What Is The Founders' Club

Sitting poolside today, huh, girl?

I wish I was. I'm actually out— I'm actually out of the state right now, so I'm someplace else. So I have all this other stuff going on. It's not my background, so my lighting isn't as good. So I'm gonna be fading in and out, but so I may go— the sun may go up and down, so that's okay.

That's okay, that's okay. So I thought today would be a good day for us to talk a little bit more about the found— um, the Nonprofit Founders Club. Um, so tell us a little bit. I know, right? And then, and then of course I picked the day that your background is a little fuzzy, and I picked the day to like interview you.

Right, right. So you know what I'm gonna do? Let me see. I don't know if it's gonna let me change my setting. So let me change my background because everybody know this is a virtual background. So if you guys are streaming and doing anything, um, we just want to let you know this is how this works. So you could do virtual backgrounds or you can just be yourself. So I'm just going to have to just show my background because otherwise I am going to look really floating. Yes, we have to go all natural. Okay, which is okay, you know. Um, especially with the work we're doing and the things we're doing, we just, we just have to come as we are, you know, roll up our sleeves and do what we need to do.

So that's right, that's right. Well, um, I wanted to just say, uh, today, like I said, want to talk about the Nonprofit Founders Club. So, um, tell us a little bit about how the Nonprofit Founders Club came about.

Hmm, well, you know, I have to say that the Nonprofit Founders Club has been in the works in my mind for over 20 years. And why do I say that? It's more than 20 years. Why do I say that? I said because I would— when I was starting my nonprofit, it was so hard, it was so challenging, it was so much work. And you know, when you start— a lot of people start their nonprofit, not everybody, but when a lot of people start their nonprofit, they're actually doing it by themselves. Yeah, because it's their mission, their goals, their vision, their dream, their purpose, their passion. And so I did it by myself, and it was so hard, it was so challenging. And I used to pray, I say, Father If you help me be successful with this nonprofit, I promise I will go back and help others. And so throughout the years, throughout the 35 years I was building my nonprofit, I've actually helped people along the way as I was working and growing and learning. So I learned something, somebody wants some information, I'll give it to them. And so then I finally— the time has finally come and I said, okay, you know, now I'm going to create a club specifically for nonprofit founders because it's something that I always wanted. When I had— was one of my nonprofits, I wanted someone to just hold would talk to me, you know, you didn't have to show me a lot, but someone I could relate to, could talk to me, who would guide me, who would help me, or who could just— would just listen to me cry and rant because it was so hard and frustrating. And so that's how the Nonprofit Founders Club came about. It came out of my heart, of the things that I wanted, and I know I couldn't be— I wasn't the only one that wanted it because I'm not terminally unique, right? We all have the same kind of struggles when we're building our nonprofits or any business or anything in life. We just need people to— we can relate to. So I created the club specifically for new nonprofit founders.

Yeah, and, uh, I happen to be, you know, honored to be able to join the club. Um, I think I come in actually in a couple of weeks. I do a little, um, once a month, you know, Q&A with the members, and it's awesome. The members of the club are awesome. So tell a little bit about what kind of activities. I can share with everyone that we had a summit, and the summit was highly— well, what is the word I'm trying to say? Like, there was a lot of traffic, you know, highly attended.

Yes.

And so that was very encouraging. And one of the cool things that we did at the Summit summit was we had a VIP opportunity for some of the members because the summit was completely free. And then there was a VIP for some of the members who, you know, paid a little bit and took advantage of that. And then they were able to meet with, uh, meet with people individually, get all of the recordings from every session. So that summit was like awesome.

It really was. Yes.

But tell a little bit about what else you do in the club.

You know, what I like about the club is that the club is live. You know, the club is not where you just come and you, um— I've got all these things popping up.

The club—

hold on— the club is live. So we do 3 live sessions per month. And so the first week of the month was— we teach a concept, which I love. It's like a car concept. We work with the nonprofit, we teach a concept, we take action. So I want you to get results every month. You should be getting a result, right? So the first, first week of the month, we get together and I teach a concept. What is it? Right now we're talking about sponsorships. How do you get sponsors? Where do you identify them? How do you approach them? So we teach you something and we walk you through the process. Which is really cool because we really try to hold your hand a little bit because sometimes we need a little hand-holding, right?

I love hand-holding.

Yes, yes, yes. And so that's a live. And then the next week, which is when you come in, which is— I'm so thankful to have you say, you know what, I want to, I want to work with the new nonprofit founders, you know, because just, just what they're doing, their purpose, their passion, their desire to want to help change the world. And so we could undergird them and support them in any way. We're like, we're here. And so that's when you come in and you do a Q&A with them. But what I love about the Q&A— the Q&A is not just about them asking questions about their nonprofit or us, it's about us asking them questions about their nonprofit. Because our goal is to help them be the expert in their nonprofit. So when they step onto the community and someone asks questions, they know the answer. If they're writing a grant or they're doing a fundraiser or they're hiring staff or whatever, the board or directors You want to make sure that you know, so when somebody questions you, you'll have the answer. And if you don't— are not able to answer the question at that time, you get an opportunity to work it out, right? Yeah. And you have a support system with other founders, so that's really cool. And then the third week of the month, we do a co-working session, and that's where we get together and we work together. That's where we get that result. It's like, okay, so Antoinette, what are you working on to want to finish up this month? And we take the time and we're all together but then we all cut our microphones off and our cameras and we do the work and we come back and we say, how did that go? Do you need any support? You know, and then we do a little networking. And so that's a lot of fun. So it really gives people a lot of support and opportunity to have access to people. And I think that's what people want is access to people. Yeah. When they're doing the work.

