Start a Nonprofit: Here’s Why
by Pedro Sánchez
You’re hungry for entrepreneurship. You have Y Combinator’s Startup School saved in your Chrome favorites tab, and maybe even have a poster of some tech guru on your wall. The Social Network is one of your favorite movies. And every once in a while you pull out your Moleskine notebook from your desktop drawer and sketch out your next idea.
If that sounds like you, stay with me.
Almost two years ago, I wanted to start a company. The goal was to offer ultra-affordable PCs so every student in my country could access one. We called it Quetzal Computers. Then, as I saw we couldn’t match the prices of Chinese manufacturing, we were forced to pivot the strategy. Instead, we would convince companies to donate us computers that they didn’t use anymore, and we would repair, clean and donate them to students in my city who couldn’t afford one.
We shifted our model from a for-profit to a non-profit organization, and that shift was the best decision we could have taken at Quetzal Computers. I’m here to tell you why, among all the possibilities to learn and grow as a teen, nonprofits are the way to go.
Before I dive deeper into the topic, I’ll disclose that I purposely omitted the altruistic development side of nonprofits from the conversation. Of course one will grow immensely as a person by working on something aside from the profits, but in this essay I want to show you how a case supporting nonprofits can be made even by being ruthlessly rational.
First, let’s talk about capital. There’s economic capital (aka money), of course, but there’s also social capital (relationships and networks) and personal capital (skills and experiences). It’s beautiful how these three interact and transform into one another, almost like potential energy and kinetic energy.
Both companies and nonprofits are good at building up personal capital. But while the former leans on economic capital, the latter relies on social capital instead. A subtle yet powerful difference to keep in mind.
I assume you are a young student who doesn't have a family to support and doesn’t have to make ends meet. Earning money as a teen is surely nice, but not a necessity as in the case of adults. Ironically enough, too many teens are coming after the money and competing for attention in the enterprise world, which makes it even harder to stand out. On the other hand, too few teens, relatively speaking, compete purely for social capital.
When you’re just starting to build your network, what you definitely want to stock up on is social capital: friends, partners, and maybe even reputation. If you’re willing to pass the money issue to your next project, you can better take advantage of the position you’re in today.
So here are five pros of building your idea as a nonprofit.
1. Easier to fund (ergo start)
You will still need some money to get started, but you can leverage crowdfunding more effectively by appealing to the social good aspect of your mission. Does your school district offer grants for student-led organizations? Or maybe there’s a company you know that is interested in giving away a small sum towards a charity? Whichever context you are in, you will have access to various funding sources not available to for-profits, such as grants from foundations, government funding, and individual donations. All without the pressure of generating a profit or answering to shareholders.
2. Support
Several experienced entrepreneurs are eager to give back and support the next generation by giving a hand to high-impact projects. At Quetzal Computers, I learned how helpful it is to find someone who fits that profile, who won’t help but step in to guide you, or at least connect you with someone who can. Also, nonprofits attract support from everywhere –community groups, schools, and even other nonprofits. When your mission is centered on impact rather than profit, people are willing to help.
3. Coverage
Now, think about visibility. Nonprofits started by teens are a headline waiting to happen. The media loves stories about young people making a difference. It’s free publicity that can skyrocket your nonprofit's profile. People love supporting good causes. When you’re out there trying to make the world better, donors, volunteers, and partners flock to you. Quetzal took off when we were invited to share our story in a radio segment. Our biggest supporters came with that minute-and-a-half spot.
4. Personal & professional development
Modesty aside, I’ve tried my luck at several kinds of projects, from drone photogrammetry to launching an iOS app; and yet, in none of those places did I learn more about fundraising, financial management, marketing and leadership, than at Quetzal Computers. It’s almost counterintuitive that a nonprofit taught me more about useful skills in business than the businesses themselves. But if you think it through, it makes more sense than it sounds out loud. Let me explain:
For Quetzal Computers, I had to pitch companies on why they should donate their about-to-throw-away computers to our cause. But how do you convince a company to do this without giving them money in exchange? It’s a bit harder than a regular pitch, and that’s what made it interesting. You get a lot of no’s along the way, but when you finally get that “yes,” you know it’s going to be much easier when the day comes and you have something to offer in return.
Same thing with recruitment: if you manage to sign up friends, peers, etc. to work with you without a payroll, if you develop that talent to inspire them and retain them purely for the sake of fulfilling your organization’s mission, think about how it will be when you have paychecks to offer.
5. Background
It’s no secret that nonprofits come with trust and reputation. That’s all I have to say about it.
Think of nonprofits as the junior version of startups, a version that takes the experience of starting a startup and combines it with the context of a young adult. You’ll learn more, grow faster, and gain a level of trust and confidence that money just can’t buy.
I advocate for nonprofits not because they are the easier path. I advocate for them because they are the more intelligent path. By building Quetzal as a company, I would have made a couple of bucks. Best-case scenario, maybe even more than a couple of bucks. By building nonprofit Quetzal, I got into UPenn.
Pick your battle.
About me:
I’m a Mexican student and incoming freshman at the University of Pennsylvania. My passion for technology has led me to work on a variety of projects in the field, such as Quetzal Computers, which I talked about before; Webcode, a proposed system to replace QR codes; and Browse AI, an app powered by ChatGPT to access it through your wrist. If you want to learn more about me or what I do, feel free to reach out!
insta: @itspedroschzgil
Hey, Daniel here. As the main author for The Noble Entrepreneur, I want to thank Pedro for his contribution. Not only is he smart and competent, but he’s willing to help others and keep an open mind, something I really, really respect. I’ve talked with a guy from Cornell, Columbia, and now UPenn, and one thing they all have in common is this: they’re good people—not greedy, overly competitive, and toxic. Pedro’s made his mark on his community in an everlasting way and inspired other children in Mexico to become computer scientists who want to change the world for the better. I cannot applaud you enough, Pedro. I hope to see you at Penn one way or another in the future! ¡Te deseo la mejor de las suertes!
