Setting up a charity / trust fund for women who choose to parent?

Question

After answering another question an idea blossomed in my mind.

How could I go about setting up a charity devoted to assisting women in parenting should they feel forced towards adoption unwillingly? We have an organization here that supports "teen" parents already and I think that if I was able to work with them there may be hope for supporting a choice to end an adoption plan. My idea would not be so much for supporting those already committed to parenting but helping those who want to parent but feel that adoption is the only "choice" they have.

Any ideas on how to accomplish something like this? How to incorporate a not for profit and how to gather some sponsors?

Answer 1

Wow, a toughie, but so many worthwhile things are tough.

I think your idea of going through the existing organization that supports teen parents is a good one. No sense completely reinventing the wheel if they have a decent cart already going. I guess if I were you I'd write up sort of an outline of what I was thinking of and find someone simpatico in the organization (hopefully higher up in the org if possible) to bounce ideas off of and see where/how/if they think things could work.

I suppose one of the biggest hurdles would be reaching the women you are trying to help. If they already are possibly thinking of an "adoption plan," then there is a decent chance they are / have been facing some coercion already, so they may be plenty wary of someone else trying to "help." Not sure how to get around that, you would of course know much better than I.

Good luck with it, it sounds like a wonderful thing. Wish I could be of more help.

Answer 2

That would be great!  I have never done a non-profit, but I see there's a Website that seems to cover a lot of the legal mumbo jumbo.

http://www.nscsb.org/starting_nonprofit....

Answer 3

Charity that is concealeth appeaseth the wrath of God.

Prayers lighten the heart, and charity is proof of Iman (Faith), and abstinence from sin is perfect splendor; the Kuran is a proof of gain to you, if you do good, and it is a detriment to you if you do wrong; and every man who riseth in the morning either doeth that which will be the means of his redemption or his ruin.

Charity is a duty unto every Muslim. He who hath not the means thereto, let him do a good act or abstain from an evil one. That is his charity.

When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust; commit not fornication; be chaste; have no impure desires; withold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad. The best of God's servants are those who when seen, remind of God; and the worst of God's servants are those who carry tales about, and do mischief and separate friends, and seek for the defects of the good.

Whoso hath left debt and children, let him come to me; I am their patron, I will discharge his debt and befriend his children.

Every good act is charity.

Doing justice between two people is charity; and asisting a man upon his beast, and lifting his baggage is charity; and pure, comforting words are charity; and answering a questioner with mildness, is charity; and removing that which is an inconvenience to wayfarers, such as thorns and stones, is a charity.

Every good act is charity; and verily it is a good act to meet your brother with and open countenance, and to por water from your own water-bag into his vessel.

Your smiling in your brother's face is charity; and your exhorting man to virtuous deeds is charity; and your prohibiting the forbidden is charity; and your showing men the road, in the land in which they lose it, is charity; and your assisting the blind is charity.

Answer 4

Wow, that's a great idea.  I bet local Foster agencies would get in on that, since many moms temporarily, or permanently lose their children due to short term situations such as money.  You could go to local churches and second hand children's stores for support as well.  Basically, anywhere that caters to pregnant women and babies.

Answer 5

I think that this is a great idea. As aforementioned, a trust fund would be easier to set up on your own than say a new charity entirely.

Also, I would suggest speaking with women who have been through this themselves. Ask them what kind of resources they wish they had, speak with social workers and women's shelters. They can give you some good ideas i'm sure.

As for sponsorship, speak with your local university's social work department. I'm sure they would be thrilled to help you out, and probably throw in a couple of students to help you get funds together and court sponsors. As far as companies go, think of companies that this affects the most directly. Diaper and formula companies, family-oriented stores and dining, these are all companies that want to give an image of "family" and would probably enjoy flashing around that they support your organization.

Good luck.

