Читать книгу Nonprofit Kit For Dummies - Stan Hutton, Beverly A. Browning - Страница 32

What are you willing to do to create a financially sound nonprofit organization? I (Bev) am a baby boomer (born between 1946 and 1964 — I’ll leave it at that), and I started my own nonprofit organization knowing that surviving the start-up process and securing early-on funding would not be easy. So, I decided to live off my monthly social security income for two years and not burden the new nonprofit with a salary expense. I’m happy to report that the nonprofit is still in operation and financially stable and that it has created a reserve bank account for rainy days ahead. You may not need to go without a paycheck for months or years, like I did, in order to get your nonprofit off the ground, but it’s important to consider salaries when you’re planning your first-year operating budget with the board of directors.

Putting together a budget can help you determine whether the start-up expenses are manageable for you. You’ll create lots of budgets sooner or later, so you may as well get an early start. Flip to Chapter 12 for details on budgeting and other financial issues.

If you can’t fund the operation by yourself in the early months, you need to make a compelling case that your new organization will provide an important service to the community and then convince donors that you have the knowledge and experience to provide it. You can solicit contributions from individuals before the IRS grants the organization tax-exempt status, as long as you reveal that your exemption is pending (and will be deductible to the donor if the exemption is granted) and you have met state charitable solicitation registration requirements. These contributions become deductible to the donor if you file for your tax exemption within 27 months of the date you incorporated and receive tax-exempt status.

If your exemption is denied, the contributions aren’t deductible, and you may be liable for income tax on the money you’ve received. Start-up grants from foundations or corporations are rare and next-to-impossible to obtain before the IRS recognizes your organization’s tax-exempt status, so don’t plan to receive any grants from outside organizations.

New organizations can avoid the awkward period between starting up and receiving tax-exempt status, by beginning as a sponsored program of an existing nonprofit organization. We discuss this arrangement, known as fiscal sponsorship, in detail later in this chapter.

You also can try out your program on a small scale before filing for tax-exempt status by partnering with an existing nonprofit organization to test the success and need of your idea. For example, if you want to start a summer arts program for low-income children, talk to a local church or community center that serves that population and ask whether you can teach an art class one day a week for a month. Then you can try out your idea, demonstrate the need, and set up benchmarks for success.