Why we’ve gone non-profit
It seemed obvious in retrospect, but it took us a while to get here; we were never pursuing profit; we are pursuing change.
When I started this project, I assumed it would be impossible to find financial support if we were a non-profit organization. I held on to the firm belief that money moved the world and did not see any other way than to appeal to private financial interests to get the idea off the ground.
We’ve been on this journey for over a year now, and reality has shown me that belief was limiting my vision. I underestimated the power of goodwill and a supportive community.
I did not appreciate the value showing up authentically and promoting our mission with passion would have on those I connect with. I’ve started to see in others’ eyes what I feel myself: that together we can make it happen. But this belongs to everyone; it’s a community; it’s about humans, not shareholders.
I enter this new territory slightly nervous about the unknown, knowing there will be a learning curve in running nonprofits and more paperwork. But it seems worth it to allow us to belong to the public and take in support of a larger audience.
It will also force us to practice transparency more diligently and keep our operations visible. A challenge, but an exciting one.
I’m eager to open our doors to the world and take in what shows up, now holding on to the belief that there are others like us, willing and capable of helping, that will trust us with their resources to accomplish our joint mission.
We are currently fundraising to get us to the next goals of our journey towards making our mission a reality:
Open a community space in the Portland area, where we can host co-working offices and social events.
Expand our core team to include more media production skills to produce a documentary series of our operations and allow our community to directly follow our journey to make our mission a reality.
If you’re a dreamer like us and want to see us succeed, feel free to donate over here. If you’re not ready yet to trust us with your funds, please stick around and follow us; we are looking forward to earning your trust with actions.
On a personal note, I think becoming a nonprofit is also the proper spiritual choice for me. I’m excited to shift my energy from trying to promote to investors HOW solid my business plan is to promote to the world WHY we put that business plan together. Because it’s the WHY that fuels me; it’s that fire that makes me dance to music and be friendly to strangers, where I find the strength to expose my vision to the world and stand behind it after each setback.
I am looking forward to navigating the discomfort of new challenges with this community by my side, and I hope to be able to keep spreading my vision of a more compassionate, conscious, and responsible world until enough people believe in it that we can make it a reality.
With love and gratitude,
Jean-Louis Ledanois
