Non-profit organizations function for the betterment of society, mostly driven by a passion of a person or a group of people. The formation of the organization will be based on their Mission Statement. It is important from the onset to recognize the possible barriers and what counter active measures one should take to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization. 

 

The core problem for non-profit organizations is funding. They have to find people or organizations which are willing to share the same dream. It is like selling a product, and to do so they need to market the organization effectively. It is therefore imperative when forming an organization to pick a directorate of upright, honorable people. Even better if at least some of them are well known personalities known for their honesty and integrity, because then it is much easier to establish credibility. Any organization that wishes to fund a non-profit organization will look for good financial management, therefore it is equally important to have a competent financial person who is able to manage the books well. 

 

When listing the objectives, once again be aware of the challenges that may be faced in accomplishing the objectives. It is prudent to start in a small scale and then expand as you go on, rather than start big and discover it is not possible to achieve them. Break up the objectives into small components and identify the tools required to meet the objectives. Identify risk areas which are possible for exclusion. For example, if your mandate is to work with youth who are into drugs, prostitution and crime and if you are aware of a particular area which is not very conducive to your work, it is best to avoid it, rather than take unnecessary risks, because your work can be more important to an area where they are more receptive. To be able to have access to such knowledge, it is also better to build relationships with organizations that are working on similar efforts and are willing to share their experiences and knowledge, so that you would be able to learn from their mistakes, rather than wait to make your own mistakes and learn from them. 

 

Another great problem faced by Non Profit Organizations is, even though they may be able to find donors to fund a project, it is not always easy to stick to the planned budget and it would then be left to the organization to find donors who are willing to bridge the deficit created. Therefore when presenting your planned budget to donors either make provision for unforeseen circumstances or have an agreement with the donors of their willingness to provide for deficits, if need be.  Most funders are unwilling to support administrative costs of the organization. For this reason you have to find separate donors who are willing to support the administrative costs, without which the projects cannot be implemented. 

 

Every barrier can be overcome and if correctly planned, there will actually be no barriers!