Starting a Nonprofit: What You Need to Know, Session I

Patrick McWhortor, President & CEO of the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits will offer unique insights and advice from someone who started two nonprofits in recent years and has experience in leadership of several local and national nonprofits.  The four-part webinar series will cover:


• Basic nonprofit organizational and legal concepts
• Steps in planning the formation of a nonprofit
• Alternative approaches to serving your mission
• Resources for starting and supporting a nonprofit
• Basic practices for building a board of directors
• Practical advice and tips for nonprofit start-ups

Webinar took place on Sept 22, 2011
Listened to recording today

In Session 1 of our Starting  a Nonprofit Webinar Series, you will learn the basics about nonprofits, their unique characteristics and whether you should form a new organization.

My TakeAways:

Steps to opening a nonprofit - 
~ Evaluate
~ Plan
~ Form the Corp
~ Comply
~ Operate
~ Sustain

Some statistics - 
~ Nonprofits employ 10% of the nation's workforce (13 million workers)
~ Nonprofits in AZ employ 9% of the workforce - below National Average
~ Nonprofits represent 1.3 billion in annual purchasing power in the U.S.
~ Nonprofit expenditures account for nearly 9% of the National Income
~ Nonprofit sector is the 3rd largest contributor the U.S. GDP (Gross Domestic Product), after retail and wholesale trade

Info about AZ Nonprofits -
~ There are more than 20,000 nonprofits operating in the state of AZ
~ $19 billion impact in AZ
~ More than 120,000 paid employees
~ Paid/unpaid workforce larger than government (including volunteers hrs)
~ 60% of Arizonans volunteer their time
~ 64% of nonprofit revenues are below $250,000

Nonprofit's Six Defining Characteristics -
1) Mission Focus
2) Social ROI - has to benefit society
3) Assessment of program outcomes - how we measure impact
4) Role of Governing Boards - steward of nonprofit organization's mission on behalf of the community
5) Involvement of volunteers
6) Culture

Sources of nonprofit income -
Earned income - 43% (health and education)
Government - 32%
Donated (all sources) - 25%

Income sources by sub-sector - I focused particularly on the arts
Arts - 50% earned; 7% government, 43% donated

Total Giving = about $300 billion
Individual giving is about $229 (74%)


Sources and Uses of Charitable Donations -
Arts/culture - $14 billion (5%)
Religion gets the most at $102 billion (32%)

Where AZ Foundation Dollars Are Going -
31% - education at $54.9M
14% - Social and Human Services at $23.9M
12.6% - allocated to community development at $22.4M

Nonprofit Life Cycle -
~ Core Program Development (Start-up)
Concept - spend a lot of time here
Incorporation
~ Infrastructure
Growth
~ Impact Expansion and Stagnation (dissolving/merging phase)