“Forming a new organization can be an important and fulfilling means of meeting a public need. However, sustaining a successful non-profit is a challenging undertaking under the best of circumstances, and it may not always be necessary or appropriate to start a new group. Before deciding whether to proceed, you'll want to have a full understanding of what is required and the various alternatives to non-profit start-up that could accomplish your goals.” 
From the Center for Nonprofits of New Jersey

Startup Basics

Next Steps

Premium tools for donor research, community analysis, and nonprofit management. These online resources are available 24/7. You will be asked to provide your library barcode and PIN when logging in.

  • Reference Solutions:  Jumpstart your community analysis and fundraising:
    • Create custom-targeted donor prospect lists by area of interest, income, and location.
    • Download detailed prospect data compatible with your donor management software.
    • Build a community analysis for your grant application with detailed mapping, demographic, and lifestyle data for your focus geographies.
  • Demographics Now
    • Tap into sophisticated, in-depth, current mapping, demographics and lifestyle psychographics for your community analysis, including a wide range of variables such as poverty level, household type, age, income, language, housing, employment, ethnicity, urban/rural, and education.
    • Compare or rank geographic areas to assess target populations, donors, facility location and more.
  • Small Business Reference Center (SBRC)
    • This comprehensive online library offers practical guides and always-available ebooks from leading publishers (such as NOLO) running the gamut of need-to-know topics, including starting and managing a nonprofit, proposal writing, and consulting with nonprofits.
    • Create your custom private “space” within SBRC where you can store key resources for future reference

Local Connections