Starting a homeless shelter
Choosing to start a nonprofit organization is a noble, yet challenging, undertaking. The need for homeless shelters in America is pressing. A 2007 study performed by the National Coalition for the Homeless demonstrated that overcrowding in homeless shelters results in half of all shelters being forced to turn people away. A tentative estimate places the number of homeless people in the United States at approximately 1.6 million. One-third of those are families with children. Sheltering the homeless, however, is not a task one person can easily tackle alone and should be a community effort.
Instructions
1. Find a suitable location for your shelter. When applying for a license, incorporation and tax exemptions, you will be required to provide a valid mailing address for the homeless shelter. If renting or purchasing a building is too expensive, you can make a public request through the newspaper and local television stations for a building to be donated to host the shelter.
2. Seek partners to assist you in your efforts to start a homeless shelter. You may consider seeking fiscal sponsorship to help with the initial start-up costs. Fiscal sponsorship is a process by which another nonprofit organization takes on your homeless shelter as a subsidiary and covers all initial fees.
3. Apply for a business license. All businesses, even nonprofit organizations, are required to have and maintain a valid state license to conduct business. Laws concerning business licenses vary by state. Check with your local courthouse to find out the documentation required for a business to become licensed in your area.
4. Incorporate your nonprofit shelter by applying for incorporation with the secretary of state in the state in which the shelter will be located. You will need a board of directors, a name for the organization funding the shelter, documentation of your intent, business plans and proof of a valid license.
5. Apply for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. This will prevent the homeless shelter from having to pay taxes and will also allow individuals and organizations that choose to donate to your shelter to claim the donations as tax exemptions on their yearly taxes.
6. Enlist the aid of local organizations such as churches, businesses and the community at large to help stock the homeless shelter with beds, blankets, food, clothing and toys. Also seek monetary donations to cover the costs of daily overhead and utilities.
Tags: homeless shelter, homeless shelters, nonprofit organization, your shelter