One of thee most asked questions we get is "how do I start a nonprofit"?  Although there are literally hundreds of "how to" resources online in the form of blogs, checklist, training and even books, somehow the question never seems to go away.

This can only mean one thing.  Either the information is not very accurate or the passion filled visionary that's reading about it is still lost because.... well frankly it's just not clear enough.  We'll go with what's behind door number two. 

And we get it.  One thing that most people won't tell you is that a nonprofit is started in stages. Secondly, some of the information out there is only telling you how to form at the state level.  That's fine of course if you are a church (because churches get automatic exemption) or if you are not looking to get any major or minor funding beyond asking for general donations. But if you are planning on seeking funding, then your best bet is to also seek 501(c)3 tax...

You know I didn't realize how wildly popular this topic would be until I started posting about it. It's not that I didn't think it was relevant...not at all but it still makes you feel good when you know you are bringing change to the lives of others. Kind of like what happens when you go through the Stages of Nonprofit development. So here is a quick overview.

Part 1- was all about the 4 Pillars in the Forming Stage. If you missed it....read it here.
Part 2-we dove into the 4 Pillars in the Building Stage of a nonprofit, what we like to refer to as the "core" of your organization. You can read more about that here.

Finally, today to wrap things up today we are focusing on Part 3-The Enhancement Stage. Now, to me, this is where the visionary leader really gets to focus more on their own processes, education, and integrations that make you uniquely you. Your personality (or lack of-so be careful) will really come through in the way you run your organization. These next 4 pillars will...

Hey there..... so we are moving into part 2 of a 3 part blog series about the 12 Pillars Of Nonprofit Success. If you didn't already read part one "The Formation Phase" you can read it here.

For those of you who are ready to move forward, well here we go. We pick up today with The Building Phase. This is when you are putting the framework of your operations together. Although you are in the middle of your process, this phase trips people up as well because it is the most tedious of the three phases. But it is also the heart and soul of your organization. Getting these Pillars in place correctly from the jump, will ensure that you have much smoother sailing going into the Enhancement Phase.....trust me. So, with that said let's begin.

PILLAR 5: ACCOUNTING PRACTICE AND PROCESS

Oh, the wonders of Nonprofits accounting!I can't completely say that this is the MOST important aspect of your nonprofit organization.....but it is the MOST important aspect of your nonprofit. We know that the...

In our quest for the "perfect" foundational principals in nonprofit organization, we asked ourselves...what do all nonprofits need to know to grow their organization? So, we looked back at the framework we developed when we started our consulting business and realized it would be the perfect information to share with our nonprofit visionary audience. We ran a 12-day insider post series to our Facebook Fan Page, to share this 12 Pillar Visioning Model for successful Nonprofit growth and sustainability. We received really positive feedback from it, so we decided to go ahead and put it together in a blog post, where you can receive all the information in one location. However, because the information does cover 12 specific Pillars, we are dividing it up into 4 blog posts. (You'll understand why as you read more.) So here we go! In this post, we are sharing pillars one through four.

Here is a little background. Along with the 12 Pillar Visioning Model, we know that all nonprofits...