Starting a Charity

[Boozer]

How is it done?
Hooligns post got me thinking and I'm curious how a charity can be started. I would like to get a charity going that is completely 100% non profit. When i say non profit I dont mean we are going to have employees who are paid money to support the charity and we are going to pay to have people fly to fundraisers around the globe so they can give 50% of the money to charity and 50% to themselves.
I want to start a charity that will give 100% of the money it recieves to CF research and I dont want a middle man. If I get $100 or $100,000 for the charity I want EVERY single penny going to CF research.
Anyone know how to do it?

[clownpuncher]

I'm far from the expert, but, I do know it's a TON of work and unless you're willing to dig into your own pocket, I beleive it's virtually impossible to be able to transfer 100% of the donations to the specific charity. You'll have a lot of peripheral expenses ie: office supplies, postage, advertizing, insurance....You get the idea. It takes exceptional organization to keep things above board too. Do a search on 501(c) and you'll get some good info, I'm sure.
I think your idea is a noble one and wish more of us had the same outlook on giving.
Dang boy, you're one energetic mo-fo. Starting a new business AND still have time to think about others. Good man. :)

[Boozer]

I'm far from the expert, but, I do know it's a TON of work and unless you're willing to dig into your own pocket, I beleive it's virtually impossible to be able to transfer 100% of the donations to the specific charity. You'll have a lot of peripheral expenses ie: office supplies, postage, advertizing, insurance....You get the idea. It takes exceptional organization to keep things above board too. Do a search on 501(c) and you'll get some good info, I'm sure.
I think your idea is a noble one and wish more of us had the same outlook on giving.
Dang boy, you're one energetic mo-fo. Starting a new business AND still have time to think about others. Good man. :)
Well along with the business I want to donate a % of the business profits to the cause. Most charities as charitable as they may be tend to not give as much money to the cause as they should because of advertising and so on. If I give a % of my companies profits to charity I want to make sure that that money gets to the cause not to someones pocket.

[clownpuncher]

Here's a start 501(c) (http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=501%28c%29&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images)

[coolchange]

I had a friend that did that. Got to have a pres and a board of directors. Board votes on pres pay check. pres says I want a hundred thou a year. Boardmember says no so he fires that one and appoints a new one. total racket. This guys a real dootdaloot and worked for "Feed the Kitties" or something and decided he could do the same on his own. A while ago he decided he needed a plane to get to all his "charity" golf tournaments so the "charity" bought a 152 for him. granted he produces for his cauuse but it just gets my goat that this guy who couldnt run a janitorial biz is now rakin it in.

[C-2]

Well along with the business I want to donate a % of the business profits to the cause. Most charities as charitable as they may be tend to not give as much money to the cause as they should because of advertising and so on. If I give a % of my companies profits to charity I want to make sure that that money gets to the cause not to someones pocket.
Make sure the taxman is your first charity of choice when you start the new biz. ;)
Strangely, non-profits often spend lotsa money on professionals to…make their organization more “profitable.”
:)

[Boozer]

Make sure the taxman is your first charity of choice when you start the new biz. ;)
Strangely, non-profits often spend lotsa money on professionals to…make their organization more “profitable.”
:)
The more I research this thing the more I see the wrongs in this country. Its pretty tragic. When I looked up the 501(c) deal that Roland was talking about I found nothing but self help books for $40 that taught me what to do to create a corporation and mask it under a non profit organization and attorneys who were telling you how to mask yourself under the 501(c) for a smal sum of money.
What a crock of shit! I just want to be able to create a fund that people can donate their money to and know that its going to the people who need it. I dont care if its an after tax deal. Its sbout doing the right thing not making money!!!
I'd rather have a charity that recieves 50K a year and donates 50K a year then a charity that donates 60K a year and recieves 150K a year. I want people to give to the cause not give to someone else in the name of the cause. What a f*cking bullsh*t racket.

[hoolign]

Boozer.just a thought..why not just try to bring more awareness to an existing foundation already in place? I know how hard it is to start one i helped a friend do it about 15 years ago. It is probably alot different down there! I would try to get a hold of The major CF foundation down there and approach them with a different angle..so to speak they already have things oin position. Your not going to be able to raise 100 grand and give a 100 grand sad and unfortunate ..but true..the fact is you research a organization down there and find that they are ligitimate and a damn healthy chunk of the cash is put towards a cure..just give them the "Boozer" angle..may not cost you a cent but may bring in a shitload of money to a worthy cause. if they get 100 and give out 70 it's still 70 they didnt have before .hell if I saw Boozers ***boat buddys for CF..I'd huck in..just my .02

[Sanger Pete]

I just finished posting on hoolign's thread. I have started 2 non profit, tax exempt organizations to address specific issues here in Fresno. Currently, I am running Fresno Neighborhood Network, which works with 8 seperate low income neighborhoods to help them help themselves. My experience is that the bigger the organization, the bigger the racket, but also that there are hundreds of small struggling organizations out there that no one hears about that are doing amazing work in their respective areas.
Like CP said, it does take a certain amount of energy and money to keep an organization operating, and the larger the organization, the more time, energy and funding it takes. The problem I see is that in many non profits, more is spent on maintaining the corporation than on the tax exempt purpose of the corporation.
If you are interested in starting a non profit organization, shoot me an email at markwpete@sbcglobal.net and I'd be happy to help. Another alternative would be, since one our non profit purposes is to sponser unincorporated "non profit" type groups, such as the neighborhood resident groups, we could also sponsor your CF idea--essentially providing a non profit, tax exempt entity to accept donations on your behalf, and then passing them on through to the ultimate recipients. I couldn't do it for free though--I need funding to maintain our organization--but I could do it cheaper than anyone else--probably between 5%-10%.
Let me know,
Mark Peterson, "Sanger Pete"
Fresno Neighborhood Network
www.fresnonet.org

[sanger rat]

If you are looking to donate. Please check out http://www.stjude.org/ I do my part every month.