We also attempt to give you a bird’s-eye view of the economy’s nonprofit sector. When you look at financial resources, for example, nonprofits are much like the rest of the world: Most of the wealth is held by relatively few nonprofit organizations, a certain number of them are in the middle, and many, many more struggle to make ends meet.
Note: When we refer to nonprofit organizations, unless we say otherwise, we’re talking about organizations that have been recognized as 501(c)(3) nonprofits and are considered public charities by the IRS.
We try to be honest about the difficulties you’ll sometimes face. You probably won’t be able to achieve everything you set out to accomplish, and you’ll always wish you had more resources to do more things. Still, we can’t imagine doing anything else. Maybe you’ll feel the same way after you jump into the nonprofit world.
As you’re reading, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.
To make the content more accessible, we divided it into five parts:
Part 1: Getting Familiar with the Nonprofit Framework
Part 2: Bringing Your A-Game to Nonprofit Management
Part 3: Raising Funds Successfully
Part 4: The Part of Tens
Part 5: Appendixes
Foolish Assumptions
When writing this book, we made some assumptions about who may be interested in reading it. Here are some of the readers we imagined:
You have an idea that will help solve a problem in your community, and you believe that starting a nonprofit organization is the best way to put your idea into action.
You serve on a board of directors and wonder what you’re supposed to be doing.
You work for a nonprofit and need some ideas about fundraising, managing your organization, or working with your board of directors.
You’re simply curious about the nonprofit sector and want to find out more about it.
If you’re one of these people, we’re confident that this book will answer your questions and give you the information you’re seeking.
Icons Used in This Book
We use the following icons throughout the book to flag particularly important or helpful information.
Beyond the Book
In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for a list of steps that are necessary for securing nonprofit status from the IRS, a rundown of the roles and responsibilities of people who sit on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization, and ideas for raising money for your nonprofit organization. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Nonprofit Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.
You can also go to www.wiley.com/go/nonprofitkitfd6e for samples, forms, and lists of helpful websites. We mention many of these files within the chapters; we also include a file of web resources for most chapters. All digital files are labeled with the chapter number and the order in which the element appears in the chapter. For instance, the first digital file in Chapter 2 is labeled File 2-1. For a complete list of digital files, turn to Appendix B, at the back of this book.
Where to Go from Here
One of many handy features about this book is that it’s modular, which means you can start reading anywhere you like! If you’re new to the nonprofit world, we suggest beginning with Chapter 1, where you find fundamental information to get you moving in the right direction. If you’re familiar with nonprofits already but want to better understand your responsibilities as a board member, you can find the answers you need in Chapter 7. If you’re a new board member and want to understand the organization’s finances when spreadsheets are passed out at board meetings, we provide guidance about making a budget and understanding financial statements in Chapter 12. If you need help to publicize and market your programs, we offer some suggestions in Chapter 13.
If you’re like many nonprofit workers or volunteers, you want to know how to find and obtain money for your organization. Part 3 covers this topic, so those chapters are good places to begin.
Whether you’re new to the nonprofit world or a seasoned professional, we think you’ll find helpful and valuable information in this book to get you started or continue your good work.
Part 1
Getting Familiar with the Nonprofit Framework
IN THIS PART …
Peek inside the structure of a nonprofit organization and how nonprofits compare to for-profits.
Get an inside glimpse at what it takes to start a nonprofit organization.
Learn why building your board of directors is the first priority.
See what goes into a mission statement and vision statement and follow some pointers on how to write these two upfront organization-driving documents.
Discover