Word: nonprofits
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...become cabdrivers, nannies and security guards. "There was a real need to match these people with their skills," she says. But her employer's "mission was limited," she says, and management wouldn't budge. So Leu quit, and seven years ago she launched Upwardly Global, a nonprofit that helps white collar immigrants network, prepare résumés and search for a suitable...
Starting a nonprofit is like starting a business except you have to drum up donors, not investors. But today's donors are just as demanding. They want to see a business plan at the start and measurable results along the way. You will have to put in long hours with little or no pay to keep the enterprise afloat. Leu, who needed two years to get her first grant ($15,000), started out by spending 30 hours a week in her "survival job" as a bookkeeper and 30 more building Upwardly Global, which now has offices on both coasts...
...needs. "Putting in 10 hours a week is no small thing and shouldn't be minimized," says Howard Husock, director of the social entrepreneur program at the Manhattan Institute, a think tank that promotes civic innovation. You also may be able to do your own thing within an existing nonprofit with a related mission. This could speed your launch, reduce overhead and leave open the possibility of a spin-off down the road...
...nonprofit field is getting crowded, but people's needs are many. "It's not easy," Leu says of starting a charity. "But it's a life rich in purpose." Energetic new retirees may be especially suited to the challenge. They have skills and contacts--and, perhaps in the back of their mind, they're still humming Alvin Lee's '70s anthem I'd Love to Change the World...
...Clinton and Obama campaigns and you can almost hear a collective "Oh give me a break." Some worry about the possibility of "Swift-boating" to come. "For negativity to start this early is ridiculous but inevitable," says Megan Peiffer, 22, a Des Moines Democrat who works for a local nonprofit. "It will do more harm than good." Alan Young, 44, president of the teachers union in Des Moines, adds "Most folks in Iowa do want to hear and talk about issues. We're not as much into the show...