Start a Nonprofit with $0: My Proven Strategy

Hey, hey. So, you know, I was asking people this question. So you want to start a nonprofit, but you don't have any money. And that's a lot of people that want to start nonprofit. They're like, but I don't have any money. Let me tell you this. I started my nonprofit at 21. I had no money, no experience, and no support. And we're at 37 years later, we raised almost $40 million in grants and just for our nonprofit. I'm not going to talk about how much I've helped others outside of our nonprofit raise money. I'm just going to talk about the nonprofit that I founded. And it all started with what I'm about to share with you, because the truth is money isn't what makes a nonprofit. Clarity is. And I realized once I got clear, then I was able to just start bringing in money, and it came in from places you would not even imagine. So for those who don't know me, I'm Vanessa Lindsay. I'm a founder of a nonprofit, and I'm a founder of Visionaries Build a Legacy. So if you're ready to build your nonprofit dream without going into debt, because we know when we first start a nonprofit, and if you don't know, let me tell you, the money's going to be coming out of your pocket. So how do you get it without going into debt, right? We got to let you know how to do it without begging for donations before you even have a plan. Sometimes we get out there, we start begging for donations, and there's no plan. And so this is where we begin. I'm going to walk you through what it really takes to get started. Excuse me. I need a little drink. I'm just a regular person and I'm just gonna tell you from my lived experience and to help you do some things that I was able to do to build a legacy, okay? So most aspiring changemakers, they think they need a grant, they think they need a big donor or a fancy website to get going. So they wait, they wait for permission, they wait for money, and they wait for the right time. Is there really, really, really ever a right time? You hear people say, "Oh, I don't wanna have a baby right now 'cause it's not the right time." "Oh, we're gonna do this when it's the right time." Well, starting your nonprofit is like having a baby. There's really no right time. It's not gonna come. You just gotta make it happen, right? But here's the truth. You don't need money to start your nonprofit. What you need is you need a mission, okay? What waiting does, it keeps our dreams in neutral. How many of you are in neutral right now? If you're in neutral right now, go ahead and let me know. I'm really in neutral right now., and I'm really paralyzed, right? My passion is really, really paralyzed. And every day you wait and you wait and wait and keep saying, I'm gonna do it tomorrow, I'm gonna do it tomorrow. But think about it, each time you wait and you know you have that purpose and you know you have that passion and you know it was put into you for a particular reason, every time you wait, someone who needs what you can offer, only you can offer, continues to struggle because there may be services similar to you, But the way you offer it, it's a total different game changer. Okay? When you get clear on why you're starting, who you serve, and what problem you're solving, doors begin to open. Money follows your mission. Let me say that again. Money follows your mission. Follows mission. It's not the other way around. So today I'm going to show you how to start with what you have, just what you got. Little bit limited experience, but you got some experience. Limited time, you got little time, right? So what you need isn't in your bank account, it's your clarity, it's your commitment, and it's your courage. You got clarity, you got commitment, and you got courage. You got to have some of all of those because you wouldn't be here and you wouldn't thought about, I want to start a nonprofit. And once you have that Trust me, the results will follow. So here's the simple steps, okay? Let's break it down. What do you actually need to start a nonprofit? You need clarity of mission. Write your mission statement. Who do you serve and what transformation do you want to create? It doesn't have to be perfect right now, but I want you to just sit and write, well, who do I serve? And don't talk about I serve everybody because you can't serve everybody. Don't even say I serve all youth or all women in domestic violence or Get really honed in on who do you serve? Just pick one person, okay? And then what transformation can you create for that one person? Okay. And then I want you to ask yourself, what breaks your heart, right? What won't let you sleep at night? And what keeps going on in your mind if you're working a full-time job? It's like, what is that that keeps going in your mind while you're working the job saying, I don't want to be here, I need to be doing this, I need to be doing that. Okay, so I want you to start right there. I want you to ask yourself what breaks your heart and won't, won't let you sleep at night. Okay, and then who do you want to serve and what transformation do you want to create with them? Okay, so at minimum, when you're starting your nonprofit, this is what you need. You need a name, you need a purpose, you need an address. Even if it's your home address, you need an address. You need a mailing address. You need a address, not a PO box. You need an address. And then you need 3 board members who believe in you, okay? These people don't have to be wealthy, or they don't even have to be well connected. They just need to care and show up. These are the things I want you to start getting ready, okay? And then you can also begin now. Don't wait till you get that 501. You're hearing there's so many steps we're talking about doing now. Google Docs for your documents, that's a free tool. Get Canva to design your first flyer, that's a free tool. And ChatGPT could help you brainstorm or write. Those are free tools, okay? You could visit your local library. I'm going to tell you, when I first started my nonprofit, I lived in the library. Why? Because there wasn't the internet like it is today, okay? So you can go to the library. These are free resources that's packed with lots of information. And then of course, don't underestimate social media. And I know you've been on there, and I know you've been looking at all the information that's out here, because guess what? You're looking at my video. Whether you're getting this through the email, you're looking at it on YouTube, but you're looking at it, okay? But what I want you to start doing is using social media. I want you to start building awareness and telling your story now. Do you even have your story? Maybe we need to start with just writing your story, okay? And so your first action steps is I want you to create a simple community needs survey with Google Forms because sometimes we say, oh, I'm going to provide services and this is what I do. I'm going to tell you my story one day. And this is why this is so important. But you may get online and say, "Oh, I want to help provide mentoring services for youth." You need to go out in the community and find out what actually is going on in the community and what the community wants. Sometimes we give them what we want and not what they want. Get out there and start conversations. Reach out to people who care about the problem you want to solve. If it's mentoring services for youth, get out there and talk to parents. Go talk to other mentoring organizations and then share your vision. Don't wait until it's perfect. Progress is better than perfect. Share your vision, okay? And then you can host a vision, you could host a call, you can host a coffee chat and get people together and bring them into the process, okay? Like we talked about finding those 3 potential board members, you may not even have them as board members, but bring the people into the process, let them talk about it and let them be a part of your why., and you may shake out your board members from there. They'll be like, oh my gosh, what they're talking about is wonderful. I wanna be a part, right? Now you might be wondering, who am I to tell you this, right? Who is this attempt? Well, I've told you earlier that I'm Vanessa Lindsay, right? And I started my nonprofit at 21 and we've been in existence for over 37+ years and over $40 million. Again, I've mentored hundreds of nonprofit leaders and I help hundreds of other nonprofits and social enterprises really start building and growing their nonprofit. So I just don't teach this, I live it. I love nonprofits. And why do I say I love nonprofits? Because I've been there, I know the journey, and it is a struggle. If anyone ever tells you that this is easy, run, because it's not, okay? I've worked with single moms, I've worked with teachers, students, I've worked with just a plethora of people and watched them build something powerful from 21 years old, from people to 80 years old and watch them start nonprofits and build them. So it's really amazing. So don't let money stop you. They didn't let money stop them, and don't let it stop you. Okay, so, okay, so here's your next step. Don't let money stop you. Let clarity lead you. You want to know what to do next? Do you want to ask me some specific questions? Join me on my clarity call. I have a Sunday clarity call at 7 PM EST every Sunday. I'm online live. Unless something comes up, and it's free. And here's where aspiring nonprofit founders like you get real answers. So bring your questions, bring your doubts, bring your dream, okay? And let's build the legacy together. So if you want to come, go to vblunlimited.net. VBL unlimited.net. Click on it, you'll see something that says Clarity Sunday. Hit the Sunday, come on in and get your questions answered. All right, thanks for listening, and I look forward to seeing you. Peace.