Starting a small non-profit company

Tell us any interesting experience you had organizing and starting a non-profit business.  All the good, bad, and ugly!  Starting any business takes a tremendous commitment, so any words of wisdom or caution would be valuable any other people who might be contemplating such an undertaking.

Books!

We can all stand to learn more about the topics discussed on this blog.  If you have read a book that you think is either a gem or a waste of time, let us know!  A mini-review would be perfect.

The Life of a Volunteer!

Anyone who volunteers to lend a hand to a non-profit is a true hero.  Sadly, you are often unsung.  Well, here’s your chance to let others know what it’s like, and maybe you can help inspire others to chip in and help out too.  Let us know why you decided to volunteer, what’s it like day-to-day, and ???  Thanks for your great efforts!

What Are You Doing To Help?

So, what are you personally doing to help people?  Maybe you are directing a non-profit?  Maybe you are organizing a fund raiser?  Or maybe you have organized some project that will benefit the disadvantaged people in your community?  This is where we want to hear from the people who are out there with their sleeves rolled up and are actively involved in some way with helping folks.  We are sure there are some great stories that we hope you will share.  We applaud all that you are doing!

Moenavi Clothing History Part I

Moenavi  (that’s MOO-na-vee) Clothing LLC was legally born on 1/1/08, and I would like to give you a very brief account in this post of whyI formed it.  Future posts will address the the process of forming Moenavi and the interesting and often amusing evolution in trying to think through the formation of a new business, especially a non-profit business.
      For the past two years, beginning in the fall, I have bought fleece fabric from which I make hats, mittens, and neck gaiters.  I then donated these items to homeless shelters in New Mexico.  I’m not really sure where this urge came from, but I do know that it was something that I just had to do. (for more info on this, visit Moenavi’s web site — see sidebar — navigate to the home page, and click on “History”)
      All the money needed, about $1000 each year, came out of my own pocket.  Considering that I live pretty close to the edge financially, it was a sacrifice, but I always felt it was money well spent.  So every two or three weeks during the winter, I sent to the shelters boxes filled with hundreds of items I had sewn.  I naievely assumed that this number of pieces would last them several weeks, but I was very wrong.  In fact, within hours after the boxes arrived at the shelters, everything was distributed.  This was an eye opener to me, and brightly highlighted just how great the need was for the items I made. 
      During the summer after that first year, I learned a lot about just how serious homelessness is in this country.  It stunned me, and armed with this information it made me realize that my newfound “hobby” had more urgency than I had realized.
      During the second winter of doing this, I enlisted the help of volunteers to help with the sewing.  I still bought the fabric with my personal funds and cut out the pieces, but with the help of other folks, we managed to make over 600 pieces, which were sent to the shelters.  But still this was not enough.
      When the fall of the third year, 2007, rolled around, I felt like all my efforts were so insignificant as to be futile.  I really needed to find a way to scale up this homeless operation.  That’s when the seed of Moenavi Clothing was planted.  After reading “The Cathedral Within”, by  Bill Shore,  I immediately came up with what I thought was a brilliant (ha!) idea that would solve my dilemma.  It was to make hats that I would sell and then using all the after tax profit, I would buy the fleece fabric from which I would make the items that I would donate to the homeless shelters.  Perfect!
      I thought the idea of a “for-profit” charity was a clever way to fund my altruistic project.  And it was!  But there were some serious considerations that I was not aware of during these early stages, and in the next few posts, I want to share with you the bumps I ran into.
      The interesting thing about the initial idea for Moenavi was that I had a deep inner need to help homeless people stay warm in the winter.  Who knows why?  It was an inner command that I listened to and then acted upon.  The action could have taken many forms, but something led me to form a business to fund the charitable act.  The interesting thing is that many times during the first two years, I consciously tried to drop this project.  I mean, I was already working very long hours running a weaving business, so my free time was very limited.  I really just wanted to relax with a nice book or go hiking with my dogs during my free time.  But I kept getting pulled back into doing this homeless gig.  So I’m not doing it for any kind of self-satisfaction or ego enhancement.  It’s not something that I have forced to happen.  It’s more like eating — it’s something that won’t let me forget that it needs to be done.  So finally, I just gave in and decided to let this project, Moenavi Clothing, run its course using me as its agent.  So here I am!
      I’m wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?  I’d really be interested to hear all about it.