Have any of you ever started a charity or non-profit?

What kind of organization was it?
How difficult was it for you to obtain charity status?
How many people worked with you on it? What was it like administratively? How much work did you put into it on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?
Is the organization extant today? If not, why?
How do you feel about the whole experience? Did you accomplish what you hoped to?

I'm doing this atm; looking through and filling out paperwork, mission statement writing, etc. Would like to hear from other people who have done it.

i worked for a non-profit, it was a total disaster

I work for a non-profit, and it goes pretty well with occasional mild disasters. I want to know about people's experiences starting/running them, though.

is my contribution to this thread tax-deductible?

1. (which a lot of fledglings don't do and it hurts them) put together a board you trust that believes in you and what you're doing. they can and will help with fundraising and governance and thinkin baout the big picture plus help you not feel alone against the world.

roxy my wife and I are halfway through starting up a 501c3, you can msg me thru ILX and I can give u contact address for more info, as far as yr questions:

1. foreign aid basically, stovebuilding and health stuff.

2. we have a lawyer in town who specializes in this, it's about 2 grand all told.

3. we have 4 people on our board right now and hopefully there will be two more. still in the beginning stages, so not much work in a given week. our first meeting will be within the next 2 weeks. rest of the questions don;t really apply cause we're so new.

also, I am currently on another 501c3 board for a peace & justice type organization which has been around for decades, we have meetings around once a month plus time spent on various volunteer projects. we're about to start our annual member phone drive and I will be doing maybe 2 hours a week entering Quickbooks data and depositing checks. so that is actually taking up more time than the nonprofit I am starting.

Emailed you, sleeve.

Thanks to both of you for your advice and info :)

More?