventually it's just gonna, there's gonna be so much work that you're just gonna say why am I doing this? Like I'm just gonna go back to getting another job. Because.
- [23:53]
B
And it's not if the time, the hard times come, it's when the hard times come. And if God is not your primary focus, then you're gonna have trouble. And Paul talks about praying without ceasing. You're gonna find as a ministry leader, you're gonna get a better grasp of the understanding of praying without ceasing and what Paul meant with that. Because you're going to need that.
- [24:15]
A
Let's talk about the fourth reason why you should start a nonprofit.
- [24:18]
B
Yeah, you have to have a compelling vision for the future. As I talked about, the last thing you want to do is just simply manage momentum of your organization. You want to actually have a vision for the future. You want to be able to identify and be able to communicate clearly so that people can visualize in their minds what the future looks like for your organization. If you intend to start a pregnancy center, what's that going to look like? How many staff, how many programs are you going to go medical? Are you going to have an ultrasound? Are you going to have a medical director? Are you going to go, are you going to have multiple centers? Is that part of your desire is to have multiple centers? So you need to be able to have a vision and be able to communicate that vision for the future.
- [25:09]
A
I would say it's not about just, you know, stopping the problem. Like if the problem is, you know, there's homeless people on the street. You don't start a non profit to just feed homeless people. Right. I mean that might be part of what you do, but you have to have a bigger vision. I remember we had John Cooper on from the Niagara Gospel Mission and he said, you know, his 50 year vision is that their rescue mission is a mission sending organization that they, he had such a vision for, you know like getting people off the streets, getting them trained up and sending them out, you know, and help getting, getting those people to help other people to the point where there is not any more homeless.
- [25:55]
B
And that doesn't even. It to some degree that doesn't even seem realistic or that even possible to do that for that.
- [26:03]
A
Just like Bill Bright with, you know, I want to reach every child in or every, I want to reach every state student, you know, on every campus around the world.
- [26:11]
B
And that's just in 1951.
- [26:13]
A
Are you gonna do that?
- [26:14]
B
Yeah. That was so so really unrealistic in some people's minds. And people told him he was crazy.
- [26:21]
A
Yeah. And you're doing it. You look at people like Mother Teresa and things like that, where they just. They just have this huge vision, you know, and it's like people around you are almost thinking you're crazy.
- [26:31]
B
Right.
- [26:31]
A
You know, like, you're. How is that even possible? That, you know, you, You. You're just out. You're way out there, like. But yet if you feel called to do that.
- [26:40]
B
Yeah.
- [26:40]
A
You don't have to know how it's gonna.
- [26:42]
B
Yeah. And the God is part of that.
- [26:44]
A
Right.
- [26:44]
B
You know, God. God is the God of impossible.
- [26:46]
A
Yeah.
- [26:47]
B
And he can make. Make well.
- [26:48]
A
And that's what we've seen with people like Billy Graham.
- [26:51]
B
Sure.
- [26:51]
A
That's what we've seen with Bill Bright. That's what we've seen.
- [26:53]
B
Dawson Trotman. Yes. All those.
- [26:55]
A
Yeah. So it's not about having to know exactly how you're going to do every little thing, but it's just, are you trust. You know, number one, are you called?
- [27:04]
B
Right.
- [27:05]
A
You know, because if you are called to this, then the Lord will provide for you.
- [27:09]
B
Right.
- [27:09]
A
Number two, you know, are you able to depend on him for strength?
- [27:15]
B
Right.
- [27:15]
A
You know, and are. Can you. Can you rally people together? And do you have a compelling vision for the future? Because that. The vision is really what motivates people to get involved.
- [27:25]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [27:26]
A
You know, like, people give to. If Bill Bright was just going to university campuses and sharing the gospel, but. And maybe he was really effective at that, but he didn't have a vision to reach every campus on every, you know, state. You know, campus crusade wouldn't exist.
- [27:43]
B
Yeah. We might have just gotten the support of alumni at ucla, but it wouldn't have gone much further than that. Absolutely.
- [27:50]
A
Right. So it's really important that you have a vision beyond just the now.
- [27:56]
B
What's going on today.
- [27:57]
A
You want to have a compelling vision for the future.
- [27:59]
B
Right.
- [28:00]
A
Because no one is going to give to, you know, just your needs, keeping you afloat, helping you pay your rent, or helping you stay alive. You know, most people are going to be giving towards some kind of compelling vision for the future.
- [28:14]
B
Right.
