Advice Wanted On Starting A Small Foundation

[jb007uk]

Hi,

I want to start generating funds to help individuals who have fallen through the net for example people forced to live in cars or those who have nothing and have received absolutely no help.

You may ask, would it not be easier to give the money to homeless Charities - by why are they not currently helping such people? So I do not want to work with other Charities or donate to the same, whereby the small sums of money that I and maybe others generate go to paying the salaries of others and not the homeless person living in a box. My desire to do something has only just being realised due to an incident with such a person and his pitiful situation. The guy has has no family or friends and as he has no address therefore the Government refuse to help. They do no care if he should die at 34 as long as he does not die in their offices. This young male who was a very hard worker until (as is often the case) he had a problem in his life which sent him into a downward spiral.
He copes with his situation by drinking when he can and recently ended in hospital having had an epileptic fit, whereby the junior Doctor at the hospital treating him, thought his situation was rather amazing (naturally I have filled a formal complaint) Anyway can ask the more knowledable on here if there is any legalities to using the name "foundation." So why not Charity or similar? Well I simply want to help some of these people with either money or services and I do not the hassle of grants etc and all the problems with "where has the money gone" I make the money and therefore I give it to whom I please. Admittedly the funds generated is going to be very, very small but I have to start somewhere and just helping one person will feel like a massive acheivement.

I intend to start small whereby I shall be having T Shirts etc designed (paid for by myself) and sold on Amazon etc with ALL profits going to help support individuals in dire need. As things develop I shall find other volunteers to donate a little time or their skills in order to help the cause.

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[The Byre]

A noble intent, but you need to get together with other, like-minded folk. You cannot do it all by yourself.

 

[billmccallum1957]

see http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/advice-services/publications/start-your-social-enterprise

 

[billmccallum1957]

where are you based?

 

[Gecko001]

The word "foundation" in the title of this charity perhaps is a bit misleading as "foundations" do not usually raise money but are set up to distribute money given by one person or company.

 

[ethical PR]

OP it's good to hear that you want to help those experiencing homelessness - however you can't have it both ways - if you don't want to operate as a charity you can't call yourself a Foundation, as this would be misleading and people buying your products would thinking you have set up a not for profit with clear structures in place for how money is being spent appropriately in line with charitable aims.

If you want to operate with the philosophy that you make the money so will decide how it's spent - then simply set up as a sole trader or limited company and mention on your site that this is what you are doing with the profits.

By the way it's simply not true to say there is no help available for young single homeless people either through the government or charities.

Benefits are available to those with no fixed address and charities such as the Salvation Army and St Mungo's, Crisis, CentrePoint offer food, night shelters, clothing, counselling and a range of support.

Personally, as someone who co-founded a homeless charity a couple of year's back that works with other homeless charities, and having done a lot of research in this area, I would say your money would have a lot more impact and do a lot more good, if you donated any funds you raise to either a local or national homeless charity.

 

[Rewild]

Hello JB007UK

It seems the posters above talks without real knowledge. I've been through this process myself. The way to do it is to set-up a community interest company (a non-profit status).

"Foundation" can be part of your name provided you can guarantee the company will have access to an independent (non exclusive) source of financing - which will be the case if you pay for your stocks out of your own pocket for instance. See gov(dot)uk website for rules on incorporation names.

As it won't be a registered charity it will be allowed to trade.

You might want to be careful about all profits going to charitable causes. You may want to keep some to reinvest in your business down the road (i'm not an accountant, so please bear with me).

Please be mindful of the heavy rules associated to fundraising in general (refer to charities act and institute of fundraising guidance). In particular street collection are subject to local council/police approval.

best of luck!

 

[billmccallum1957]

Hello JB007UK

It seems the posters above talks without real knowledge. I've been through this process myself. QUOTE]

I will let other posters be indignant for themselves, but...

I have co-founded at least 3 charitable & social enterprises and worked for charities for 15+ years, having raised around £3million during that time and setting up award winning and long lasting projects, so I do speak with some authority.

Your own CIC was set up this year, so we really have no idea if you can do anything or have any experience to over advice on the subject, as one would expect you to know, the CIC route is not ideal for everyone, you should not advise it as the "way to do it" might be the best option for you, but may not be the best option for someone else. Which is why I pointed the OP to the Social Enterprise web site.

By all means let people know your experience, but don't presume others don't know what they are talking about, or that you know it all, because you don't.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Is money the real solution, people gan get quite a lot just by begging,

Would it not be better to offer other types of help with the money to get the people back into work and start building a life again

This is not something that one person can do but by a well managed team of experience helpers

 

[Treehouse_emblem]

This is an interesting idea. Have you looked at charities that already do similar work? It might be that what you want to start is already being done in your local area / region and you might be chasing money that could be used by others, better.

Once you've done your research (how many homeless, how what you plan to give them will make a difference, who are ready to be partners), you'll learn whether it's really worth it to go through the process of becoming an actual charity. I wish it were as easy to start a charity as it was to set up a limited company but it isn't because theft from charities is a concern. You need to build a network of people to help (church, temple are good bets).

I have assisted in getting charitable fundraising and project management sales off the ground. Message me if you'd like to discuss your project. Good luck!

 

[Enguerran Licari]

If you decide to go with your charity you should use KindLink, it's a cool tech social enterprise that gives away a payment platform (for fundraising) and CRM database for free.

Good luck with your project!

 

[ethical PR]

Oh @Enguerran Licari you mean the one you work for

 

[Enguerran Licari]

Work for free ! It is a social enterprise and it's free for charities.. But yeah I am happy to be part of the team.