Ask the Expert Randy Prange is a business advisor and CEO of Insights, Inc., a nationally recognized strategic planning and business development firm. Starting a Nonprofit Q: I am currently developing and putting together a nonprofit organization. This has always been my dream, to heal and mentor survivors of all forms of abuse. I am a survivor of Sexual-Emotional-physical abuse throughout my childhood and teen years. I have filled for a nonprofit form from my local state, and was accepted and am currently awaiting for the IRS to accept my filling for tax exemption, but My financial statues is very limited. My husband and I are on a fixed income and we are raising six children, So my question to you is how do I solicit for Supporters, Sponsors, or grants without having the Business up for years? We have a Web site but will not Launch until June 1 of this year and we are looking to go into print publication at the end of the year. Heather A: What an admirable application of your talents! I salute you and your effort to build a not-for-profit organization to help abuse victims. Starting an organization is a daunting challenge. It sounds as though you have done a fair amount of the legwork already. That is important. The better organized and detailed your business plan, the more likely you are to attain success in funding it. You must have a detailed business plan that spells out clearly how much you need and what you will be doing with it. Include three to five year projections on your needs, your service levels, expansion/growth plans and how you plan to execute the plan. Look to your yellow pages for the nearest Small Business Administration center. They offer counseling for start-ups and will also have references for you on other groups to talk to. They provide free counseling to aspiring entrepreneurs as well as small business veterans through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and through the Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs). For supporters, you are the expert there. You know who will be likely to lend you a hand … and a dollar. But marketing is the key to your success. A grass-roots, word-of-mouth marketing plan is the most viable way to support your organization. Make ten calls a day and ask those who support your concept to call five people and so on. Soon you should have a willing regiment of volunteers and small-scale financial backers that can help push you to the next level and provide a reasonable amount of stability to your organization. Check your yellow pages for local and area foundations that provide money to endeavors like yours. Local United Way’s provide funding to worthy organizations that help those in need. You should consider an alliance with another organization with similar objectives. You may be able to start as a subsidiary of a more established group. This way you would capitalize on fiscal synergies between the two groups, notably the backroom operations, call routing, marketing and other services. To assure long-term success, be certain to thank each and every volunteer and donor. Best of luck to you! Randy Prange Recently Asked Questions I'm ready to reenter the work force after six years, but I'm worried about how to compete again. Randy's answer My new boss is ten years younger than I am, not married and practically lives at work. I feel like he expects me to do the same. What should I do? Randy's advice While in the process of interviewing for a new job, I found out I was pregnant. At what point should I tell them the good news? Randy's Answer Submit your questions Disclaimer: The information in this column is intended to provide the reader with general ideas or concepts to be used as part of a broader base of knowledge they collect to determine their own best course of action and solutions most suitable for solving their workplace challenges. The information in this column is not guaranteed to be the appropriate solution for each individual. The information provided is based on personal observations and experiences of the writer that have been garnered over years as a business manager, owner and executive business coach and counselor.