How to raise money or start a charity ?

[mustafa]

I have a dear friend in St lucia who has been in a very big accident and is trying to recover.

He is a 16 year old young boy who is very athletic and during the cross country on his bike he was run over by a truck and sustained very serious head and body injuries. He has been in special hospitals for several months now and has just come out of a coma.

The hospital is costing over £500,000 and the insurance only covers £94,000.

I would like to start a charity or help riase money for this cause but am clueless on how these things work.

I am in contact with the parents and am trying to gather information n documents to prove the costs etc.

How to i start a charity or an official way to raise money ? Please help.

[Saurian]

saving money is the start

[Martin]

I think that is amazing. You are amazing for wanting to help the world. I would find a cause that you really care about. You already seem to be very interested in helping children who are being abused and that is great. You can try to find an organization that you trust in order to raise money. Then with the help of your parents and other adults, you can organize a fund raiser. This can be a bake sale or a dance. If you are having trouble finding a charity you can go to http://www.facebook.com/HolidayHeroes.bg/ Hope this helps!

[ClickStart]

Starting a charity is a noble goal, but keep in mind that it can be expensive if you want to have a formal non-profit organization. In the US, most people hire an attorney to file the necessary paperwork with the IRS to get 501 ©(3) status. It's a lengthy process and can cost several thousand dollars.

However, you can have a charity project without getting 501©(3) status. The main difference is that people's donations won't be tax deductible. And, while there are many grants you can apply for, many require that you do have the IRS non-profit status to be eligible to apply.

You should also consider an online crowdfunding project. There are several sites where, for a percentage of what you raise, you can use the power of crowdfunding to your advantage. You put your cause online, tell people on the site what you are trying to raise money for, then promote the fundraiser by sharing a link to the online crowdfunding fundraiser to all of your social media contacts. People go to the site, give $5 or $10 (or more!) through their credit cards in a secured transaction, and you get the money you need!

Crowdfunding is generally described as getting a lot of small donations from a large number of people. Using the power of social networks, it is easy to get a great fundraiser going through a crowdfunding site and raise money quickly without having to do car washes and bake sales and the other time consuming old fashioned ways of raising money.