Topic 14 of 15 · Starting a nonprofit
How to start a nonprofit: first steps, business plans and fiscal sponsorship
Free guides on how to start a nonprofit: questions to ask first, registration, fiscal sponsorship and nonprofit business plans.
- 7 resources
- 7 free
- 3 tools and templates
- 2 sub-topics
Starting a nonprofit is the easy part. Keeping it funded is hard. Before you register, it's worth asking whether you need a new organisation at all, or whether fiscal sponsorship or a partner would get you there faster.
This shelf covers the first steps: the questions to answer before you register, how registration and fiscal sponsorship work, and how to write a business plan that shows how the organisation will pay its way. If you're building a social enterprise or earning income, the social entrepreneurship shelf goes further.
You need this shelf if
- You're thinking about starting a new nonprofit
- You want to start working before you register, under someone else's umbrella
- A funder asked for a business plan
- You've just registered and want to set things up properly
Key questions for leaders
- Do you really need a new organisation, or could you start under fiscal sponsorship or with a partner? Guidelines for Comprehensive Fiscal Sponsorship →
- Who else already works on this problem, and how is your approach different? Questions to ask before starting an organization →
- How will you fund the first 3 years, and what's your plan if a grant falls through? Thinking Through the Business Model →
- What legal form fits your plans, and what does registration involve where you are? How to set up a charity (CC21a) →
- Who's on your founding board, and what do they bring? Getting on Board free guides →
What's on the shelf
14.1 Starting a nonprofit
- 14.1C184
Questions to ask before starting an organization
A one-page checklist from Pillar Nonprofit Network in London, Ontario, for people thinking of starting a nonprofit. It asks whether someone already does the work, which structure fits, whether the need is lasting, whether others will help, whether money can be found and whether founders will hand control to a board. It then outlines the steps for incorporation and charitable status in Canada and points to a longer Imagine Canada guide.
Start hereCurrentShort readFree - 14.1C181
Guidelines for Comprehensive Fiscal Sponsorship
A short paper setting out administrative, financial and legal good practice for comprehensive fiscal sponsorship, where a host nonprofit takes a project in as its own programme. It was written by a group of fiscal sponsors who practise this model, many working for social justice. Sponsors use it to set their own standards. Project leaders and funders use it to judge whether a sponsor runs the arrangement well.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 14.1C182
How to set up a charity (CC21a)
Online guidance from the regulator for people thinking of starting a charity in England or Wales. It works through 7 steps: decide if a charity is the right option, set its purpose, choose a structure, write a governing document, choose a name, find trustees and fund the work. The legal detail is English, but founders elsewhere use the sequence as a checklist for their own start-up decisions.
ClassicKey online resourceFree - 14.1C183
Understand fiscal hosting
Online documentation from Open Collective Europe, a Belgian public utility foundation that acts as fiscal host for groups without their own legal body. It explains who does what among the collective, its administrators, the foundation and the Open Collective platform. It sets out the difference between a collective and a fund and what to check before applying. Grassroots and civic groups in Europe use it to decide whether fiscal hosting suits them.
CurrentKey online resourceFree
14.2 Business planning
- 14.2C188
Thinking Through the Business Model
A short worksheet from Nonprofit Finance Fund that helps a nonprofit team describe its business model. It has 6 prompts: mission, market (who receives services and who pays for them), programmes, expenses, revenue and outreach. Teams fill it in together, often before a budget or strategy session, to see how the parts connect and where money and mission pull apart.
Start hereClassicTool or templateFree - 14.2C187
The Mission Model Canvas
A short Strategyzer article presenting the Mission Model Canvas, a version of the Business Model Canvas for mission-driven organisations. Revenue streams become mission achievement, customer segments become beneficiaries, cost structure becomes mission cost or budget, channels become deployment and customer relationships become buy-in and support. Teams print the canvas and fill each box to test how their model creates value for beneficiaries and funders.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 14.2C189
Social Business Model Canvas
A method page from Elrha's Humanitarian Innovation Guide for innovation teams in humanitarian and development work. It explains the Social Business Model Canvas, Tandemic's version of the Business Model Canvas. The social version separates funders from users, splits the value created for each and adds a box for impact measures. A team session takes 2 to 3 hours, and the page advises reviewing the canvas over time.
CurrentTool or templateFree
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Work with a consultant or coach
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