Grassroots charity - help wanted

Folks,

SVREX, Volvoclearinghouse and I have been chatting about an automotive related charity we wish to start, based primarily upon eliminating the poverty trap we see when poor credit gets terrible loan terms and people get stuck. There is a lot more to this idea, and I do not want to start a political conversation about poverty.

The end of the story is this, we don't have much of an idea on how to actually start or fund a charity. If anyone has any ideas, has done this, or is interested in helping in any way, please PM me or E-mail me at BKB 001 at gmail dot com.

Please, no commentary on poverty, just ideas and help and PMs.

What's this charity going to do? Are you sure this charity doesn't already exist and you can join and make it better?

I commend you guys for your heart and initiative. I've never done it professionally and I've never started one from scratch but I have a fair amount of experience with charity organizations.

I recommend that you start by seeing if there's an existing charity that would be interested in adding your service to their existing ones. That gives you an existing infrastructure, access to experienced people and perhaps more important an existing funding base. They probably won't have funds available but they'll already have a list of potential donors and sources for grants.

I love it and see transportation as a key poverty trap in the US.

I have heard of Lemons Aid but don't know if they're at all similar to what you have in mind.

In reply to dculberson:

I love that charity, but no t's quite a bit different.

Are you trying to tackle the financing end of it, specifically? If so, that might require a different approach (and skillset) than something like Lemons Aid.

I've seen organizations (mostly churches) do something similar to habitat for humanity where people can apply for a car, and then volunteer a certain number of hours for the organization before they receive the car and after. The idea is that they have some skin in the game, and learn some basic auto skills that can save them money in the future, as well.

I've also heard of models where a church invited single moms to a Bible study on Saturday morning, and volunteers would perform basic maintenance on their cars (oil changes, tire rotations, minor repairs, etc.) while they were in the Bible study.

In reply to dj06482:

I will forward you the draft plan.

I'm interested in this too. Looking at the founding 3 - this is something I want to support.

Not sure exactly how I could best help though.

You need someone who is knowledgeable about tax rules. It's been a while since I did treasurer stuff for the PTO which was a non profit. In Texas we had rules about how much money we could take in before we tripped the next level of tax compliance and we were careful to stay below them. Paying attention was a big deal, the guy before me wasn't and they were hit with about $5k in sales tax they should have paid and a small fine to go along with it. Non profits can be run in a wide variety of ways, but they ALL need to follow the rules.

If you want to start a not-for-profit financial cooperative to provide financial services to people of modest means at fair and reasonable terms, it is called a "credit union".

Yes, a group of ordinary people with a common bond can come together and start their own credit union. In fact, that is EXACTLY what credit unions are all about.

If you want to give handouts to the less fortunate - I commend your idealism and wish you well. See also: Robin Hood

In reply to GSmith:

Send me a pm and I'll send you my draft.

In reply to bludroptop:

Close, but I also want to give away money while abeing a credit union.

Making progress slowly. I met with an executive at my company today who works with several charities and philanthropists here in Greenville. He and I are going to approach several local established charities to see how we might partner with them to get this off the ground. Thanks everyone for your continued support!

Send me a pm with the draft. I've worked in Repo on the Bank side of things.

In reply to tuna55 :

I'm really glad you started this thread. 

Please keep us all updated with how it's going.  Good luck!

I have no idea how to help but The President of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana (New Orleans) is a close and personal friend of mine.  Not sure what means to Greenville, SC but he will take my calls and answer my emails.  

Please send me some details to personally review.

jwelsh02...yahoo...