From a legal standpoint…Our lawyer
is reviewing our Bylaws and the Articles of Incorporation so we can turn them
into the state. He has been a tremendous
help through this process. If there is
anything we cannot understand, he is willing to look over it and explain to us
how to address the issue. We also have
our handy dandy book, “Non-Profits for Dummies”. We called the Secretary of State to reserve
our non-profit corporation name, The 4 Foundation. This was easier than we anticipated; they
check their database, we fill out a couple forms with our information, purpose,
etc., we send a check to the state and another check to expedite the process.
Some things we are continuously
working on-
·
Board of directors· Executive director
· Mission Statement
· Business Plan
· Valid and unique cause
· Location of operation
· On-going fundraising ideas
· Partnerships w/ established non-profits, community leaders and potential corporate sponsors
· Highly qualified staff
· Researched programs and in-demand services
From an educational standpoint…
Jessica and I are registered for a Non-Profit seminar coming up on Thursday. This one focuses on effective communication
and improving your ability to have meaningful interactions with board members,
co-workers and volunteers. I’ve found
valuable information on Simplenonprofit.org, which we continue to read in order
to stay up to date.
And now the fun stuff… We’ve had
several great meetings and received constructive feedback. I have not posted our pamphlet, but we are continuing
to improve and update it. The pamphlet
was my first Photoshop project so it started off quite elementary. Thank goodness for John, our co-worker, who has
helped me improve the pamphlet when I don’t understand what the heck I am doing. For the time being, our purpose for the pamphlet
is to use it as a communication and informational platform. Jessica and I found that when we are asked
about the foundation we could talk for hours about what we have done, what we hope
to accomplish, and our experience this far, but we had nothing tangible to give
to those who wanted more information.
The pamphlet provides people with our purpose, our background, our
future plans, and some feedback from our kids.
Jessica and I are learning as much as we can. If you have any wisdom you would like to
impart on us please feel free to email or call me. It can be anything from non-profit
experience, advertising/marketing experience, contacts, or just wanting to get
to know more about what we have done and to help us get the word out about The
4 Foundation.
