So You Want to Start a Nonprofit? Here’s What You Really Need to Know

By Dr. Damon D. Williams

Every week, I meet people with incredible ideas, people who want to feed the hungry, support youth, mentor returning citizens, or change the world in ways both big and small. Their passion is real, their intentions are good, and their hearts are in the right place.

But before you file that 501(c)(3) paperwork, I want you to pause and understand what you are truly creating.

Starting a nonprofit is not like starting a business. When you form a nonprofit, you are not creating something you own, you are creating a public entity. Your mission may be personal, but the organization belongs to the community it serves. That’s both the beauty and the responsibility of this work.

You’re Building for the Public Good

When you establish a nonprofit, you are asking the public to trust you with its resources, through donations, grants, and community support. That means you must hold yourself, your team, and your organization to the highest standards of integrity and accountability.

The IRS grants tax-exempt status for one reason: your organization exists to serve the public good, not private interests. That’s why nonprofit leaders must be vigilant about transparency, compliance, and ethics.

If you want to start a nonprofit, start with this mindset: You are not the owner. You are the steward.

Your Board Is Your Backbone

One of the biggest early decisions you’ll make is choosing your founding board members, and this choice will shape everything that follows. Your board isn’t just a group of supporters; it’s your governance structure, your accountability team, and your first fundraising committee.

Choose people who:

• Are genuinely committed to the mission, not just your friendship or your vision.
• Bring skills and networks that can help raise dollars and build partnerships.
• Understand that serving on a board means responsibility, not a résumé line.

If your board is disengaged or disconnected from the work, your organization will struggle before it even begins.

Stay Compliant — Always

Nonprofits are regulated at three levels, local, state, and federal, and leaders must stay current on all requirements. That includes filing annual reports, maintaining your charitable registration, following bylaws, and keeping accurate financial records.

Accounting is not optional. From day one, you need a clear system for tracking income, expenses, and restricted funds. And perhaps the most critical rule of all:

Never co-mingle your personal funds with your organization’s funds.

Even if you are “helping the organization out,” mixing accounts can cause serious legal and tax consequences. Always keep separate bank accounts, and document every transaction properly.

Plan for the Future — From the Start

Many nonprofits fail not because they lack passion, but because they lack planning. One of the most overlooked, yet essential, tools for sustainability is a succession plan.

A succession plan ensures that your mission continues even if you step away. Without one, organizations face what’s known as the Founder’s Problem, when a leader’s departure causes instability or collapse because the organization has been built around one person instead of a system.

Your legacy as a founder shouldn’t end when you do; it should live on through the people and processes you’ve put in place.

Commitment Above All

If you want to start a nonprofit, do it because you’re deeply committed to a cause, not because you want a title or control. The work is rewarding, but it’s also demanding. It requires compliance, strategy, collaboration, and humility.

When done right, though, it’s one of the most powerful ways to shape your community and contribute to the collective good.

At Nomad Consulting, we help founders navigate every step, from formation and compliance to strategic planning and sustainability. If you’re serious about launching a nonprofit that lasts, we’re here to guide you through the process.

Thinking about starting a nonprofit?
Let’s make sure you build it the right way sustainable, compliant, and built to last.
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