- [28:15]
A
All right, well, to sum it up, we just put together a list of questions, and we want you guys to ask these questions to yourself to determine whether you should start nonprofits.
- [28:24]
B
So.
- [28:24]
A
So we're just going to read these questions and just think about this honestly in your head. What is motivating you to start a nonprofit? Do you have a strong network of people who will support you? Is there a genuine need for your nonprofit in your community? Is your mission marketable and appealing to your donors? Is your cause something that people will be willing to give towards in the future? Have you done the necessary research? Are you financially able to start a nonprofit? Do you have a compelling vision and strategy for the future? And I would add, are you called to start a nonprofit?
- [29:01]
B
Right.
- [29:02]
A
If you're answering yes to all those things, then you're probably ready to start a nonprofit.
- [29:06]
B
Yes.
- [29:07]
A
But if you're not sure, you know, then you should probably talk to your pastor, you should probably talk to your mentors, talk to other family members around you and just say, you know, I'm thinking about this. I'm not sure if I should do this or not. What do you think? You know, get. There's wisdom in a multitude of counsel. Right, Right. So I always feel like if you're struggling with something and you're not sure if you should do it, go to people who are older than you, go to people who are wiser than you, go to people who have more life experience and just, you know, kind of pour your heart out to them and see what they say.
- [29:39]
B
Right. Absolutely. Now, Jason, if the answer is yes to all those, we've got a call to action for you. Yeah.
- [29:47]
A
We already did a podcast episode. It was actually our eighth podcast episode, which is amazing. Number eight.
- [29:53]
B
And we're in the 80s or something like that now.
- [29:56]
A
Yeah. So it's called Starting a Nonprofit. Five Steps to Getting Fully Funded. I would recommend that you check out that episode because we give you some practical steps of like what to actually do to start a non profit when you're ready. But it's going to involve, you know, filing some paperwork work, getting your board set up, and creating a vision, a mission statement, you know, all that kind of stuff. There's a lot of things you have to do.
- [30:20]
B
Yeah.
- [30:21]
A
So definitely check out that episode.
- [30:23]
B
And this may be part of counting the cost as we talk later.
- [30:26]
A
Yeah.
- [30:27]
B
About making sure. Do I really want to do that? So the answer doesn't necessarily have to be yes before you check this episode out. It could be that this is checking the episode out. Out will help you solidify that decision. So no matter where you're at in this process, you should check out the episode. However, if your answer already is yes, check it out.
- [30:50]
A
Yeah. And then going through the exercise of creating your bylaws and all that, like the government kind of forces you to kind of, you know, you can't start a non profit Unless you give them a mission. Yeah, unless you give them, you know, your core values, you have to give them them, you know, your bylaws. You have to give them your board.
- [31:06]
B
Right.
- [31:07]
A
You know, so there's just. There's certain things you just can't do.
- [31:09]
B
Right.
- [31:10]
A
And so just going through the tax deductible status. Right. So you just. You have to go through all these check marks, and going through all that exercise kind of helps you sort out, like, all that.
- [31:20]
B
Right.
- [31:20]
A
All that detail.
- [31:21]
B
That's right.
- [31:21]
A
But once you've gotten everything done and you're. You've actually started your nonprofit.
- [31:26]
B
Yeah.
- [31:27]
A
Jim, what's the next thing you should really do?
- [31:29]
B
You know, the good part is that you can apply for your tax exempt status and start soliciting and asking people for gifts. And those individuals, pending approval of the irs, those individuals will get a tax deduction.
- [31:46]
A
So at this point, you really can hit the ground running.
- [31:48]
B
Oh, you can absolutely file. Yeah. And. And that involves putting support together, putting a base of individuals who support you. You know, we've used the life acrostic in the past, and you're going to need individuals. You're going to need a nucleus of people who are at the heart. Some may be your first board, or maybe those individuals who are helping to launch your board, or maybe future board members. Whatever it is, it's a nucleus of individuals who support you with their labor, their influence, their finances and expertise, coming alongside and helping you further your vision.
- [32:25]
A
Another thing that is just super important as far as, like, if you really want to, you know, kickstart your nonprofit, your new nonprofit to another level.
- [32:33]
B
Right.
- [32:34]
A
You know, one of the best ways to do that is to host a vision dinner. Yes. And, you know, we. It's funny, sometimes people come to me and they say, I really like this vision dinner thing, but I need to get like a year or two under my belt and just, you know, raise, you know, I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't know if I have, like, like the support. Right. And really, I. I kind of disagree with that mindset. I really think if you have a. If you have a good board put together, you probably have five or six people on your board and you got, you know, a family. You've got, like a little nucleus. You. You really only need about 10 or 15 people that are excited about what you're doing to really do a vision dinner.
