My Model for My Nonprofit

I have a nonprofit that I have been procrastinating to get off the ground - which I will not name here . Today, however, I found a great model for what I want the website to look like (as long as I get to delete the color pink from it).

It's also the name of an interesting charity - with a simple mission statement. The name of the charity is Girls, Inc. and their website is here. What I like about the site layout - and also to be honest, the mission statement and focus of the charity - is the clear direction (a simple, one line idea - to make girls strong, smart, and bold) - its resources and interactivity (take for example, this quiz and see if you pass), and finally the action and ecommerce angles (buy a Tshirt, make a donation, and easily join in any action that is aligned with the nonprofit's goal).

The focus of my charity will be distance learning, focussed to defeating child labor around the world and in India in particular, where a huge number of child labourers still exist today. We are working with a base charity that has already had alot of success in India - and our goal is to be a sister organization flying under the same flag.

Right now, all I have is a half a building and an entire room full of stuff that I have to get rid of on Craigslist. Hopefully I've got the monkey off my back long enough to be able to liquidate some of those assets, get the thing off the ground and get the person I've picked to head up the effort - to start work. Needless to say I have a board that I report to, and they're not happy with what I've done so far. We are newly registered, and have been around for six months - I've done one successful fundraiser so far and that will cover the website, is covering the building and the office equipment - no real formal logo, business card or letterhead yet (I had a design done but the board decided not to go with it).

But the thing I like about Girls Inc. is that it seems to be free to do the most good wherever it finds itself - and the website is a chronicle of that work. Obviously a distance learning organization needs to be a bit more buttoned down - the product itself (the distance learning sites) would have highly standardized UI and be alot less oriented to the "here's about what we are" kind of thing that this website plays into - but as a site that describes the charity and acts as a central site for the work the charitable organization does - I think it's a pretty good model. And its also , imho - a decent organization as well.

I wish I were a bit farther along in the design process, but as it stands now this is pretty much a good model for where I want to go. One thing is certain, is that I will not link the non profit here, or identify it in any way shape or form. This blog is about colorless green ideas. The Girls Inc. website is pink.

And as Colonel Hathi says. That is a completely different thing. Altogether. Different.