Sometimes
I get asked for advice on non-profits, which makes sense since I have
one. But there's a lot of misconceptions out there. Like recently,
someone was asking me about a non-profit he had just started.
Apparently he had filed to incorporate on some online quickie legal prep
work site. I asked him about his FEIN, but since he was under the
impression that such cost, he had not got one. He did have a website. I
looked at the website.
It had a for profit site, which by selling things, would - he said - generate money for the non-profit. That's not necessarily illegal, by the way, but it takes a lot of paperwork and care to keep conflicts of interest from arising, separate incorporations at times, and no free rides on the taxes off of sales of goods on the for profit side.
Of more concern, the website had a section for donations, but for the description spoke of the funds going to aid their 1,200 member facebook group outreach. If you're wondering how a free facebook group needs financial aid of a tax free nature, yeah, I wondered too. So did my wife.
Which is why her immediate response was, "It's a scam." She's a not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Me, I am, so I am aware of the very real possibility of a member's heart being larger than his experience in various enterprises. Mostly the sincerity and integrity of such a person can get them through the perils and pitfalls of any number of situations, even when they lack any necessary experience or knowledge. Yet this was not one of those situations. Business never is.
I've been trying to explain to that very young brother that a product/service is needed before one can go about soliciting funds from the public. He suggested that it be "spreading the gospel". A laudable goal, but given that the Church does this for free, and we're commanded to, not something that really needs all the fuss of a non-profit corporation. In response to my showing why that was impractical, he suggested as a service "helping with family histories". Again, I had to be the wet blanket. Lately, I've seen he and the others at this group speaking of "music" as the outreach service I've said they need. I've shared the concern that if the music provided is free, what would anyone need these guys for?
Here's the thing. A non-profit, first and foremost, is NON-profit. Few - and I mean vanishingly few - are going to make a living at it. Folks lose track of that by seeing so many that are successful, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the United Way, the Red Cross. I could list a dozen more. And of those who are bringing in enough money to pay salaries to directors and hire employees, there are thousands.
But there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of non-profits! I would confidently state that the ratio of success to failure in the non-profit world is comparable to the business world. Mostly because a non-profit business still is a business. In other words, 99% are going to fail in the first year. Other foundations will be very limited foundations that rely merely disbursing some given amount of money from a will or bequest.
So people start with a big heart, and figure that hanging out an internet shingle is all it takes. Plus that Legal Beagle help site, or whatever it was. But let's back up. What's it really take?
First, a business plan. You're going to be operating a business. You need a business plan. If you don't know what's involved in a business plan, google that and do that first. If you can't handle that, you can't handle anything else. Really. And if you can't be bothered to do that, then no one should bother with you. Because you clearly are not serious.
Second, how about a good and/or service? Admittedly that really comes first, then the business plan! Something more specific than "outreach". Something not being done to death already. Remember, like any business, you're going to be competing with other non-profits. You really think anyone is going to pay you for family history work when the LDS Church will do it for free? Or deal with you for music when it's so freely available everywhere?
You need a good and/or service that you feel there is a need for, and that you are better qualified to provide than others are. For we here at the Liahona Mission, that was Sober Living Homes. True, others do it. But we compete by charging less program fees and offering more aid. And - at least for now - we are only dealing with providing services in one county. We are uniquely qualified to do that given that we have a volunteer (your humble author) to do the day to day work, which would ordinarily cost a non-profit $2,000 per month in wage and attendant costs.
Third, having made a business plan for your good/service, it's time to go over all the paperwork in advance of doing it. Yes, there's the incorporation papers, which you can file down at a State office on your own, just for the filing fees, and without the $150 to $500 that most Legal Sites will charge you to "process" it. The filing fees the State will charge are between $50 and $150. So saving upwards of $500 in processing fees is a good thing. But besides the incorporation papers, you'll see that you need three people. You and two others. And by laws.
So now you know to get the other two people you trust lined up before filing. And to have the by laws ready.