- [33:15]
B
Right.
- [33:15]
A
And we. You don't. Your first vision dinner doesn't have to have 500 people. It doesn't even need to have 300. You know, if you can get set 15 tables or, you know, 10 tables.
- [33:25]
B
Right.
- [33:25]
A
You know, just anything where you've got just a little bit more, you know, maybe 150 people, you know, in a room that's 15 tables, then you can, you know, raise a decent amount of money. You know, you. You might be able to raise 75 to $100,000.
- [33:41]
B
Yeah.
- [33:41]
A
And that will really give you that base of support that will Kickstart, you know, your organization.
- [33:49]
B
Right.
- [33:50]
A
We always hear about these Kickstarter campaigns. Right. And people who do Kickstarter campaigns are people who. They want to launch a product or they want to launch a service, but they need backing from people to be able to actually do it.
- [34:02]
B
Right.
- [34:02]
A
And so if you're at that point where you really want to get backing from your community, then you got to do a vision Dinner. So go ahead.
- [34:10]
B
No, I was going to say, Jason, I really see the vision Dinner is a bridge. Your first step really is to establish a major donor strategy. But a major donor strategy can take anywhere between 18 months to 2 years to get going. Well, you've got an organization where you need to get paid, some workers need to get paid, vendors need to get paid. Things need to happen, and you need money today to be able to make those things happen. The dinner is a great bridge to help you get that funding to fund until your major donor strategy is started and up and going. So it's. It's really a simultaneous. It's a parallel track that you, You. You're working towards a major donor strategy, but you're also doing a perfect vision Dinner.
- [35:05]
A
Well, and the vision Dinner is also a great way to meet potential major donors.
- [35:10]
B
It. It bubbles that up to the surface. It brings people.
- [35:13]
A
Yeah. How many times do we do a vision dinner? And then, you know, there's all these new connections and people come together. And, you know, maybe a percentage of those people will be future future donors.
- [35:25]
B
And what. Some will surprise you. They'll start out with a first gift to you of a thousand, 2500, 5000, sometimes even $10,000 in the first dinner. And those are the kind of people. It's like skimming cream off the top. You're taking those people and moving them into. They'll be a catalyst to start your major donor program.
- [35:45]
A
So if you're interested in checking out the perfect Vision Dinner mentorship program, we do this mentorship program twice a year. We do one class in the spring to help people move towards a vision Dinner in the fall. And then we do another class in the fall to help people do a vision dinner in the spring. And this course is great for if you are starting a nonprofit. Like, if you really are wanting something, something intense, something intentional, something practical, something that's gonna kind of take your hand and guide you through a process with a specific outcome. I always say the. The goal of the Perfect Vision Inner Mentorship program is not that you just learn all this theory, but that we're actually guiding you through the exact steps. You know, we kind of created this as a recipe.
- [36:33]
B
I like to say we take you by the hand and walk you through the journey. There's so many materials out there. They give it to you and say, be warm, be filled, and find success. And then you end up failing. And you wonder why. We feel like it's important to take you by the hand and walk you through this journey to get you to success and then into the future.
- [36:52]
A
Right. So the goal of the mentorship program is that we want to guide you through the process to plan and execute. Not just plan and have theory, but we want you to actually do a vision enter.
- [37:03]
B
Yeah.
- [37:03]
A
We're going to help you do that with the goal of raising at least a hundred thousand dollars.
- [37:08]
B
Right.
- [37:08]
A
Or 50% more than what you're currently doing.
- [37:12]
B
But we don't leave you there, Jason.
- [37:14]
A
No.
- [37:15]
B
Once you've gotten past your first dinner, we move you into a thing called the winner circle. Tell us a little bit about the winner circle.
- [37:21]
A
Yeah. So the winner circle is something that we are super excited about. We often talk about, you know, win, keep, and lift as our development system. And we're always trying to win new people to our cause. That helps happens through the vision Dinner because we're always raising, we're always trying to get 50% new people interested every time we do one. So this is an annual event that you do, but then what do you do with the people who are bought into your vision?
- [37:47]
B
Right.
- [37:47]
A
You know, you. You can't just say, well, we'll see you next year. You know, you.
- [37:51]
B
You gotta expect them to be there. Yeah.
