The Truth About Running a Non-Profit Organisation : It’s Scary.

» Posted by Chantelle Baxter on Sep 29, 2011 in Blog, Girl Power, Life Lessons | 6 comments

Gorgeous 7PM Project Rockstars who are helping Get Hughesy In A Dress! From left to right - Nick, Me, Christian, Stef, Nicole and Dave! We look like such dorks.

So it’s been 20 days since I first threw on my school dress – and in 10 more days the Do It In A Dress inaugural campaign will be complete.

The last 20 days have been a rollercoaster (to say the least), and I think it’s a great way of giving you an insight into what it’s like running a non-profit organisation OR what it’s like when you’re doing something that gets you WAY outside of your comfort zone.

20 Days of Brain Poo (My thoughts)

Day 1 : “Ohhh I love my school dress, this is SO exciting. What a GREAT campaign! We’re going to raise $150,000,000 and put every girl in Sierra Leone back in school.

Day 3 : “Look how many people are signing up! Look how many people are telling us it’s a great idea! This is gunna go off!”

Day 7 : “Oh my god. What was I thinking? This whole campaign is stupid. I hate it. It’s going to fail. We’ll be lucky to raise $200. Do It In A Dress sucks and now the whole world is going to laugh at me.”

Day 10 : “The newspapers love the story! I LOVE Do It In A Dress! Look at all the amazing people who believe in educating girls! I LOVE THEM!”

Day 11 : “I hate my school dress. I can’t believe I have to put it on again. Why do I always put myself out there like this? I’m a failure. I feel sick. I want to go back to bed.”

Day 15 : “We just raised $1000 in a single day! Maybe we can raise $40,000 after all! Go TEAM!”

Day 20 (9.00am) : “I’m so excited that George is running in a dress today! He even waxed his legs for the cause – that’s commitment. I’m inspired. I LOVE this campaign.”

Day 20 (2:00pm) : “It’s cold, I hate my school dress and I have 100 emails to respond too. This sucks.”

The truth is that when you’re any kind of thought leader, business leader, non-profit leader, or general well to do leader – for the most part, life is completely and utterly unpredictable AND terrifying.

It can be likened to walking through the most complex maze you can imagine, without a map, blindfolded with poisonous nails strategically placed on the footpath ahead.

Scary.

I’m scared that we won’t be able to raise enough money to provide 150 scholarships to our girls in 2012.

I’m scared that we won’t be able to acquire the $100,000 of startup funding that we need to kick off LaunchPad. That means I’ll disappoint the 150 women who are waiting so patiently for us in Sierra Leone.

I’m scared that I’m not a good enough ‘leader’ or ‘director’ and that people will turn against One Girl because I can’t ‘manage’ our volunteers correctly.

I’m scared that I don’t acknowledge people in the right way – and that I can’t communicate how grateful I am to all the supporters of One Girl.

I’m scared that Do It In A Dress won’t raise $40,000 and I’ll be deemed a failure for all eternity.

I’m scared that we won’t find a events manager to pull together One Girl’s party in 2012.

I’m scared that I’ll never get paid for working for One Girl, I’ll regret selling my house to fund my lifestyle, and when I’ve finally spent all my house money I’ll be poor and destitute.

I’m scared that every time I post a blog, only one person will like it (me), and I’ll be the laughing stock of the blogging world. (LOL – self involved much?)

And the list goes on. And on. And on.

And I know I’m not alone. Every single person reading this blog (yes that’s you), and every single ‘leader’ out there – has a different version of these fears.

So what’s the difference between a leader and an everyday Jo?

Their fears don’t stop them.

Finding a way to transform the lives of women and girls is more important than succumbing to my fears. And I’ll do it, come hell or high-water.

So, I’m not really sure why THIS needed to be my latest Do It In A Dress update. I know I could’ve put something up about how the last 20 days have been filled with rainbows, chocolate fountains and unicorns – about how I’ve got it ALL handled. But it’s just not true. I LOVE the work I do. I’m passionate about the work I do. But the fear of failure is never lurking far behind that passion.

Changing the world is scary. Doing something new is scary. Putting yourself out there is scary. I’m scared, but I’m doing it anyway. And YOU can too.

So whatever that project is that you’ve been putting off, just do it. That Yoga class you’ve been afraid to attend? Get your butt there! That man you’ve been wanting speak too? SPEAK DAMN IT! Even though I’m at risk of sounding like a Nike Commericial – JUST DO IT!

So far we’ve got 48 amazing people from 5 different countries who are stepping through their fear and Doing It In A Dress. I’ve got to commend these people – fundraising is scary (how will I reach that $3,000 goal?), putting on a weird dress out in public can be even scarier – BUT, you’ve moved past that – and for a reason bigger than yourself. So holy, fricking, crap – you’re a legend – and thank you.

The next 10 days look.. interesting – I’ve got some AMAZING school dresses to reveal, I’ll be throwing myself face first off a building on Sunday, and attempting to run 21km on October 9 despite not actually training for it. Yes indeedy, it’s gunna be fun. Hahaha.

This big scaredy cat is raising $3,000 to provide 12 girls with an education scholarship next year – and I can’t do it without your help! Please donate at www.doitinadress.com/chantelle – $25 will pay for a primary school girl’s school fees for an entire year. It doesn’t take much to make a difference.

Thanks lovelies!

Namaste

xx