Nonprofit Boot Camp

When Drew Rogers was looking to start Andy’s Foundation in 2009, he was looking for a research project that could fit in with his master’s of social work. Nearly three years later, he’s looking to make an impact.

“It was a community project I had in mind,” Rogers said of the nonprofit he named after his son.

One day, he was at the Missouri Hotel and noticed there were several new computers there – new iMacs, high-end Dell PCs, touch-screen Dell PCs – but many of the youth at the hotel didn’t know how to use them.

That put him to work.

Through Andy’s Foundation, Rogers trains youth to assemble and use computers in an effort to build computer and resume skills, as well as confidence and self-esteem.

He said the Ava school district offered a game-changing donation of equipment in late 2010.

“For almost a year period, I was sleeping on computers,” Rogers said of the family size U-Haul the computer equipment filled before he stored the monitors and keyboards at his home.

To date, he said the budding nonprofit has helped roughly 150 youth.

On the rise
According to social research firm Urban Institute, the number of nonprofits in the U.S. increased by roughly 25 percent between 2001 and 2011 to 1.57 million. In Springfield, there are roughly 700 active nonprofits, according to Dan Prater, director of Drury University’s Center for Nonprofit Communication, which is currently collecting data for a white paper on the local nonprofit industry.

As more nonprofits launch every year, they face several challenges to get up and running. Chief among the challenges is fundraising, according to Julie Higgins, executive director of Ozark-based international education and empowerment organization I Pour Life Foundation, which launched in 2011.

“I’m the worst at asking for money. I’d rather just earn it myself,” said Higgins, an entrepreneur who founded Julie’s Chewies Gourmet Cookies and ran architecture firm Euro World Design and Higgins Marketing LLC.

The nonprofit idea was born in 2009, after Higgins visited a Central American refugee camp in El Salvador.

“We had given out food, clothing and personal hygiene products, and one of the refugees asked if I would bring her son back to the United States because she didn’t want her son to grow up as a refugee,” Higgins said. “It just touched me. I knew it was such a selfless act of love. … I told her I couldn’t do it, but I promised I would come back and help somehow, someway.”

Today, I Pour Life is working in El Salvador and Ethiopia to expand educational opportunities for women and children. Higgins estimated the organization has impacted more than 15,000 lives through efforts that include hiring teachers, sending school supplies and connecting individuals to other charity organizations in their regions.

Higgins’ fundraising efforts have been mostly handled via word of mouth and by connecting her contacts to the cause.

Higgins said she has taken about 10 trips to El Salvador with around 20 people each time, and they see the benefit when they can be actively involved with hiring a teacher or buying school equipment. In June, she is planning to take 27 people to Ethiopia.

I Pour Life’s $200,000 annual operating budget covers travel expenses for volunteers and a 2 percent administration fee. Higgins said she is the only staff member, serving in an unpaid role, and there are six regular part-time volunteers.

This year, I Pour Life has spent $15,000 on teachers and curriculum, including $5,000 in Springfield at Pipkin Middle School to teach about global needs.

Fiscal focus
While there were few organizational hurdles transitioning to nonprofit from the for-profit world, Higgins said she has learned through the experience, and with help from mentors, that keeping the team focused on its mission is critical.

“Just like with any business, there are certain legal steps that you have to take,” she said, adding that creating the 501(c)3 was similar to establishing a limited liability company. “If you’re a compassionate person and you are running a nonprofit, then you probably want to do many things. But you have to keep your focus narrow.”

With a $10,000 annual operating budget, Rogers has been focused on measuring the effectiveness of his program by testing the 70-some participants before and after they completed the six-week program. Rogers, who graduated from Missouri State University in May and is the foundation’s sole employee but does not take a salary, also had to find partner agencies to connect him with participants. He has partnered with the Greene County Youth Alliance, the Early Reporting Center and The Rare Breed, which has devoted office space to Andy’s Foundation in its new facility on North Main Street. With the help of Springfield marketing firm Opal Agency, he’s developed a curriculum for sale and is planning a pair of fall fundraisers to expand his startup.

While Ozark-based Children’s Smile Center is years ahead of Andy’s Foundation and I Pour Life, it took three years in development before serving its first dental patient.

Executive Director Jackie Barger said the nearly 10-year-old nonprofit that helps provide affordable dental care for children across four southwest Missouri counties was under the careful planning of its founders. A group of local dentists and concerned residents, led by Ozark dentist Dr. David Struble, established the organization in December 2003, but it didn’t render any services until receiving a $406,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to build its facility.

Barger said since its first full year of service in 2007, Children’s Smile Center has tripled its revenues, and now has a 2013 operating budget of $1 million. It also operates a satellite office in Branson West and is preparing to open a third facility in Aurora.

Barger said at least 90 percent of its budget is covered by Medicaid, with the rest collected from fundraisers and special events. He said prudent financial decisions cannot be underestimated.

“I’ve worked in nonprofits either as an executive director or as a fundraiser since 1985,” said Barger, who has worked for Make A Wish Foundation and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. “There are so many nonprofits that start with a mission, a vision and a passion, but they don’t put that into financial planning. You’ve got to pay attention to the structure that will make it happen.”[[In-content Ad]]