Have you read samples of by laws? Do you know how to write them to comply with IRS regulations? Not legally required, by the way, but handy for when you apply - later - for your 501(c)3 exemption. As in "you won't get the exemption unless your by laws conform". Do you know how to write the by laws so that not only are they democratic and fair, but also clever enough to keep your two other board members from voting you out? Yeah, that's a thing that can - and has - happened. But with "founder exceptionalism" (google it!) you can avoid that.
Were you aware that the IRS will give you the Federal Employer Identification Number for free, and over the phone, while you wait? Yes. With no need to have Legal R Us charge you for it. You see, the IRS wants you to have that number, it helps them keep track of you. It's like a Social Security number for businesses. You can't do anything without it.
Were you aware that the paperwork for your 501(c)3 tax exemption runs upwards of 30 pages? And takes a several hundred dollar fee to the IRS, and usually a paid CPA to fill it out properly? You're looking at near $1,000 on that one, total, so you can see why you should be serious with actual business plans and others working with you and lots of preliminary research! They're going to want things like business plans and quarterly income projections, and either an accounting of the past three years, or since you're just starting, the next three years! And thorough details on your day to day operations.
Fourth, having done all this research, now you can start to fill out paperwork. With your by laws and directors all set, file your incorporation papers, get that FEIN, open a business account with the bank (make sure you have two officers needing to sign for any withdrawals!) and then...you're still not ready.
Because for fifth, you must register with whatever state agency in your state overseas charities. There's sure to be one. In Illinois, it's the Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau. The bank, if they're on the ball, will want to see the paperwork on that before getting your account activated, though sometimes they'll do it just with the incorporation papers and FEIN. Without that registration, you are then probably illegally soliciting money from the public. That's not a good thing. Note carefully - a private individual can solicit money from the public with just his cardboard sign. But a corporation, however legal, must be registered with the state that oversees such things. And if you're not registered in a given state, you're really supposed to fill out the forms for doing business in that state as a "foreign corporation".
Also, and part of the "fifth", did you read up on "fiduciary responsibilities"? Have you had each director fill out an application, an I9, a Conflict of Interest sheet, a Mediation and Arbitration agreement and such? That'll be helpful. If appearances of propriety are of value to you. And I assure you that they'll be of value to the IRS, the charitable oversight board and any major donors. Not to mention Homeland Security. Yes, a non-profit really is a business. It must conduct itself in a legal and above board fashion.
Sixth, it will be a year and a half - on average - before getting your tax exemption, assuming you could afford to apply at once. Only after that can you apply for local property tax and sales tax exemptions. Which the locality is not required to give you. This total process can be so long and expensive that for the Liahona Mission, we haven't spent our capital on that, choosing instead to get the properties and facilities up and running.
Now, all this assumes that you actually chose a decent good/service to provide. But let me tell you what often happens, and I don't like this at all. A person with a big heart will have some kind of idea. So he wants to pay the minimal fees to do the above, get all legally incorporated, and then go online to collect money. With a website or blog or in the old days, a "newsletter" or "brochure" or "pamphlet". It is, in other words, a paper corporation, no brick and mortar to it. It's him, his pals and his computer.
He then expects others to donate to him. Why? Because then he'll take that money and give it to others, keeping a bit for his time and trouble. Or maybe taking nothing, but with the sales site, that seems doubtful. The state then is supplying the legal stuff. You, the donor, are supplying the funds. Others who don't know how to download music - all two of them - are supplying the needs. I guess in the above example the internet is supplying the free music. What's he supplying again? An "idea"? Something about "doing good"?
Yeah. I asked that. It's an important question. In some cases, not the above example, the founder may be bringing some real expertise to the table. Like maybe he's a cancer researcher who needs funds for a cure. If so, great. Or maybe he's some deep pockets original donor with all the capital, and just needs some one to hire to cure cancer. That's also great. In each case, he's bringing expertise or money to the table.
But beware those who while well intentioned are simply wishing to be the baton waving middle man, directing the efforts of the big money guy and big brain research guy. A baton waver is exactly as useful then as your congregation's hymn director. Which is to say, kind of/sort of helpful, but hardly essential. And if you were paying your hymn director, not worth it at all! No one pays a guy to wave a baton. Because no one one needs a baton waved to sing a hymn. Or to tell a rich guy who wants to cure cancer that giving to a bright doctor who knows how is helpful. Or to download free tunes online for those who want free tunes downloaded online.
