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I’m a dental student and would like to start a nonprofit clinic for low income working adults. The problem is?

to start a dental clinic it costs roughly 200k. So, bake sales and car washes probably won’t do it for me.
I don’t know how I can get the capital to start the clinic. How do i raise the enough money to open doors when i graduate?

Curious:

Your dilemma is very typical for a new nonprofit…how to fund your startup costs. In your case, the price of entry is extraordinarily high. There is no need to be overwhelmed by that fact, but you must be completely honest with yourself about whether or not you are up to this. You are not just talking about providing a community resource for low income individuals. You are also talking about starting a medical practice. You may very well find that the challenge of raising money pales in comparison to that of successfully operating such an enterprise. You simply must surround yourself with experienced, capable people. I mean no offense when I say this: a lone, inexperienced dental student cannot do this on their own. From administration to governance to actually providing the medical care, you’re going to need lots of help.

For something of this magnitude, expect at least 1-2 years of detailed program planning. You are going to need that time to do your demographic studies, business planning, and securing both co-laborers and funding. And trust me…you will raise a lot more money if you get qualified people involved and develop a clear, compelling business plan. And, you are correct…bake sales aren’t going to get it. You will need to develop some type of capital campaign to generate bigger dollars.

Here’s another possible dilemma: you will not attract donors without 501(c)(3) status. And, you cannot get that until you have your plans straight. The IRS will not give your organization tax exempt status without you being able to completely spell out the who, what, when, where, why and how of your program. This really requires an extremely organized effort to launch this in a systematic way. You may find that your community, even your local gov’t and other charities, will want to be involved if your team can show them something that is a good investment…and, one that has a good chance of accomplishing its purpose. Others have done this…so, you can, too!

Thanks to Robert E Lee for plugging our website, http://www.501c3.org . We have lots of free information that will help you learn a lot about starting and managing a nonprofit. I wish you much success. Now, go get busy!

Greg

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 8:21 pm and is filed under dental clinic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “I’m a dental student and would like to start a nonprofit clinic for low income working adults. The problem is?”

  1. Robert E. Lee on March 1st, 2010 at 1:44 am

    You need to start a non-profit so that people can donate and take a tax deduction. Go to http://www.501c3.org/ to see how to do this.
    References :

  2. http://getinnn.2v2.org.ru
    A very informative website, kindly stay a minute in website and check
    References :

  3. Curious:

    Your dilemma is very typical for a new nonprofit…how to fund your startup costs. In your case, the price of entry is extraordinarily high. There is no need to be overwhelmed by that fact, but you must be completely honest with yourself about whether or not you are up to this. You are not just talking about providing a community resource for low income individuals. You are also talking about starting a medical practice. You may very well find that the challenge of raising money pales in comparison to that of successfully operating such an enterprise. You simply must surround yourself with experienced, capable people. I mean no offense when I say this: a lone, inexperienced dental student cannot do this on their own. From administration to governance to actually providing the medical care, you’re going to need lots of help.

    For something of this magnitude, expect at least 1-2 years of detailed program planning. You are going to need that time to do your demographic studies, business planning, and securing both co-laborers and funding. And trust me…you will raise a lot more money if you get qualified people involved and develop a clear, compelling business plan. And, you are correct…bake sales aren’t going to get it. You will need to develop some type of capital campaign to generate bigger dollars.

    Here’s another possible dilemma: you will not attract donors without 501(c)(3) status. And, you cannot get that until you have your plans straight. The IRS will not give your organization tax exempt status without you being able to completely spell out the who, what, when, where, why and how of your program. This really requires an extremely organized effort to launch this in a systematic way. You may find that your community, even your local gov’t and other charities, will want to be involved if your team can show them something that is a good investment…and, one that has a good chance of accomplishing its purpose. Others have done this…so, you can, too!

    Thanks to Robert E Lee for plugging our website, http://www.501c3.org . We have lots of free information that will help you learn a lot about starting and managing a nonprofit. I wish you much success. Now, go get busy!

    Greg
    References :
    http://www.501c3.org

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