Sharing the Process
Give us the Instagram filter version, please.
In school I was taught that when presenting a project, it is best to do so when it is perfectly polished. I was told that people do not want to see or hear about the process. I understand that we live in a world where we desire the instagram filter on everything around us. We want things presented to us in a pretty and enviable way. If we feel that we are being presented with the real life process (which is complicated and messy) then we move on and, frankly, get uncomfortable. Here is the thing though, I do not believe in only presenting a perfectly finished project.
Information please!
I love asking questions. At thirty six years old I still go through life asking “why?” at every chance I get. I want to know why something happens, why I should do something, or why someone chooses a specific action. As a product of this personality trait I believe everyone wants to know why something is done. This is why I have no problem sharing my process with others. It is only by sharing the process that I may be able to help someone who may want to do the same thing. By knowing what worked, and did not work, we can help each other find success.
Getting started
Once I decided to start my nonprofit I did what anyone does when you need guidance; I went onto the internet and typed, “how to start a nonprofit.” From there I found a few different resources and looked for which ones were actually helpful. I am sharing with you the online resources that have helped me so far.
Council of Nonprofits: How to start a nonprofit (Step 3 and Step 4) are the most critical from the start.
How to Start a Nonprofit Organization: I found this list very helpful as it goes into board formation and what kind of board you plan to have. This is a very important piece to understand prior to inviting board members.
Where am I now?
My nonprofit “That’s Us! Books” is officially a registered nonprofit in the state of Utah! I have applied for a federal EIN (or tax identification number) and I am going through the final stages, which will allow me to start fundraising nationally. Next up is the process of building a website and finding an illustrator for my logo. My goal is to complete these items within the next few months. I have already started reaching out to book companies who specialize in diverse children’s books. I want to have a few different companies I trust that I can use immediately for book shipments.
In terms of partnerships, initially I plan to have Reading Partners as my main recipient as I already have a great working relationship with them. As I scale in fundraising I have quite a few other nonprofit literacy programs that I’d like to work with. For now though, this is where I am at and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