Years back, when I was thinking of this non-profit, I could have done the paper foundation, and tried to raise funds to buy the shelter and tried to raise funds to purchase the repairs and tried to raise funds for hiring the caretaker. What I'd be needed for then, if everyone else was doing the paying, the buying and the caretaking, I've no clue. Yes, a talent for raising money can be a bona fide "skill", but more often, those with the heart aren't all that great on the fund raising. And even if they are, some actual work should be done at some point. One who genuinely has a fund raising talent should work for the one who has a talent for actually doing something!
Fund raising, advertising, marketing, paperwork, it can all be such a flurry that it is forgot that something should be being done that all those things are for! They sure aren't ends in themselves! They're means only! Important means, but means all the same! The guy I'm trying to save from himself is busy going on about having a "newsletter". About what, I've no clue. He's no real product and not even a business plan yet!
In the case of our non-profit, we decided to be a brick and mortar one first. We swore that we'd be up and running and have something to donate "to", first. And we have. All the above steps, purchased properties, renovated homes, labor lined up, it's all in place, and operating right now. It was operating before our first website. Then, and only then, with four guys sitting in the Sober Living home being helped did we then for the first time start worrying about paypal and donations and blogs and facebook.
Years after we started.
Not that we didn't have any help before, donations in service, in goods and such. But cash-wise, a non-profit in most cases is funded by those most directly involved, those who most directly care. The Directors themselves. Their family and friends. Yeah, mostly themselves. And really, why would it be any other way? You have an idea. If you believe in it, you put your own blood, sweat, tears - and your cold hard cash - where your big heart is! You're expecting others to, so lead the way. Show the level of your own belief in it first! Remember 1 Corinthians 14:8 - "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"
Who indeed? If the person asking cares not to pour himself into it, then people will not pour so much as a penny of their's into it! Look, many foundations are started by the mega-rich who can afford for it to all spring into existence at once. But for everyone else, it really takes long and hard years where you're doing nothing but work on the venture to get it going. You're doing it out of pocket, it's just that your pocket is much smaller than the pocket of Bill Gates.
I could not even begin to get across what it was like getting the first condemned house bought and repaired. 10 hour days, only Top Ramen to eat, every cent going into those repairs and fees and paperwork. Living in the condemned house I was fixing because if I rented a place, that would be $400 less a month in repairs. But 9 years ago I was homeless myself. Now, a recovered alcoholic, I'm caretaking for that house, repairing another house, and aiding four people who'd otherwise be homeless. But it's not a free ride - it's work, and lots of it. Having no boss doesn't mean you aren't working, it means you discover what a mean boss you are!
A non-profit of the sort I started and that I and my wife have built up, by the way, is not even needed for most things. If one simply wishes to "spread the gospel" or "help with family history" or "share Christian themed music", then really, why bother incorporating at all? Doing those things is free, you can obviously volunteer within the context of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or any other church at all, or even just do that alone! Not everything needs a corporate structure! There's never any law against just rolling up your sleeves and pitching in!
Non-profits are for those who wish a lot more than just doing good themselves. It's a means of administering a large amount of funds over time for pubic purposes. Maybe funds that just came into being as a result of a person's death, or a rich person wishing to start being a philanthropist. Or it could be a means of making sure that a collection of such funds for a sustained effort over time purely for the public good will not be taxed away during the collection and disbursement. It allows many other people to join in, and to receive some tax breaks, for aiding in that endeavor. It is not, with only some despised exceptions, a means of generating any kind of real income for the individuals involved. In fact, many non-profits - such as the Liahona Mission - bar salaries or wages for their Directors and rely only on volunteer effort.
Not that there aren't some non-profits where it's legitimate to use some paid employees for some facets of the work, and not that our non-profit won't hire contractors for specific one shot tasks, but that should always be looked at carefully. And particularly in the realm of "admin" costs, those should never be greater than 10% of the expenditures. And we believe it should be zero percent. Ours are. If it's not volunteered, it's not happening. And as it's our non-profit, we do the paperwork ourselves. Learning how meant not having to pay a clerical staff.
