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Starting a nonprofit organization

Bolletje

Bolletje

Overly complicated potato
V.I.P Member
The title is pretty self-explanatory: I've decided I want to start a nonprofit organization, with the purpose of providing information about women with Aspergers. I feel that in my country, there is virtually no accessible information for adults on the spectrum, especially for women. I've decided to try and change that. For starters I'm thinking of creating a website with general autism information, a personal blog and links to autism resources. I'm planning to offer public speaking on the subject as well, provided people are interested ;) If things take off, I'm planning to do fundraising for research and for local projects for adolescents with autism.

I've been looking at legal information all day (fun stuff, really ;)) as I have zero experience whatsoever in starting up a business. My questions for you guys:

1) Do you have experience with starting or running a nonprofit organization? Any tips for a beginner? Pitfalls you've encountered?

2) What features would you like to see on a website for adult females on the spectrum? My target audience is newly diagnosed girls and women as well as people wanting to learn more about autism.

3) Be honest: do you think this is a good idea? I realize it will be a pretty daunting task, seeing as I'm going to have to do everything myself. But I feel very passionate about this, I feel like I should be doing more to help fellow Aspies than posting on these forums. This loving community has helped me so much, and I want to help my community in the same way.
 
Nonprofit organizations typically have to do a ton of paperwork, often more than a for-profit business. Governments want to make sure no one falsely uses non-profit as a way to avoid paying taxes. So, be sure you are really well organized and devote ample time to accomplishing that dedious task.
 
I think it's a great idea, but I may be biased in that I've been nurturing the same (albeit in another local language than yours).
Is it a daunting task? Definitely.
Is it a niche? Yup.
Is there a need? Clearly. And I think we're just seeing the beginning of female diagnosis, and haven't seen the boom yet, so you're most useful now, to help with this.

I also think it's a lot better to have such non-profits run by actual Aspies/Auties than the eternal NT advocate (nothing against them, allies are always good to have, but they will always be missing one little piece of the puzzle).

Besides, having a purpose makes the effort worthwhile.

I'll be rooting for you!
 
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