Hi Paul,

Thanks for writing in! We have received your question and sent it over to our career coaches who will be in touch soon. In the meantime, I would recommend checking out the following resources, if you haven’t already:
- Exploring Your Options: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/exploring-your-options
- Finding Meaningful Work: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/exploring-your-options/finding-meaningful-work
- Cancer as Inspiration for Career Changes: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/exploring-your-options/cancer-as-inspiration-for-career-changes

I hope that this is helpful, our coaches will be in touch soon!

Best,
Maddy, Associate Manager of Programs, Cancer and Careers

Good morning, Paul!

It is admirable that you would like to get involved in the network of not-for-profit organizations that focus on either finding a cure or supporting survivors of cancer. As you can imagine, the needs are great and the specific areas where one could make an impact are numerous. Starting a conversation about this area is a good place to begin your exploration. Let's dig in by considering the answers to the following questions:
What is your current or past profession in business? Do you have specific skills that lend themselves to marketing, finance, operations, law etc. that may help you plan for an run such an organization?
Have you had the opportunity to volunteer in or work for a not-for-profit organization prior to your own cancer experience? If so, in what capacity?
Do you have a particular interest or passion for an aspect of the community in which you want to focus? For example, fundraising to fight childhood leukemia, Colon Cancer awareness, financial support for screening efforts for the disadvantaged population in your community, etc. As you can imagine, the potential list is endless.
Do you have contacts in your community with whom you could talk to explore your ideas and to see if there are potential synergies with other not-for-profit organizations and their missions in your local area? If not, how might you develop those contacts?
Are you aware of current local, state and federal laws addressing the ins and outs of setting up and managing a not-for-profit business? What are the legal and tax ramifications of such?

Those are a few things that I thought of right away. I am sure you have thought of many others. I do admire your desire to give back to your community in this way. Be sure to explore all the implications ahead of launching such a venture so that has the opportunity to be as successful as you hope it will be.
Do take advantage of all the resources on our site, including the legal resources and list of other not-for-profit organizations. Perhaps those can be your starting point for networking discussions.

Wishing you the very best in your own recovery and your new venture.

Kathy Flora, Career Coach

Thank You Kathy, The fuel to my passion, for starting a non for profit is the regaining of Freedom over my Life. With this said, I have been educating my self by taking a 9 month class on business operations, Standing in as President ( 8 Years volunteer ) for the Church that I attend with my wife and family, writing a poem which was published in Visible Ink writing program, MSKCC, and I have a new idea to bring about a Human Health Protection System for the Home. I have been working on this reinventing of my life when MSKCC newsletter Bridges published my story back in the Fall of 2010. I also have accomplished a new job tittle of HVAC Instructor for Lincoln Tech Institute. I am ready to start this venture with a Passion for Life! Looking back at my old life, as a Plumber, I have come to realize that the Plumber does protect the Health of the Nation! I will start with talking to the legal recourses first. Do you have any name contacts that I should know before hand? Looking to keep our conversation on going, Paul.

Hi Paul,

The very first thing I would recommend you do is determine what your organization would be focused on and then do a competitive landscape to consider how those needs are already being met by other organizations. We have seen a huge increase in the number of nonprofits over the last couple of decades, most are quite small and all are competing for the same dollars. My advice would be to make sure that there is a gap that you can fill before you reinvent the wheel, and if there is fantastic and the next step is building a business case and plan! But if there is an organization (or organizations) already doing the work you have identified think about how you might contribute to their efforts to further the ultimate goal of whatever it is you seek to change.

Here is one link to get you started on the nuts and bolts: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/how-start-nonprofit. We can't recommend contacts or directly help you start a new business but if you have any follow up questions we are happy to help!

Wishing you all the luck in this next phase, and thank you for sharing your story!

Best,
Rebecca

Rebecca V. Nellis
Chief Mission Officer
Cancer and Careers