For those reasons, non-profits, are usually something that only the well-off can afford, as nothing I say can emphasize enough now "non-profit" most non-profits are! True, if you really capture the public's imagination, then one day - years after you're dead, most likely - your non-profit may be large and international and dealing with billions of dollars. Even in your lifetime, if you benefit from some net-fad like the Ice Bucket Challenge that could happen. I say this with the same straight face that I would use for telling a man in his twenties that, "Yes, your rib recipe is great, and one day the restaurant you're dreaming of could be a world-wide chain like McDonalds." In both cases I'm speaking the truth, but it's really rare. Really, really rare!
Mostly, were you to have one successful restaurant, locally, and it stay in business for your life time, you should count that as a wild success! And it would be! Likewise, many non-profits will last the life time of their founder, and not so much past that. Rich people with rich friends may grow such foundations into rich foundations, but modest folks with modest friends should be content with modest foundations.
So I guess before any of those half a dozen things to do listed above, an assessment of whether you even need to be a non-profit is helpful. If you aren't buying a structure, if you're truly just going to be a baton waving middle man, I'd say not bother. It's a lot of time and effort and money for what may not be necessary. And if it's preaching the word, or sharing songs, it is definitively not necessary!
Are we necessary? The Liahona Mission? Are we "necessary" as a non-profit? Yes. Definitely. Our good and service - a temporary shelter and program for alcoholics and addicts - is definitely necessary, there are others doing it in this locality, but not as cheaply, nor providing as much, and there are no other LDS themed sober living homes in the area. We've definitely found our niche. And it is a sustained effort over time that will be attracting others who wish to participate. And it needs to be corporate owned and not individually owned for the usual reasons of liability and continuity and growth.
And while we don't see it being world-girdling, we have reasonable hope of some growth in our life time and that with the appropriately chose board come some distant day that it will outlast the death of it's founders. It's not like poverty, alcoholism and/or addiction is going out of style any time soon. Sad to say.
Still up for your own non-profit? Then go start on the business plan! Not up for a business plan first? Then nevermind playing at having a non-profit.
It had a for profit site, which by selling things, would - he said - generate money for the non-profit. That's not necessarily illegal, by the way, but it takes a lot of paperwork and care to keep conflicts of interest from arising, separate incorporations at times, and no free rides on the taxes off of sales of goods on the for profit side.
Of more concern, the website had a section for donations, but for the description spoke of the funds going to aid their 1,200 member facebook group outreach. If you're wondering how a free facebook group needs financial aid of a tax free nature, yeah, I wondered too. So did my wife.
Which is why her immediate response was, "It's a scam." She's a not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Me, I am, so I am aware of the very real possibility of a member's heart being larger than his experience in various enterprises. Mostly the sincerity and integrity of such a person can get them through the perils and pitfalls of any number of situations, even when they lack any necessary experience or knowledge. Yet this was not one of those situations. Business never is.
I've been trying to explain to that very young brother that a product/service is needed before one can go about soliciting funds from the public. He suggested that it be "spreading the gospel". A laudable goal, but given that the Church does this for free, and we're commanded to, not something that really needs all the fuss of a non-profit corporation. In response to my showing why that was impractical, he suggested as a service "helping with family histories". Again, I had to be the wet blanket. Lately, I've seen he and the others at this group speaking of "music" as the outreach service I've said they need. I've shared the concern that if the music provided is free, what would anyone need these guys for?
Here's the thing. A non-profit, first and foremost, is NON-profit. Few - and I mean vanishingly few - are going to make a living at it. Folks lose track of that by seeing so many that are successful, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the United Way, the Red Cross. I could list a dozen more. And of those who are bringing in enough money to pay salaries to directors and hire employees, there are thousands.
But there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of non-profits! I would confidently state that the ratio of success to failure in the non-profit world is comparable to the business world. Mostly because a non-profit business still is a business. In other words, 99% are going to fail in the first year. Other foundations will be very limited foundations that rely merely disbursing some given amount of money from a will or bequest.
