Building a business is not for the faint of hearts, and as I learn more about creating a non-profit organization, it’s a LOT…But failure is not an option, so away we go!
I would consider us to be in the planning stage, the very early part of the planning stage:
Picked a name- check!
Formed a corporation- check!
Built a logo- check!
Build a website- partial check!
Planning a budget- in progress…
The easy part is actually registering the business with the state. We hired an attorney since with non-profits you need an attorney licensed in the state of SC to file the articles of incorporation, it just made sense. Where it is going to be really sticky is filing for tax exempt status. We reviewed the application and there are many components and requirements that will take work to identify and plan for… the budget and expected revenues is the biggest one. It is estimated it can take up to 6 months to get approval, so I am on a timeline to get this done. My goal is to start fundraising in November- we have so much to do between now and then!
In the interim, building out the baseline items needed for marketing and social media presence. I still work full time, so this work is all taking place on nights and weekends. I have already invested money to get things moving in the right direction, and I am sure that amount will continue to grow. Trying to be mindful of cost and spend, since we are also developing our property in tandem, and I don’t make a million dollars. Boy, the lottery would come in super handy right about now.
But I continue to plug away and try to focus on small steps forward, it is way too easy to become overwhelmed with the to dos and next steps, so, baby step forward every single day.
