How to Structure Your Youth Non-Profit

How NPOs are Organized

Non-profit organizations typically have three key leadership teams: the Advisory Committee, the Board of Directors, and the Operational Team.

• Advisory Committee

  • Typically consists of previous leaders/notable figures who support the organization

  • Lends credibility, but usually plays little to no operational role

• Board of Directors

  • Hires & assigns the operational team

  • Ensures the organization & its operations are aligned with its mission and goals

  • Advises operational team and provides support when needed

• Operational Team

  • Executive team that carries out the day to day tasks

  • Usually divided into separate departments managed by a VP or Directorship

If you are running a new organization, you will most likely be active in the operational team. Advisory committees and directors are more prevalent in organizations that have multiple years of activity.

Core Parts to Your Youth Non-Profit

The structure of a youth non-profit is essentially a distilled version of basic NPO structure. Generally, youth NPOs should be simply structured and lean until you have sufficient resources to scale. There are 6 main roles your non-profit should have:

1. President (most likely you)

   1. Often the founder of the organization. Sets the direction for the organization & ensures there are resources to execute the programming

2. Marketing

   1. Shares your organization’s story to your target audience through social media, other platforms, etc.

3. Outreach

   1. Identify and create new partnerships through outsourcing for programming

4. Human Resources

   1. Recruiting the right students & relevant people to the team

5. Ambassadors

   1. Students in another school usually separate from your core team to promote and solicit student participation

6. Others

   1. Program specific roles, could be new roles for research, events, fundraising, etc.

Wrap-Up Activity

Now that you have a basic understanding of what a youth non-profit consists of, let’s start organizing your own non-profit.

In our previous article, “How to Build the Ideal Team for Your Project/Club,” we filled out a worksheet where you curated a list of names you would invite to your team (if you haven’t done this already, we highly recommend you read that article before starting this one.)

Download this week’s worksheet here. This is designed to help you map out the essential roles and responsibilities for your youth non-profit.

By following this structure, you’ll be well on your way to building a strong, impactful youth non-profit. Remember, the key is to start simple and gradually scale as you gain experience and resources. Good luck!