Yes. And I love that coworking session, you know, and Personally, uh, you and I do that co-working session on, um, some Wednesdays, and it's very helpful. So I can only imagine having the community available to you while you're working on one thing— your sponsor letter, your fundraising project, your— you know, even if it's like, we need to update our bylaws. To present to the board, you know, like just whatever those things are. So I'm sure that's awesome.

Yeah. And what is cool is the accountability. I think we all need some type of accountability, and that gives us an accountability because, um, we give them an assignment, right? So after the class on that Monday, and then that first week of the month, we give them an assignment. Okay, this is your assignment for the week, right? Because we all have goals for the whole month that we want to accomplish. So we work on one concept a month. We're not all over the place the whole month working on different— it's one concept a month. But ironically, for this year, we're doing one concept a quarter. So we take you from the beginning to end of really doing the concept, understanding it, and making it happen. So that's— it's fun. And that accountability is like, girl, did you get that done? What's it going to take for you to get that done?

You know, right?

Because somebody out there needs you. If you step— if you have this purpose and this passion in your heart and you know you want to help somebody, so there's somebody out there that needs that help. So let's get them the help they need if you're the one that's supposed to give it to them. Quit procrastinating.

Quit procrastinating. And we can do that.

Yeah.

One of the things too that I love about the club, besides the fact that it is, um, for founders, is that the club also offers opportunity for education and training outside of you know, what is provided in the club. So talk a little bit about— well, I'll talk about one, the one class that I teach outside, and then if you would talk about other classes that, you know, the club offers. So the club offers a really awesome class called Nonprofit Startup Clinic. And it's for the people who know that they want to belong to this organization, have the accountability, have the support, but they haven't yet done the paperwork for their nonprofit. And so they'll meet with me, and it's usually a class of, you know, one or I don't know how many we've had at one time, maybe 4 or 5 people. But we come together once a week for 5 weeks, and we go through all of the steps it takes to, uh, do the paperwork for your nonprofit. So, and the important piece is, uh, and one of the things Vanessa loves to always say is we have you do it. So it's a hands-on class we have you actually do the work so that you know why it's, you know, why you needed to do this. And then later on in the future, you can answer any questions you need to about the, um, the paperwork and the process.

Yeah, right, right. I know I see a lot of people who go out and they have other people do their nonprofit status for them. It's like, I want to show you how to do it yourself because it's like this is your baby. You know, so this should be— this is how you're going to conceive your baby. Let's conceive your baby, right? And so I love it because you walk through the process like, what's step 1? Okay, this is what step 1 is. We're going to get it done online. Are you going to get it done? And next week when you come back, that should be completed. So by the time you're finished with the 5-week course, you not only have, um, got your— completed your paperwork for your state exemption, completed your paperwork for your federal exemption, So you've submitted, but you also learn a little bit about your board, you know. And you know, so the IRS pick up the phone and say, hey, you said such and such in your application, you're like, oh, I know why I said that. And if the state calls you and says, hey, I need this, you're like, oh, I know. And then there's a lot of fraud out there. And what I see is when people get their state exemption, they start getting letters from companies saying, you need to apply for this, send us money. You need to apply for that, send us money. And we let you know, don't look at those. We let you know what you need to look at and what you don't need to take a look at. You know, and or if you're not quite sure, guess what? We're available. You can send an email and say, hey, Antoinette, is this something that I really need, or someone just trying to scam me?

Right?

Yeah. And so it's, it's really beneficial. And so we're helping you lay your foundation, and the foundation starts with your 501. So either you can lay it or you can have someone lay it for you, but always I recommend laying it yourself.

Yeah.

So I'm excited about that.

Yeah. So our time is almost up. Because we, we kind of like to keep our, um, sessions, you know, kind of short. But tell people how they can become a member if they're a nonprofit, what this— what the requirements are for club members.

Okay, so for club members, it's just you have to, you know, start your nonprofit 5 years or less, or been operating at 5 years or less. Some people have gotten their 501 more than 5 years ago and they're not doing anything with it, but it's like now they they're dusting it off and say, okay, I'm ready to do it. And so if someone wants to join the club, which is a very nominal fee— I'm gonna send you to there to check it out— you go to www.nonprofitfoundersclub.com. Nonprofitfoundersclub.com. And you may see some of the other trainings Antoinette talked about that we do is we're actually, um, once or twice a year we do an intensive grant writing class and teach you how to fish, okay? And you can go on, let somebody fish for you, but we're going to teach you how to fish. So in the Nonprofit Founders Club, it's about teaching you how to fish, teaching you how to help others. Because if you have other people do for you, then that's the same thing you're going to do for your clients. We want you to teach your clients and who you're serving how to help themselves. So we're hoping that it will pass it on. So again, if you want to know more about the Nonprofit Founders Club, go to nonprofitfoundersclub.com. We have a lot of things going on. And we thank you for your service, like you asked, like the military, because you guys are doing a service. And so we thank you for your service.

Yes. Awesome. That was great.

Okay. Yeah, thanks everybody. We look forward to seeing you in the club. Okay.