I am wanting to start a non-profit for HIV/AIDS education?
Can I be a paid employee... like the executive director?? How much can I pay myself and my staff?? Can this be done with grants or does the salary need to paid from fund raising and donations? What should I know about setting up a non-profit and where I can go to search for grants?? This is a much needed organization for HIV/AIDS prevention, and education in my area. I want to dedicate my life to this!
Government & Non-Profit - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
welcome to the competition!!!!! the established foundations have paid staff...you better have a good business/budget/prevention analysis/how to document/data to entice grants/fund raising targets etc.etc...its best for you to work for one and learn the business
2 :
You can find information on starting a nonprofit from The Foundation Center web site - they have information on finding funding too. http://www.foundationcenter.org. Depending on the grant, salaries for staff can be included on the budget proposal. But overhead (rent, office supplies, other bills) are often not included, or not funded sufficiently to cover actual cost of such expenditures.. Grants for overhead expenses or general operating funds are extremely difficult to find, and are very competive. You will need to do fundraising from individual or corporate donors to cover your expenses, including salaries, benefits, etc. There are quite a few national and international organizations that are working in this field. If there is such an organization in your local community you might do better to work for them rather than competing with them for whatever funding is available
3 :
You can be a paid employee, even the executive director, provided that the board of directors, which will be responsible for the organization and to whom that position would report, decide you are the best person to run the organization. You and your staff can be paid as much as the organization can afford. However, you are getting WAY ahead of yourself. First off -- do you have any experience with directing HIV/AIDS education activities? Are there many people familiar with your work in this area and who would endorse your efforts to lead such a charity? And do you have experience managing finances, creating budgets, etc.? If not, this would be a good time to volunteer with organizations addressing HIV/AIDS, so you can get a lot more experience. These web sites will give you details about starting a nonprofit organization in the USA, and most of the requirements are similar in other countries: Starting a Nonprofit Organization http://www.managementhelp.org/strt_org/strt_np/strt_np.htm Starting a Non-Profit Checklist- The Things You Must Do to Start a Nonprofit Organization http://www.ctnonprofits.org/pages/NonprofitResources/startnonprofit.asp (it's for Connecticut, but it's pretty much the same for MI) The Nonprofit FAQs http://www.nonprofits.org Before you file any paperwork, you need to get letters of endorsement from existing organizations saying this program is needed, such as hospitals, doctors, other nonprofit organizations and communities of faith, you need to have data that shows your target group is in need whatever service it is that you want to provide and that they are not served otherwise, and you need to have a draft of what your first year's budget would look like (what expenses you expect to incur, what you expect to pay staff, etc.).
Read more discussions :
