How to start a charity with limited resources?
I don’t know about starting a nonprofit – but if your goal is to eventually start one, you might want to start by working at one to see how it’s run – fundraising & development, administration, working with volunteers, committees, and a board of directors – and everything else that goes into it. Here is the IRS’s website for charities and nonprofits.
If you have limited resources, the best way you can help is donating your labor**, your expertise, your ideas, to an existing non-profit you really believe in. You’ll learn how NPOs are run (not just technical/legal, but the devil-in-the-details and realpolitik stuff); you’ll get a better sense of what the existing, met and unmet needs are in your community, and who the major players are whether civic, religious, private, etc.; and you’ll have a shot at networking, cultivating mentors, and establishing trust among community members (including those you wish to help). In 6-12 months, you’ll be in a much stronger position to go forward with your own NPO. (**”labor” can be literal, or it can mean offering financial consulting services, a “young urban professionals” happy hour to raise funds, etc. The important thing is to get to know one organization you really admire inside and out by creating an ongoing relationship.
