Cori Smith

The biggest challenges facing nonprofits are really twofold. First is just not knowing what to expect. I call it ignorance, and when I say that, I mean you don't know what to expect until it happens. Some people don't know they're supposed to do certain things, and so they give up. The second major challenge is funding. A lot of people think that when you start a nonprofit, money just starts flowing, but that doesn't happen. It's like begging for support from your politicians at the local, state, and federal level, and from your community, getting them to buy into your mission. You have to answer why should someone donate to your mission over someone else's mission. And if you're not getting funding and you're trying to do all this work, some people just get burned out and it's like, you know what, it's not worth it. I want to do this but I don't have any support. I think those are the two main reasons why a lot of nonprofits fail within the first five years. What has set us apart is that we're actually giving a tangible item, not just a service. I think when individual donors want to give to organizations, they want something that's going back into the community. Another thing that sets us apart is our volunteer model. We could give the diapers out exactly how they come in, but because we break them down and repackage them, we need volunteers. This means our mission gets sent out further. I always say, we would love for you to come volunteer and see what we do, that way you know exactly how your money is getting spent and where it's going. People can actually come to us, see what we do, see the families we're helping firsthand, and then they're like, yes, I love what you guys do, I would love to support you.