So people start with a big heart, and figure that hanging out an internet shingle is all it takes. Plus that Legal Beagle help site, or whatever it was. But let's back up. What's it really take?
First, a business plan. You're going to be operating a business. You need a business plan. If you don't know what's involved in a business plan, google that and do that first. If you can't handle that, you can't handle anything else. Really. And if you can't be bothered to do that, then no one should bother with you. Because you clearly are not serious.
Second, how about a good and/or service? Admittedly that really comes first, then the business plan! Something more specific than "outreach". Something not being done to death already. Remember, like any business, you're going to be competing with other non-profits. You really think anyone is going to pay you for family history work when the LDS Church will do it for free? Or deal with you for music when it's so freely available everywhere?
You need a good and/or service that you feel there is a need for, and that you are better qualified to provide than others are. For we here at the Liahona Mission, that was Sober Living Homes. True, others do it. But we compete by charging less program fees and offering more aid. And - at least for now - we are only dealing with providing services in one county. We are uniquely qualified to do that given that we have a volunteer (your humble author) to do the day to day work, which would ordinarily cost a non-profit $2,000 per month in wage and attendant costs.
Third, having made a business plan for your good/service, it's time to go over all the paperwork in advance of doing it. Yes, there's the incorporation papers, which you can file down at a State office on your own, just for the filing fees, and without the $150 to $500 that most Legal Sites will charge you to "process" it. The filing fees the State will charge are between $50 and $150. So saving upwards of $500 in processing fees is a good thing. But besides the incorporation papers, you'll see that you need three people. You and two others. And by laws.
So now you know to get the other two people you trust lined up before filing. And to have the by laws ready.
Have you read samples of by laws? Do you know how to write them to comply with IRS regulations? Not legally required, by the way, but handy for when you apply - later - for your 501(c)3 exemption. As in "you won't get the exemption unless your by laws conform". Do you know how to write the by laws so that not only are they democratic and fair, but also clever enough to keep your two other board members from voting you out? Yeah, that's a thing that can - and has - happened. But with "founder exceptionalism" (google it!) you can avoid that.
Were you aware that the IRS will give you the Federal Employer Identification Number for free, and over the phone, while you wait? Yes. With no need to have Legal R Us charge you for it. You see, the IRS wants you to have that number, it helps them keep track of you. It's like a Social Security number for businesses. You can't do anything without it.
Were you aware that the paperwork for your 501(c)3 tax exemption runs upwards of 30 pages? And takes a several hundred dollar fee to the IRS, and usually a paid CPA to fill it out properly? You're looking at near $1,000 on that one, total, so you can see why you should be serious with actual business plans and others working with you and lots of preliminary research! They're going to want things like business plans and quarterly income projections, and either an accounting of the past three years, or since you're just starting, the next three years! And thorough details on your day to day operations.
Fourth, having done all this research, now you can start to fill out paperwork. With your by laws and directors all set, file your incorporation papers, get that FEIN, open a business account with the bank (make sure you have two officers needing to sign for any withdrawals!) and then...you're still not ready.
Because for fifth, you must register with whatever state agency in your state overseas charities. There's sure to be one. In Illinois, it's the Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau. The bank, if they're on the ball, will want to see the paperwork on that before getting your account activated, though sometimes they'll do it just with the incorporation papers and FEIN. Without that registration, you are then probably illegally soliciting money from the public. That's not a good thing. Note carefully - a private individual can solicit money from the public with just his cardboard sign. But a corporation, however legal, must be registered with the state that oversees such things. And if you're not registered in a given state, you're really supposed to fill out the forms for doing business in that state as a "foreign corporation".
Also, and part of the "fifth", did you read up on "fiduciary responsibilities"? Have you had each director fill out an application, an I9, a Conflict of Interest sheet, a Mediation and Arbitration agreement and such? That'll be helpful. If appearances of propriety are of value to you. And I assure you that they'll be of value to the IRS, the charitable oversight board and any major donors. Not to mention Homeland Security. Yes, a non-profit really is a business. It must conduct itself in a legal and above board fashion.
