Earlier this year, Game Genius filed a 1023 form with the IRS to receive its 501(c)(3) status. Effectively, this allows an organization to receive donations as a tax deductible entity. It's an exciting distinction as we plan to scale our impact in the Greater Washington DC region!
It's also a tremendous hassle and not a lot of fun. In fact, there are a number of legal and logistical hoops that nonprofits need to jump through in order to reach this step. Not to mention the 6-9 month waiting period while the application is reviewed. Hopefully by going through it ourselves and shining light on the process, we can build awareness around why things like general operating support are so critical for nonprofits. We might even create a game about the application process itself...
In any case, the time has come for Game Genius to start fundraising! We claimed and created our nonprofit profiles on different cataloguing sites like Guidestar and Charity Navigator. We also reached out to community members and past project partners, who left about a dozen heartwarming reviews. Their efforts helped us earn a recognition for being a top organization in 2021 on Great Nonprofits! Feeling inspired yet?
For small nonprofits like ours, individuals are the foundation to any long-term growth strategy. It's not unlike politics, where a good "ground game" can get you recognized by larger and institutionalized funders. As you might expect, this formula can quickly evolve into a mechanical, unemotional numbers act. And while we see its general effectiveness, we also believe building relationships is the soul of philanthropy.
For us, giving and fundraising are partners in a dance. The most compelling performances are genuine and full of intent. The most cringeworthy are misaligned and out of step. What does that mean for Game Genius? We're never going to run a funding campaign simply because it works. We're going to run campaigns that we enjoy and lift up other organizations. Fun is quite literally in the word Fundraising. Hopefully we can inspire you to play along.