Bringing Opsanus Fund to Life

I mentioned the motivation for creating Opsanus Fund in another post. As we begin fundraising to support our goal to provide our first grants this coming spring, we wanted to share the process for creating a conservation non-profit. Here’s an inside look at the process of creating Opsanus Fund.

February (t minus 9 months)– The first conversations

The idea for Opsanus Fund had been growing for a long time, but the first real step happened in February. When you develop a non-profit organization, one of the first things you are required to do is to create a board of directors. Non-profits are not owned by any one person like a business is. Instead, they are owned by society and run by the directors for the benefit of the society.

I reached out to two people I have known for more than two decades, who share my values related to conservation, and who I trust completely – T and Pierce. Both agreed and we were off running.

March (t minus 8 months) - Taking the leap

In March, we officially incorporated in Virginia. This required the development of Articles of Incorporation, writing bylaws, and requesting an employer identification number. Throughout this process we received a ton of help from colleagues at another non-profit, The Next Swell.

After incorporation, the next step is requesting IRS approval as a 501(c)(3) charity. In recent years, the IRS has created a simple process for brand new non-profits with limited assets. We were told that this step should take about three weeks.

May (t minus 7 months) - Growing the team

By May, as we waited for IRS review, I asked Erica to join the board. Erica was a natural fit for Opsanus – she’s an extremely talented bioacoustician, well regarded researcher, and I have always enjoyed working on projects with her. Now we had a full board!

June (t minus 6 months) - Building, designing, and waiting

While we waited for the IRS (remember, this is supposed to be a three week process), we threw ourselves into building out Opsanus Fund’s website and online identity.

We tested design after design—logos, layouts, colors, messaging. Website pages changed half a dozen times. While T, Pierce, Erica, and I have many talents, not of us are graphic designers or website engineers!

July (t minus 5 months) - Our first major milestone

At last, in July, we received our IRS determination letter approving Opsanus Fund as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It was a huge moment. But one more step remained: we needed state approval to officially fundraise in Virginia and Massachusetts, places we have a physical presence. That application went by-mid July. Again, we assumed this would be a quick process – we didn’t have any assets, were brand new, and had IRS approval in hand.

July to October (t minus 4 months) - We wait

Even though the state required far less information than the IRS, the review process took another twelve weeks. In the mean time we worked to dial in the website, set up bank accounts and payment processing, and strategize our launch

Finally, in October, our state charitable registration for Virginia was approved. After months of building, refining, and waiting, Opsanus Fund was officially ready to raise funds.

November (launch day) - Bringing It All Together and Launching on Giving Tuesday

With federal and state approvals in hand, a fully built website, and a mission ready to share with the world, we are launching our first fundraising campaign on Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving and philanthropy.

We’re so excited to present Opsanus Fund to the world!