Start an Environmental Nonprofit
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Many people have been activated by the urgent need to save the environment. From so many angles like global warming, plastics in landfills and the ocean, huge mounds of clothing and so much more, people like you want to cause change.
Are you a person or a member of a group wanting to create a nonprofit to address saving the earth? Do you have some business experience and others who want to work with you? Maybe you have a novel idea?
Whatever your angle, if you are going to start a nonprofit you need a solid base to start from. While starting a nonprofit is not extremely difficult, you will want to make sure you follow some steps carefully.
Before You Start
Find out who is already running an environmental organization in your area, and nationally.
It is not hard to do this. You can google to find national and other state organizations and you can contact your state’s nonprofit association. They will have member lists.
If there is an organization already formed in your local area, talk to them about incorporating what you want to do under their umbrella before you go and start a new organization. It will save you lots of work if they are interested.
There are five essentials for starting a nonprofit
There are five essentials for starting a nonprofit organization:
- A board of directors which should be more than your friends and family
- Officers of the Corporation
- Articles of Incorporation and bylaws drawn up by an attorney
- 501 (c) status from the IRS
- A solid fundraising plan
Do More Homework
There are excellent resources as well as books about how to start a nonprofit.
Resources:
Again, your state’s nonprofit association is a great place to get information and referrals that can help you to get started. You will most likely find an attorney through the nonprofit association as well because members of nonprofit associations include consultants, attorneys and others working with nonprofits. You can also find foundations in your area that fund environmental organizations and talk to a program manager about the funding potential for your specific idea and any tips they might like to share with you.
We recommend that you read books about how to start a nonprofit such as, How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation (National Edition): A Step-by-Step Guide to Forming a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit in Any State (How to Form Your Own Nonprofit Corporation), by Anthony Mancuso Attorney. [paid link]. We have listed several books that could be helpful to you on the store page of this site.
Your organization will need a name, domain and website
As you can see, we have developed all of that for you to claim as your own. Visit the New Nonprofit Startup Package page of this site to see how.
EarthUp will give you a head start on the business end of your organization where you can get started really fast. We are consultants to nonprofit organizations, and have put a lot of thought into this site for you already. Exact match domain names are extremely important for your marketing efforts and EarthUp is a perfect, short domain. In other words, don’t buy a domain where you add “extensions” like the name of your state or several words.
We commend you for thinking about saving the world by starting a nonprofit environmental organization. Clearly there is more room for environmental organizations in our world. We are rooting for you and our earth.