The Business of Growing a Non-Profit

It's the season of life to grow a non-profit and it's taken a lot of everything to do it.  Similar to a start up at this point -- where everything feels like it has to be done "now" and the options one could do are endless and immediate.

• Wake Robotics had its first planning meeting in May, 2010 with 5 other families.
• We incorporated as a non-profit with the State of NC in October, 2010, successfully made it through the first FIRST Robotics Competition season in January thru April, 2011 and thought we were going to collapse...  12 students; 10 families.
• In August, we received our first non-FIRST grant (Best Buy) just after getting our 501-c3 approved.
• Currently, we've got almost 60 families, 8 robotics teams, 5 3d printers, and huge, dreams.
• We also are losing our donated facilities, are on the search for more, have no credit, no cash reserves, and no history...  

From my perspective, our biggest challenges are going to be how to:

1.  Turn our vision into actuality (which means actually defining that vision)

2.  Grow to a new level in terms of money and scope

3.  Figure out the sustainability aspect -- in terms of people time and cash... and maybe some of our activities

4.  Create the foundation and infrastructure to have committed volunteers/members who share core values and the desire to change the world for this next generation 

5.  Encourage, empower and harness the enthusiasm of some of the volunteers/members so we're all pulling the same direction

6.  Find an answer to our facilities challenge!

Marketing, financials, board development, membership development, internal and external communication, sponsor relationships, donor relationships, mentors, students... the list is really long!!!!  And I'm drowning...  I need to be able to balance my life to get through this.  And where are we going????