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MenuWhere can I start looking for funding for my business?
My business partner and I want to start a not for profit called AssureMom.com I need to know where to start looking for funding. AssureMom.com was formed to assist the elderly and their families with the services they need independent of what Medicare and Medicaid provide.
Answers
The funding of a non-profit can be a bit more complicated than banging on the doors of a bank. First, you will need to set up the corporation, next file for non-profit status with the IRS (1023), and lastly receive tax-exempt status from your state of incorporation. At the point of submission to IRS, you have a window of roughly 2 years to fundraise while you receive your approvals. However, many foundations will not fund you during that time. That leaves you to grass roots funding.
Your success will be based on a solid business plan, and a board that is experienced in oversight. Focus on the income and expenses when you write your business plan.
Good luck in your endeavor, you may find the reward in helping people gets overshadowed by the daunting task of running the company. Keep your mission statement handy!
Sounds like you have a non-profit organization pursuing funding resources that typically revolve around grants, private donors, equity-based investment, product review, membership/subscription revenue, or events sales through the community you are building. A multiple revenue stream approach is a good strategy for a new business that's still trying to determine it's primary funding source. But you need to focus your resources and do what's going to benefit you most to get past the early challenges of your launch. You need an assessment of your opportunity and clear strategy with tactics you can execute. Let's chat.
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What is your ultimate source for business research?
In over seven years of SaaS enterprise marketing, I have found Linkedin to be the best source of information for business research in my my industry - particularly competitive research. With Linkedin, I can: - Identify hiring trends – What are your competitors and contemporaries doing as far as personnel? Are they in the middle of a big hiring spree, or are they stagnant? This can offer clues as to how their business is doing, good or bad. A sudden trend in new hires might mean they are expanding. What could this mean? A new outlet, a new product line, a new service, or perhaps just a large increase in demand. Compare this to your own situation to see how you stack up to the competition. - Identify firing trends – On the flip side of personnel analysis, assess competitors’ downsizing trends. If a sudden reduction in employees occurs, this might be a good time for you to leverage your dominance. If your competitor is struggling, it’s time to increase competitive intelligence. All’s fair in love and business. - Identify hiring anomalies - Is your competitor taking on employees with new skills or with skills that seem out of place? This could indicate an expansion, a new service or something else that’s about to happen. With proper competitive intelligence research, perhaps you can figure out what’s going on and determine if it’s something you need to consider for your own business. - Scan competitors’ new connections – Is a competitor beginning to connect with people in a new business sector? If so, this could be an indication of a new project or a new trend. Study the connections to see what they have to offer and try to see where it could fit into your business. Perhaps you too will want to connect to them. - Locate competitors’ previous employees – A few minutes chatting with a competitor’s former employee can gain you tons of valuable information. Are they disgruntled? Perhaps they’ll be willing to let you in on some operational details. In the best situation, perhaps you can pick them up for your team. - Make connections with industry peers – Find LinkedIn professional groups that relate to your business. This allows you to make new business connections. If you run a salon or a spa in Maine, connect with other salon owners in Arizona to share advice. They’re not your competitors so there is nothing to lose by sharing secrets. I hope this helps! :)JR
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We've been open 6 months and need more financing. What are my best options?Should I look for more loans or an investor?
That depends a lot on what assets you have, and what type of business you're trying to create. Do you already have a MVP version of your product? I hope so, six months in! One option is to pre-sell your product (beta version) to your audience, which not only helps with financing but also gets them involved with improving the product you're creating. You do have an audience, right? If not, stop what you're doing or building and go back to that stage. Don't build products in a vacuum.JM
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Looking for guidance for where I can find investors for my app?
As Ken suggested, there is a wide breadth of mobile offerings and although there are some great "mobile only" funds, each investor / fund has their own thesis that makes them interested in some but disinterested in others. Also, if your revenue generating, you should seriously consider bootstrapping further. Revenue is treated very strangely in early-stage investing and *might* work against you. AngelList is a great way to research investors but not effective in actually connecting with them. Find investors who you are confident will be passionate about what you're doing based on prior job experience or what you know they are investing in. Happy to talk in a call to help explain this further if you need more clarity.TW
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