Answer 6

Honestly setting up a charity is one of the hardest things you'll ever do. I started out here holding abandoned babies and buying diapers because the orphanages didn't provide them and have since moved into reviving my FIL's old foundation. I saw that however good inside holding babies made me feel it was only a band-aid and band-aids were not forever, we we are now working on a center here that provides everything from reading lessons, donations, rides and anything else these women need including "town" classes for men they will enable them to get the better paying jobs outside the village. Things that here are so needed that they cause a mother to leave her child outside on any church's steps and in a country like this a good percentage of them die. What we are doing is creating a non-profit there in the US ( you need a lawyer for this) as well as a mission statment. You need short and long term goals to insure you do not cveer to far from your path which is possible with a main problem that can branch off as this one can. But to begin you need 2 paths one path will take to to your end goal with no branches and the other is a work in progress. I would begin with finding people who think like you, and set up a myspace and facebook account with a paypal link to accept dpnations. After that I would begin investing and creating a well tought out pamplet. education is the key, no matter the language. You can auction off stuff on myspace and use this money to puchase pamplets. you'd be surprised how many places will accept and pass them out. Begin fundraising for your lawyer and the boring c**p and over time you will have people willing to help you, and those who can;t help willing to fund you. I know I have people both here and in the states working for me fundraising and collecting clothes to take to these moms in the villages. I know that I cannot prevent every child from being abandoned but I can make a difference to a few, and to those few it will matter that they are home, not in an orphanage. This is not an easy goal or a decision to take lightly, if you decide it is to hard and quit you have left someone without the help you were to provide for them. It is also a Loooooong rode to a fully funded and running foundation. I wish you the best.. how could I not our goals are the same. I want nothing more than to provide a way for these women to keep their children, the alternative is death to at least 20%.

Answer 7

While it's a noble idea, there is already so much out there.

Social aid, and child support,etc

Not every mom chooses to place her child  for adoption just because of the financial responsibiliies of raising a child.

Edit:

So, are you going to provide family support for a woman who has none, or a father to the child for the woman that wants her child to be raised by 2 parents and the biological father won't have anything to do with the baby?

Mental stability to a woman who just doesn't feel that she can raise a child for mental health reasons, but doesn't believe in abortion?

Maternal instinct to one who has none, but finds herself pregnant and also doesn't want to abort?

Notice I didn't mention the whole " drug addict, crack-w***e"

stigma that some people place on first moms.

Im not bashing your idea, I think it's a great one, but it assumes that the only reason a woman places is financial, which isn't true.

Answer 8

I know of a place just like that..... Its a womans center that provides tons of baby stuff and counceling for mother no matter what their decision is. In addition, if a person is financial strapped, there are unlimited places to go for help, AFDC, WIC, medicaid, Federal financial aid for college, energy assistance, and womens centers like the one mentioned. They inform women of al these services and are in no way adoption partial, they are for keeping families together. If anyone wants info or a link let me know... I'm looking for it now.

Answer 9

It really is as simple as setting up any other non-profit group.  However, if I read your previous questions correctly, you are in Canada.  Since I'm in the states, I'm not sure exactly how this would translate.  

The first thing you need to do is come up with a mission statement.  You need to describe what you will be doing, and have exactly qualifications for who you will be assisting.  Then you need to apply to your government for Tax Exempt status.  In the state, that would mean an application to your state government (that can usually be done through your local courthouse) and to the IRS (I believe Canaday has a similar tax authority).  

After that is the fun part.  First you would need to visit the bank to set up an account.  Be prepared to make the first donation yourself (though some banks don't require this, and when they do it can often be as low as $100).  After you have an account, you can start collecting donations.  You probably want to contact other local charities to see if any of them distribute out funds to other organizations.  Often foodbanks will give you a "good deal" on buying food from them that you can give out to your clients.  Churches will often allow you to set up a collection box, or even dontate a portion of their "charity collection" funds to you.  After that, it's a matter of "hitting the street" so to speak, or the phones.  You have to call local businesses to see if they're willing to be partners.  Contact local TV stations to see if they will do a segment on you for their news.  Go door to door to see if anyone will donate, and then start holding fundraisers.  

Starting up any type of new organization isn't easy, but it can be done, and this is a worthy cause.  Goodluck!