Today our expert guest is Christian LeFer, the CEO and founder of InstantNonprofit, a turnkey service for turning your desire to make a difference into an IRS-approved 501(c)3 nonprofit at a fraction of the usual cost.
His mission is to help founders stay on mission and raise funds by providing the path to form and grow a nonprofit according to their vision and calling. He’s been interviewed by some of the top business podcasts in the world, a consultant and trainer for top nonprofit executives, and he’s done it all in the nonprofit space.
Christian never expected to start a nonprofit to help other people launch their own nonprofit – mainly because there’s a lot of paperwork involved, and he hated paperwork. His sister was developmentally disabled, and he found himself being amazed at how many events there were for her to take part in. Around 2010 he had the opportunity to help some friends start a nonprofit, and when he called the IRS, it became clear how many obstacles there are standing in the way of people who just want to do something good. He started digging into what would make the bureaucrats at the IRS happy, and he curated a process called “a love letter to a bureaucrat.” He got approval just sixty days after that, and quickly discovered he was onto something there was demand for.
Like Christian, many people’s passion for starting a nonprofit begins in childhood. Starting a business can be a great way to find meaning and solve problems in the world, but sometimes the problem you want to solve isn’t a good match for business and can’t be neatly monetized. That’s where nonprofits can provide a great level of meaning in your life, far beyond what a business could.
Despite how much negativity is out there in the news and the world, there is so much good happening too. Charitable donations are on the rise, and people are more invested in making an impact than ever before. There are bright spots out there. The old model is over.
The Biggest Helping: Today’s Most Important Takeaway
“There are a lot of reasons not to start a nonprofit or not to start anything. We are busy, we’re frazzled, we have lots of things demanding our attention, and this is not necessarily a logic based decision, right, to get involved in a cause. It’s kind of like falling in love, it’s kind of like meeting a new person. It’s not about finding the right person and speed dating. It’s about finding and just spending a little bit of time with your own heart and deciding what is going to be that thing that I want on my epitaph, that I have people say about me? What would I like to be known for if there are no other constraints? And if the answer is to give back to the community in some way, and there isn’t an avenue, if there is an avenue, by all means go help that nonprofit and join that cause and push it forward. But if it’s not being addressed in a way that you believe is important, then there is an avenue to express that.”
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Thank you for joining us on The Daily Helping with Dr. Shuster. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Google Podcasts to download more food for the brain, knowledge from the experts, and tools to win at life.
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The Daily Helping is produced by Crate Media
There is incredible potential that lies within each and every one of us to create positive change in our lives (and the lives of others) while achieving our dreams.
This is the Power of You!
