I think that in the last two years I’ve thought about starting up my own non-profit organization in order to make it easier for Dominican bloggers to make donations. Obviously we can go to the infinite number of non profits to make such donations. But in order to make the donations benefit the communities that we would like to sponsor we would have to go out and make things happen within those communities.
One of the non profit organizations that I came across on the web was the Dominican Dream Project. Their projects are interesting needless to say. The majority of their ongoing projects focus on the Northern region of Dominican Republic.
Alianza Dominicana is the largest non profit organization… but between the investigations of its Board Members by the FBI I don’t think I would feel morally comfortable after making any type of donation.
The set back in creating a non-profit is the funding. Getting out there and proposing your mission, objectives and projects to potential companies in order to fund the organization. I’m sure it’s more complicated then that but that’s my take on it. Everything else after that should be a walk in the park.
Then we have Raíces Dominicanas. This could be our own venture into communities throughout Dominican Republic where we create our own projects. I’ve already started the paper work for proper licensing by the US government and I hope it won’t take too long before I hear back from them.
Last year there were 600,000(+) 501(c)(3) non profit organizations that filed with the government. This year I think I’ll include Raíces Dominicanas as one of them.
My first project will be the donation of 5-10 desk-top computers to a school in a community that will be able to benefit from them as well as maintain them in a learning atmosphere. The desk-tops have been donated from my employer Cadbury Schweppes. I have yet to clean them out, install software that will be of use in this type of environment, obtain the funds for computer screens and shipping costs.
I’m also looking for Board Members who are willing to dedicate some time to the organization and its creation. Obviously it will be formal in every sense of the word. If you have any questions feel free to email me. edwin @ edwinreyes(dot)com
