The Inspiration Cafe would not exist today if I didn't have the handy dandy resource of the Donors Forum. The Donors Forum offers a library for nonprofits and consultants that serve them. They have walls of books and magazines all pertaining to philanthropy and a very helpful and knowledgeable staff.

Twenty years ago I had one book about starting your own volunteer organization and a ton of crazy ideas in my head. When I arrived at the Donors Forum, I stood in the library with my mouth gaping open and my heart racing because I knew I was standing in a place that for me was the holy grail. I love to hunt and research ideas and because I had no job at the time I could spend hours in this library. So that is what I did.

Today you can look up all the information you need by computer which is super fast and you can take classes on grant writing, board development, and leadership development which would really help you launch your organization. They even have a blog you can subscribe to which would keep you in the loop on trends and opportunities. I will admit there were many days that I was frustrated and miserable in the library because it was all so overwhelming but the days that I couldn't write fast enough about how to get my nonprofit off the ground outweighed them by a mile.

So all of you budding founders of nonprofits head over to the Donors Forum and let me know how it went. It will just be the first step for you because there are libraries like this in your cities as well. Drop me a line about your favorite resource center because it makes me happy when I get first hand feedback which then gives me a new place to explore….Hallelujah!