Sixth, it will be a year and a half - on average - before getting your tax exemption, assuming you could afford to apply at once. Only after that can you apply for local property tax and sales tax exemptions. Which the locality is not required to give you. This total process can be so long and expensive that for the Liahona Mission, we haven't spent our capital on that, choosing instead to get the properties and facilities up and running.
Now, all this assumes that you actually chose a decent good/service to provide. But let me tell you what often happens, and I don't like this at all. A person with a big heart will have some kind of idea. So he wants to pay the minimal fees to do the above, get all legally incorporated, and then go online to collect money. With a website or blog or in the old days, a "newsletter" or "brochure" or "pamphlet". It is, in other words, a paper corporation, no brick and mortar to it. It's him, his pals and his computer.
He then expects others to donate to him. Why? Because then he'll take that money and give it to others, keeping a bit for his time and trouble. Or maybe taking nothing, but with the sales site, that seems doubtful. The state then is supplying the legal stuff. You, the donor, are supplying the funds. Others who don't know how to download music - all two of them - are supplying the needs. I guess in the above example the internet is supplying the free music. What's he supplying again? An "idea"? Something about "doing good"?
Yeah. I asked that. It's an important question. In some cases, not the above example, the founder may be bringing some real expertise to the table. Like maybe he's a cancer researcher who needs funds for a cure. If so, great. Or maybe he's some deep pockets original donor with all the capital, and just needs some one to hire to cure cancer. That's also great. In each case, he's bringing expertise or money to the table.
But beware those who while well intentioned are simply wishing to be the baton waving middle man, directing the efforts of the big money guy and big brain research guy. A baton waver is exactly as useful then as your congregation's hymn director. Which is to say, kind of/sort of helpful, but hardly essential. And if you were paying your hymn director, not worth it at all! No one pays a guy to wave a baton. Because no one one needs a baton waved to sing a hymn. Or to tell a rich guy who wants to cure cancer that giving to a bright doctor who knows how is helpful. Or to download free tunes online for those who want free tunes downloaded online.
Years back, when I was thinking of this non-profit, I could have done the paper foundation, and tried to raise funds to buy the shelter and tried to raise funds to purchase the repairs and tried to raise funds for hiring the caretaker. What I'd be needed for then, if everyone else was doing the paying, the buying and the caretaking, I've no clue. Yes, a talent for raising money can be a bona fide "skill", but more often, those with the heart aren't all that great on the fund raising. And even if they are, some actual work should be done at some point. One who genuinely has a fund raising talent should work for the one who has a talent for actually doing something!
Fund raising, advertising, marketing, paperwork, it can all be such a flurry that it is forgot that something should be being done that all those things are for! They sure aren't ends in themselves! They're means only! Important means, but means all the same! The guy I'm trying to save from himself is busy going on about having a "newsletter". About what, I've no clue. He's no real product and not even a business plan yet!
In the case of our non-profit, we decided to be a brick and mortar one first. We swore that we'd be up and running and have something to donate "to", first. And we have. All the above steps, purchased properties, renovated homes, labor lined up, it's all in place, and operating right now. It was operating before our first website. Then, and only then, with four guys sitting in the Sober Living home being helped did we then for the first time start worrying about paypal and donations and blogs and facebook.
Years after we started.
Not that we didn't have any help before, donations in service, in goods and such. But cash-wise, a non-profit in most cases is funded by those most directly involved, those who most directly care. The Directors themselves. Their family and friends. Yeah, mostly themselves. And really, why would it be any other way? You have an idea. If you believe in it, you put your own blood, sweat, tears - and your cold hard cash - where your big heart is! You're expecting others to, so lead the way. Show the level of your own belief in it first! Remember 1 Corinthians 14:8 - "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"
Who indeed? If the person asking cares not to pour himself into it, then people will not pour so much as a penny of their's into it! Look, many foundations are started by the mega-rich who can afford for it to all spring into existence at once. But for everyone else, it really takes long and hard years where you're doing nothing but work on the venture to get it going. You're doing it out of pocket, it's just that your pocket is much smaller than the pocket of Bill Gates.
