Ideas to improve for a non-profit?

brandon1234

Hello everybody, I've been considering ideas for a possible non-profit organization. As the forum title suggests it relates to cancer, and traveling. Before laying out the plan I'd like to start by explaining why I have such an idea, or passion as I'd like to refer to it. At a young age my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, obviously terrifying news. My family and I began traveling quite a bit after this, looking back I'm extremely thankful in having this opportunity, however at the time I was not completely aware of why we were taking so many vacations. Around 4-5 years after the initial diagnosis my beloved mother passed away. It has been some time (about three years) since this life event occurred and everyday I look for answers. Unfortunately as many of you know these answers simply never come, leaving with us many questions. I sit here today only wishing I had more time, but I also sit here with a fulfillment that my mother got to travel and see many new places and experience a life with her family that may not have been the case if this horrible disease had not struck. In comes an idea that I have been formulating, my life so far has taught me two valuable things- I hate cancer, and I love traveling. Traveling is such an important and freeing aspect of life and I wish everyone who had such a life threatening disease could see parts of the world, no matter their financial burden. What I envision is a non-profit organization that brings together a large community of patients who will have access to numerous blogs and forums like this to simply chat, discuss, and meet new people who share the same story. Now I know there are many like this however where my idea differs is giving these members an opportunity to eventually meet these life-long friends no matter the distance. Say two members meet, one lives in Pennsylvania, and the other in Utah, these members would get to meet, and the organization would front the costs of travel and room for say an extended weekend. It's a noble venture, and many challenges and obstacles would face the organization, but my final dream is to provide as many life-changing experiences as I possibly can. Of course this is a shortened version of the plan, please if you have any ideas that can be brought to the table let me know and I'll explain more as this forum gets more viewers, and hopefully with increased interest this idea can start on its legs and become tangible!

Ryan O'Bleness

Hi, Brandon.

This a noble venture, indeed. I love the idea, and I think it would make a big difference for people who are terminally ill to be able to experience this. However, I do agree with you that there would be some great challenges with this idea, especially in terms of funding. But I say you go for it because this is your dream, and you would absolutely be making the world a better place with your selflessness. A lot of entrepreneurs may find the idea of nonprofits counter-intuitive, but to me it's about fulfilling a dream, and not always about making money.

Personally, I do not have a ton of experience with nonprofits, other than interning at a couple of organizations. I do know that Google has an AdWords grant program for nonprofits that would really help for marketing and search efforts. Here is a case study we have on the StartupNation website, if you're interested in learning more about that:

https://startupnation.com/grow-your-business/wings-for-warriors-google-case-study/?utm_source=community&utm_campaign=existingtopic&utm_medium=12761

I believe you have to register with your state and also incorporate before you can apply to be a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. There would likely be some fees associated with filing for those, and you would also have a set amount of time (I believe it's 15 months) to file a 1023 form that assesses your nonprofit's structure and programs. Again, I know very little about this field, so you'll obviously need to do your own heavy research and due diligence.

Also, this website may be a helpful resource for you: http://nonprofithub.org/

Hope this helps!

saravanan

RallyBound is an excellent online fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations.