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?