THE UNSUNG HERO

No one is born knowing what they’re going to do (No one is born knowing what they’re going to do. Quote source: X-Company - S1:E1 - WWII Canadian TV series. 2015-2017.)

Coming up with a vision for a nonprofit is easy. Anyone can recognize a need and envision a way to meet that need with a charitable organization. But transforming that vision into a reality is an entirely different and overwhelming process.

Starting a nonprofit is time-consuming, expensive, and noble, and “30% fail to exist after ten years” (NANOE nanoe.org/nonprofits-fail 2019). According to the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives (NANOE), “over 1.5 million tax-exempt nonprofits in the US.” That means 450,000 will cease to exist after ten years. That is a lot of unsung heroes whose vision to better people and their communities disappeared.

A driving vision for Gospel Bold is to develop cooperatives with visionary individuals and existing small nonprofits. While there is usually an excess of motivation, enthusiasm, and passion, there is typically a lack of the benefits of an established nonprofit. This deficiency can sink the heart of the compassionate individual and plunge their vision into an abyss where it disappears forever.

That’s a terrible thing.

A cooperative is an organization working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit.

It makes me think of reality shows like American Idol, The Voice, and America’s Got Talent. There are so many talented people in the world and all they needed was a venue to show the world their greatness. These talent shows are simply cooperatives whose common purpose is to fulfill the dreams of the most talented people the world never knew existed.

In the entertainment world, the entertainer and the organization succeed corporately and benefit each other in their common purpose.

Gospel Bold serves as that cooperative to give the unsung visionary heroes the means to launch their nonprofit vision. 

Now if you have the fortitude and means to go for it, by all means, go for it. The rest of you, let's look at the mind-boggling process of setting up a nonprofit.

THE MIND-BOGGLING PROCESS OF SETTING UP A NONPROFIT OR CALCULATE THE COST 

First, I am going to scare you, then reassure you. Let us begin with a familiar passage from Luke 14.25-33.

Jesus cautioned his followers that if they want to become his apprentices, they must consider the following:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be my apprentice. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my apprentice.”

Let your brain chew on that for a minute. Jesus continues with a story to drive the point:

“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ Or what king, going out to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand. But if not, while the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and asks for terms of peace.”

Then adds the coup de grâce:

In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my apprentice.

The point Jesus is making is he wants you to seriously consider the cost of being one of his apprentices.  It is not a choice that is made willy-nilly. The same is true for starting a nonprofit.

Take a look at this checklist provided by Chisholm Law Firm. It’s a looooong list.

Establishing a nonprofit is not for the fainthearted. It is not only financial considerations but the enormous amount of time it will take, and the seemingly infinite amount of State and Federal paperwork involved. The effort required for obtaining grants and soliciting donors to believe in your nonprofit mission statement can be exhausting. The challenge faced when looking for qualified people to become board members, fundraisers, and volunteers, is an enormous undertaking.

It's a lot.  After you do all that,  it becomes a daily effort to keep it running successfully.

Words of wisdom instruct you to calculate the cost and see if you have enough to start and follow through.

 Now that I’ve scared and discouraged you, and after calculating the cost and saying to yourself, “There ain’t no way,” do not give up.

Just a little louder:  "DON'T GIVE UP!"

I wanted to quit and that was with Chisholm Law Firm helping me.

That’s right.  Do not give up on your noble vision. Gospel Bold calculated the cost and chose to carry that burdensome cross for you.

GOSPEL BOLD COOPERATIVES – WHAT IS A COOPERATIVE?

A cooperative is an organization working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit (Dictionary.com cooperative definition).

Cooperatives are not new concepts; the greatest example of successful cooperatives is in the credit union industry. Beginning in the mid-19th Century the credit union movement started as a parallel financial industry. Banks favored wealthy clients and neglected unprofitable small business owners or entrepreneurs. If they should be fortunate enough to obtain a loan from a bank, it was at exorbitant interest rates.

People within small industries like mom-and-pop shops, came together to form cooperatives that served a common purpose that fairly and affordably met their financial needs. People had a resource that could help them achieve their dreams. From that spirit of cooperation, a simple, profound philosophy essential to the communities that credit unions serve was implemented:  People Helping People.

Gospel Bold's founder served the credit union industry for twenty years and adopted the People Helping People philosophy into the organization's development. Some small organizations and individuals are inspired by a vision to serve others in their communities but lack the resources an established nonprofit provides. An essential part of Gospel Bold is to serve as a cooperative to help others build their organizations to serve others by partnering with these visionaries for our common purpose.

The common purpose biblical-based Christians share is serving others, especially the impoverished. James 1:27 puts it this way:

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction.

"To look after orphans and widows in their affliction" is a euphemism that means to serve the most neglected people in our communities.

Gospel Bold Cooperatives is to provide a resource for others without the means to operate as a nonprofit yet benefit from an established nonprofit to grow their ministry. That is our vision.