- [37:53]
A
You gotta cultivate those relationships. So how do you cultivate those relationships? Well, we created a three year program called the Winner's Circle.
- [38:01]
B
Right.
- [38:01]
A
And this is where we walk you through. We have a different focus every year, but like the first year, we're focused on just learning how to communicate strategically and regularly and getting you into a regular rhythm of communication. And then we also help you plan your next dinner. The second year of the Winner's Circle, we focus on major Donors, how to find and cultivate those major donors. We also teach you you about peer to peer fundraising. The third year we focus on, you know, some more advanced topics like estate planning, asset giving. Asset giving things our next level lessons. Yeah. Like foundations, plan giving and estate planning. And that's all stuff that you know you should be doing, but it's not like you don't need to do that until you've got like a good.
- [38:50]
B
Yeah.
- [38:51]
A
Basically base and solid plan put together.
- [38:52]
B
That's right.
- [38:53]
A
So the goal of the winner's circle is to ultimately get you to the point where you're raising about 500,000 a year. So we always say, because every year we're doing a vision dinner. So our goal for your first dinner is about a hundred thousand. That's pretty common, pretty easy to do. The next, you know, winner circle year we're shooting for about 200 to 250. The third dinner we're shooting for the 300s, 375 roughly. And then the fourth dinner we're shooting into that 4 to 500 range. And that might seem kind of pie in the sky. Like you guys are nuts.
- [39:27]
B
Yeah. We just had a dinner and raised $8,000. You're talking about 500,000. Yeah, we are, yeah. Because we feel like that's in your future and can be in your future.
- [39:37]
A
And, and we've seen it happen.
- [39:38]
B
Yes.
- [39:39]
A
Time and time again. I mean we've seen organizations raise 600,000 in a dinner. We've seen seen organizations raise 800, 000 in a dinner. I think the most I've ever seen raised in one single vision dinner was 1.2 million. That for me personally, I don't know if you've seen more than that.
- [39:57]
B
I have, but, but it's.
- [39:58]
A
Yeah, it was, it was a homeless ministry in the Chicagoland area and they had like 2, 000 people. It was insane. But you know, I, I've seen, seen God do amazing things through vision dinners.
- [40:12]
B
Yeah.
- [40:13]
A
But you know, we don't want to overwhelm you. You know, we don't want you to think, oh wow, these guys are just pie in the sky numbers.
- [40:18]
B
Yeah.
- [40:19]
A
We actually have a website. You can check this out so you can scan the QR code on the screen. It'll take you to our website, fundraisingmasterminds.net there is an application to get into this program because it is an invite only thing.
- [40:33]
B
Right.
- [40:33]
A
So you fill out the application if you're interested and, and then we'll get in touch with you and we'll see if this is a good fit for you.
- [40:39]
B
Right.
- [40:39]
A
We get a lot of applications, so, you know, get your application in early so we have time to review it. But honestly, the Vision Dinner is probably one of the best catalysts for kickstarting your nonprofit into existence. Exactly. Because it just. We just finished a series recently called the $10 million story, where all the people in our program from 2024, collectively, we all raised $10 million together. And we were telling the different stories, and so many of those people were saying, like, yeah, the money, like, it. It was good to get the money, but it was so much more valuable than just the money. Like, we got connected with people in our communities. The press was involved. You know, people have been asking us how it's going.
- [41:22]
B
When's your next dinner? It just.
- [41:24]
A
Yeah, yeah. That was the best dinner we've ever been to. You know, like, it's. There's a lot of other benefits than just the finances. Yeah. So it's definitely worth checking out, and I couldn't recommend it enough.
- [41:36]
B
Yeah.
- [41:37]
A
So we talked about a lot of things on this episode, and if your head is spinning a little bit, it's okay. Maybe you've been listening to this in the car and you're like, man, I wish I could have written all this stuff down. Well, good news. We wrote it all down for you. So we actually put together a PDF of all the things we talked about, and if you want to scan the QR code on. On your screen or go to the link in the description, you can just click that and then we will send a PDF to your email. Hopefully that will help you just to have the resources to know all the things we talked about on this episode, as well as, you know, next steps and things you can do to get your new nonprofit started and funded.
- [42:17]
B
Right. Absolutely.
- [42:18]
A
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to this channel. We've got a lot of episodes coming in the future that you're not going to want to miss. Well, thanks for tuning in to this episode of the fundraising Mastermind podcast. We will see you next time.
- [42:30]
B
Take care.