Your state association will have many resources on starting a non-profit, as well as experts who can assist you with your planning and development. State associations also may hold free seminars or educational workshops on starting a non-profit, or transitioning a for-profit entity into a non-profit one.
If another organization exists in your community that already does something similar to what you want to do, consider working with that organization or approaching it to serve as a fiscal sponsor for your organization. It may not be difficult to come up with a good idea for a non-profit organization – but realizing that idea can be incredibly difficult in practice. In fact, running a non-profit organization may be more difficult than running a for-profit company of a similar size. Non-profits have particular organization and governmental reporting requirements that don’t exist in other contexts, and the start-up process differs from state to state. Becoming a non-profit isn’t easy, but fulfilling a need in your community can be very rewarding.
