Читать книгу Nonprofit Kit For Dummies - Phillips Frances - Страница 4

IN THIS CHAPTER

❯❯ Defining the nonprofit sector

❯❯ Getting started with a nonprofit

❯❯ Encouraging volunteerism

❯❯ Getting the resources your nonprofit needs

It’s a typical day in your hometown. Your alarm wakes you from a restful sleep, and you switch on your radio to hear the latest news from your local public radio station. You hear that a research institute’s study reports that economic indicators are on the rise and that a health clinic across town is testing a new regimen for arthritis. Plato, your Golden Retriever/Labrador mix, adopted from the animal shelter when he was 5 months old, bounds onto your bed to let you know it’s time for breakfast and a walk. Plato is followed by Cynthia, your 4-year-old daughter, who wants to help you walk Plato before she’s dropped off at her preschool housed in the community center. You remember that you promised to bring canned goods to the food bank that’s next door to Cynthia’s school. You haven’t even had your coffee yet, but already your morning is filled with news and services provided by nonprofit organizations.

You know that your public radio station is a nonprofit because you hear its pledge drives three or four times a year, and you volunteer a few hours each month for the food bank, so clearly it’s a nonprofit. But you may not know that the research institute is probably a nonprofit organization, just like the health clinic where the arthritis research is being tested and the animal shelter where you found Plato. It’s likely that Cynthia’s preschool and the community center where the preschool rents its space are nonprofit organizations, as well. Whether we realize it or not, all of us – rich, poor, or somewhere in between – benefit from the work of nonprofit organizations every day.

Nonprofits get revenue from a variety of sources in order to provide services. Because most nonprofits serve a need in the community, tax-deductible donations are an important revenue source. Sometimes nonprofits charge a fee for what they do. Other nonprofits may sign contracts with your city or county to provide services to residents. Usually, nonprofit organizations get their income from a combination of all these revenue sources.

The nonprofit sector isn’t a distinct place – it isn’t some plaza or district that you come upon suddenly as you weave your way through your day. It’s more like a thread of a common color that’s laced throughout the economy and our lives. No matter where we live or what we do, it’s not easy to get through the day without being affected by the work of a nonprofit organization. So, in this chapter, we help you understand exactly what a nonprofit organization is and how to start and manage one.

Check out File 1-1 at www.dummies.com/go/nonprofitkitfd5e for a list of web resources related to the topics we cover in this chapter.