I could not even begin to get across what it was like getting the first condemned house bought and repaired. 10 hour days, only Top Ramen to eat, every cent going into those repairs and fees and paperwork. Living in the condemned house I was fixing because if I rented a place, that would be $400 less a month in repairs. But 9 years ago I was homeless myself. Now, a recovered alcoholic, I'm caretaking for that house, repairing another house, and aiding four people who'd otherwise be homeless. But it's not a free ride - it's work, and lots of it. Having no boss doesn't mean you aren't working, it means you discover what a mean boss you are!
A non-profit of the sort I started and that I and my wife have built up, by the way, is not even needed for most things. If one simply wishes to "spread the gospel" or "help with family history" or "share Christian themed music", then really, why bother incorporating at all? Doing those things is free, you can obviously volunteer within the context of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or any other church at all, or even just do that alone! Not everything needs a corporate structure! There's never any law against just rolling up your sleeves and pitching in!
Non-profits are for those who wish a lot more than just doing good themselves. It's a means of administering a large amount of funds over time for pubic purposes. Maybe funds that just came into being as a result of a person's death, or a rich person wishing to start being a philanthropist. Or it could be a means of making sure that a collection of such funds for a sustained effort over time purely for the public good will not be taxed away during the collection and disbursement. It allows many other people to join in, and to receive some tax breaks, for aiding in that endeavor. It is not, with only some despised exceptions, a means of generating any kind of real income for the individuals involved. In fact, many non-profits - such as the Liahona Mission - bar salaries or wages for their Directors and rely only on volunteer effort.
Not that there aren't some non-profits where it's legitimate to use some paid employees for some facets of the work, and not that our non-profit won't hire contractors for specific one shot tasks, but that should always be looked at carefully. And particularly in the realm of "admin" costs, those should never be greater than 10% of the expenditures. And we believe it should be zero percent. Ours are. If it's not volunteered, it's not happening. And as it's our non-profit, we do the paperwork ourselves. Learning how meant not having to pay a clerical staff.
For those reasons, non-profits, are usually something that only the well-off can afford, as nothing I say can emphasize enough now "non-profit" most non-profits are! True, if you really capture the public's imagination, then one day - years after you're dead, most likely - your non-profit may be large and international and dealing with billions of dollars. Even in your lifetime, if you benefit from some net-fad like the Ice Bucket Challenge that could happen. I say this with the same straight face that I would use for telling a man in his twenties that, "Yes, your rib recipe is great, and one day the restaurant you're dreaming of could be a world-wide chain like McDonalds." In both cases I'm speaking the truth, but it's really rare. Really, really rare!
Mostly, were you to have one successful restaurant, locally, and it stay in business for your life time, you should count that as a wild success! And it would be! Likewise, many non-profits will last the life time of their founder, and not so much past that. Rich people with rich friends may grow such foundations into rich foundations, but modest folks with modest friends should be content with modest foundations.
So I guess before any of those half a dozen things to do listed above, an assessment of whether you even need to be a non-profit is helpful. If you aren't buying a structure, if you're truly just going to be a baton waving middle man, I'd say not bother. It's a lot of time and effort and money for what may not be necessary. And if it's preaching the word, or sharing songs, it is definitively not necessary!
Are we necessary? The Liahona Mission? Are we "necessary" as a non-profit? Yes. Definitely. Our good and service - a temporary shelter and program for alcoholics and addicts - is definitely necessary, there are others doing it in this locality, but not as cheaply, nor providing as much, and there are no other LDS themed sober living homes in the area. We've definitely found our niche. And it is a sustained effort over time that will be attracting others who wish to participate. And it needs to be corporate owned and not individually owned for the usual reasons of liability and continuity and growth.
And while we don't see it being world-girdling, we have reasonable hope of some growth in our life time and that with the appropriately chose board come some distant day that it will outlast the death of it's founders. It's not like poverty, alcoholism and/or addiction is going out of style any time soon. Sad to say.
Still up for your own non-profit? Then go start on the business plan! Not up for a business plan first? Then nevermind playing at having a non-profit.
