How do I start up a Charity?

Question

I am interested in setting up a charity based on Christian principles, to help the poor in remote areas unheard of such as in Indonesia. Children receive very little teaching, and their life span is relatively short in comparison to a Westerner's longevity. I would appreciate any sound advice.

Answer 1

with your aims & objectives,register a NGO (trust/society) in the place/country u wish to serve & go ahed .

all the best &please inform me when u start it.

Answer 2

Since you are here, and you will probably be doing your fundraising for contributions here, you would have to be a U.S. nonprofit charity to do so, even if you serve people in a foreign country.  If you want to start a U.S. nonprofit charity, I suggest you do some more research before you do so.

There are thousands of nonprofits existing and the competition for funding is tremendous, particulalry internationally.  In the US, this is true in urban areas with thousands of charities. In a rural community, there are not many local funders and it can be even more challenging to raise money.

As far as an international organization like you are talking about starting, imagine how hard it is for people in the United States to tell which international organizations are "legitimate" (to decide who to give their donations to).  Donors want to be sure their money is actually getting through to those who need it, and they can't travel to Indonesia to do so.   The majority end up giving to well-known charities that do international work like Red Cross or Drs Without Borders, etc., or through their churches and their international missions. This was true with tsunami and other international catastrophies.

Why talk so much about money & donors?  Because you have to have contributions to run your programs.

Before you start a new organization, "do your homework", as major foundation and corporate donors would tell you.  Contact organizations that work in the same area of interest you have and see if you can't collaborate with them.They already have the expertise and experience, particularly in working with international governments.

How do you find these organizations?  My suggestion is:

Go to www.guidestar.com   All you have to do is register and create your own password......it is FREE to just look up organizations.  Use advanced search and enter a key search term like "Indonesia".    

I did this and 365 results came up with the term Indonesia in their name or description.   Just click on their name and it will take you to a record giving their purpose, contact information, programs they operate, and at the very bottom, their 990--the tax return nonprofits have to file.  

Click on the most recent year of their tax return and you can learn a lot from the return.  Page one shows their contact information at the top,  how much money they receive and how much they spend, on the second page you can see how much they actually spend on programs versus administrative and other costs.   Further in you can see how much they pay staff, who their board members are, and more.  

Again, contact several of them to see if you can't help them, no matter where you are.  You can volunteer, send money, work for them in your community raising money or other ways, perhaps go to Indonesia to help them, etc.

To start a nonprofit charity in the US, which is called a 501c3 charity, you must first complete the application from the IRS and pay the filing fee, up to $750. I suggest you get an attorney or cpa to volunteer to help you do this. The application is long and you will have to have things like a board of directors, bylaws, etc....pretty much everything you will have when you are actually operating a charity.

On the IRS website www.irs.gov at the Charities & Nonprofit link,  or on the Foundation Center's website, www.foundationcenter.org, at their faq's, you will find a link on how to start a nonprofit organization. They have a list that tells you the steps involved besides just filing with IRS.

Once you file the application it can take anywhere from one to six months or longer depending on many factors. There are other things you have to do like register in your state, incorporate, check with city, county and state for more information.

You also need to connect with The Foundation Center. They are a nonprofit organization that operates over 340 free nonprofit libraries around the country...some are within public libraries, some are free-standing, depending on which city you are in.

To find a library near you, when you visit their website www.foundationcenter.org. go to Locations. If you are not in a city where their 5 central libraries are, click on Cooperating Collections and you can find libraries in every state.

I have worked for eight and a half years as the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that helps other nonprofits connect with funding information, education and other resources they need to do their work.  You are an example of the wonderful people I have had the pleasure of working with...those who are not in it for corporate dollars.....but in it for people.

My best wishes.  Hope this helps,  Teresa

Answer 3

Give me 1%. I will give 100% to poor.

Answer 4

There's already a charity for that, it's called World Vision.