Helping Communities Through Collaborations With Non-profit Organizations

I have been asked several times whether I have my own non-profit or a 501c organization. For the past 3 years, I have been organizing workshops around the world, speaking several times a week in various forums, developing projects for education and learning in partnership with schools, corporations and nonprofits. However, I still haven’t found a good reason to start my own organization and a legal entity. I’m not sure if  I need one? I think there is a lot I can do to support the ones that are already out there without having to start one of my own and spending cycles managing it.

There are about 1.8 million non-profits in the United States. Even if you narrow them down to sectors like education, STEM, child literacy, girls in technology, etc. and assume all of these will seek resources and support, there are still thousands of them “competing” for the same resources with almost similar mission and objectives. Doesn’t seem like the most optimal way to get attention and support from people who want to help. 

I understand that one way to make an impact in our community is to organize work via a non-profit organization, which makes it easier to raise funds and manage any tax implications. However, in my humble opinion, service comes first, creating an organization and nurturing it takes a lot of time and energy, and should come much later once I can see my work is having an impact.   Down the years several organizations, quite a few started by my own friends, have made great strides and have impacted many. Starting an organization makes sense when the purpose is unique or if it takes significant support from governmental and non-governmental sources. Of course, some prerequisites would be a well-thought out plan, a timeline, the process of self-sustaining beyond the founders, an independent group such as a board to keep the direction and purpose honest, reliable sources of funding and the percentage of funding always committed to the cause.

The barriers to start an organization are relatively low, costs a few hundred dollars and some time to apply. However, for the few who have genuinely built an organization and toiled for years to make it impactful there are many more who have either not scaled their organizations, defined a clear unique purpose or have sustained it long enough to have a broad impact. For example, many nonprofits are started by well-intentioned high school students like me who want to make an impact and improve their leadership and entrepreneurial skill sets. Though well-intentioned, the ability to scale and self-sustain these organizations need a lot of time, resources and attention which sometimes can become a monotonous routine taking us away from the impact we wanted to make and not to mention the time constraints of a busy school year. Hence, most end up with limited short-term goals and not to their full potential. In addition, the crowding of the ecosystem with organizations with very similar goals results in any grants, funds and resources out there being thinly distributed. This adversely affects organizations that have been working for years and plan to be there for years. 

A better alternative that at least worked for me, is to partner with some of the existing non-profit organizations who have established themselves, and support them with growth, fund-raising and overall community impact.  There are many worthy organizations to partner with. We may not own the organization or may not have the label of the title founder, but our ability to influence and change lives will never be lost. Leadership and entrepreneurship skills can be gained by negotiating and taking a significant contributing role in the partner organization 

A quick search https://www.guidestar.org/search for United States may help us decide if we want to start one or partner with one who has the similar mission and vision as ours to make an impact and make a difference.

I am still figuring out and I still need to go a long way before I make my initiative of mentoring and conducting innovation workshops self-sustaining. When I was 8, I started working with Mr Ted Dreier, founder of Children’s Kindness Network who taught me the importance of service, but when I look back several organizations such as 4H and STEM Scouts have been important influences, and later, great partners.

Today I am fortunate to partner with many individuals, small and large organizations, across the globe in sub-Saharan African countries, India, Afghanistan, Nepal and several others. These organizations have the mission similar to mine of introducing science literacy and STEM education, a problem solving mindset for younger students and overcoming education inequality. Especially in parts of world that don’t normally get the opportunities others get. This complements well with my vision of incorporating innovation early in our education with those who have limited resources and a zeal to learn. For the near future, I will likely spend my energy supporting them instead of building my own organization.