A This Blog in Review!

In the post before last I promised to share my thoughts about the Non-Profit process in Michigan and my current job shadow hunt, so with some time to reflect I offer my thoughts…

• The non profit process is undeniably complex. As I had said a lawyer is basically a requirement, if of course you want to get the articles of incorporation right the first time. For a single person with an idea the process can be daunting. The hope becomes the idea that the board of directors will help that single person and make sure it is all done right.
• There are more built in safeguards than I expected. The board and the bylaws provide this supervision, and I never knew that both of them were required. I was aware that many non profits had them but to make them mandatory creates the accountability within the program.
• Taxes are challenging to prepare. This goes without saying, because non-profits cannot profit, they have to save money that is earned or spend it on what they do. Keeping good records to appropriately file taxes is vital. Every dollar needs to be accounted for at the end of the year.

Now about the job shadowing process, while I find people that I think have interesting jobs it is neat how many people I know. Our marketing class is reading a book called the tipping point which explains the origins of the six degrees of separation experiment.  It is interesting to me to think that at any point I could ask enough people to forward my name and eventually it would end up with a person who has an amazing job, maybe one I could hope for. That is really my aim in job shadowing new people, to find something I want to do and grow my network.

Where have I been, where will I go?

When I made my plan for this 20 time blog I had only enough foresight to predict 7 weeks into the future and here we are now. So, What have I done? The first few blogs featured an introduction to myself and what I want to do. I looked for businesses that do charity work and what they do, we saw that I didn’t find much success with that as many firms do only pro-bono work. I covered how to make a non-profit in Michigan and whether you need a lawyer. It has been an interesting ride so far and as I begin my job shadow and internship I hope to learn more about what I want. I imagine that as I see more of what people actually do my perspective for the future will change. This is something I look forward to, and I cannot wait to see things in action. Until next time!

How to: The non-profit

The most pressing question from the last blog, Do you need a lawyer to start a non-profit?

Because none of the requirements in Michigan involve going in front of a judge, one could say no, but the taxes of a non-profit are complex. Here is what I’ve found steps wise for creating your own non-profit.

1. Choose a board and hold a board meeting.

• Because non-profits are exempt from most taxes and donations to them are tax deductible, there needs to be a significant degree of supervision which is what the board will hopefully provide.

     2)  Choose a unique name.

• This is an important step to any process, as a name is truly the first impression of almost everything originally seen online. The state of Michigan has a website to ensure your name is unique at: https://www.lara.michigan.gov/apex/CORPORATIONS/f?p=210:1:1382833451444119

     3)  Submit non-profit articles of incorporation.

• This is the beginning of where you could need a lawyer. The form is five pages long and it involves a fee so you will want to get it right, The information in it is not overly complex, things like name and mission. Sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry, and a lawyer could never hurt.

      4)  Prepare Bylaws.

• Another safeguard against “bad” things

      5) Keep good records and prepare for taxes.

• The first thing has to do with making sure there are records of decisions, rules and what happens in meetings. The second is because it is hard, this could be another lawyer opportunity.

The state of Michigan has all this avaible and more, another site I found helpful can be found here, http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/forming-nonprofit-corporation-michigan-36070.html

Tune in for thoughts on this process and my job shadowing process!

Non-Profit?

With all the trouble finding exactly what companies do, beyond pro-bono, I wondered how had it would be to start my own non-profit. The problem that I ran into almost immediately was many of the non-profits have founders who have been inspired in a “come to Jesus” style moment. They had seen something that gave them a reason to take action as soon as possible. http://drawbuckets.org/who/unsung-hero-founder-waterford-based-disaster-relief-work-rallies-support-devastated-areas/http://drawbuckets.org/who/unsung-hero-founder-waterford-based-disaster-relief-work-rallies-support-devastated-areas/ This local non-profit was formed after it’s founder responded to a tornado torn town in Alabama with some friends. A law firm helped them become a non-profit, and they were off. Now when bad things happen, like Hurricane Sandy, in the US DRAW responds with buckets full of supplies for victims. I have not yet had a moment where I was inspired by something specific enough to start a non-profit but while I wait for my moment, I want to learn more about what it takes to start one. With a focus on, is a lawyer required?

The Search Continues

 And the search continues for a “dream job” that is, in a way, something to work towards more than it is a dream . Nevertheless the search continues and the goals are still the same; find a company that I think I could work for,  that also provides charitable giving options, preferably volunteer grants. After much searching I’ve discovered it is strangely hard to find information on some businesses charity work. I researched the Detroit BC and could not find anything about matching gifts. Being so unsuccessful with finding a marketing company that matches with my goals, even to dream about, has made me wonder how some of my favorite charities advertise.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/partnership-categories/marketing-partnerships

http://www.humanesociety.org/about/corporate_support.html

Many charities have their own marketing staff, and use the weight of companies names to advertise their products. WWF calls this being a partner, the Humane Society says corporate support. The WWF does a better job with this, they’ve got a more user friendly site which allows the partners to be displayed near the bottom. While all of this has shed some light on how challenging it will be to incorporate my desire for charity into my after college life, I’m starting to wonder how hard it would be to just start what I want. Stay tuned for more of my thoughts!

The Search for a Dream Job

With the reality of after college finances hitting me hard, I figured it was time to look into what companies support charitable giving as a policy. This required some digging as to the different types of giving. One that I’ve seen is matching employee gifts, where a worker donates and the company gives the same. An issue with this is assuming that I will have extra money to donate and have matched. A way that might work is volunteer grants, where a company donates the time of their employees to a non profit or another charity. A company that I know that does this is Ford with the Ford Volunteer Corps. I chose companies to look into by thinking of where I would like to work after college. As I looked into marketing companies in my area Team Detroit stood out to me, but I couldn’t immediately find information on their charitable giving. After a bit of googling I was able to find a page on how they helped Ford set up Drive For Your School. Its an innovative program for sure but not exactly what I was looking for. I plan to continue my search for the ever elusive dream job, so stay tuned!

The Weekend and Ahead With Life

It is amazing to me how often I see the practical skills one learns in a business class or during business school playing out in the “real” world. This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Woodhaven Robotics Competition and see the opening ceremonies. Two experienced speakers emcee the event, their experience shows, they both are perfectly willing to incorporate themes and jokes into the event. A researcher from Ford Motor Company also spoke. He too seemed to be very experienced but English was not his first language. This was almost inconsequential because he was so confident and knowledgeable. While I would love to be able to speak with that much confidence, this is not where I expect to be after I have received a MBA. I want to have the peace of mind that comes with the specialty of an advanced degree. I want to have a job that allows me to make enough money to pay off my debts and still save. That is where I want to be. It is going to take quite a bit of work but I’ve already started on the right path by searching out an internship for the summer. With a required job shadow in the near future, I have another opportunity for summer work. My plan going forward is to find an internship and or a job, while searching out nonprofit work.