Ways to support the nonprofit 501c3 Team Mash Elite:
1. Donate (we have several options from a simple one-time any amount donation to monthly pledges with benefits from our team)
2. Enter the "Feats of Strength" Online Competition at: ==> https://www.mashelite.com/onlinemeet/
3. Sponsor our Team (this is for businesses or individuals that specialize in philanthropy)
è Email me directly at masheliteperformance@gmail.com
So You Want to Start
a Non Profit
 |
| Click to Support the Team! |
At the end of 2015, I parted ways with MuscleDriver USA. I
loved being a part of that team. It was a coach’s dream. All three coaches were
paid well to coach the sport that we love to some of the best weightlifters in
the country. Of course we loved it. However towards the end, things weren’t
going well financially for the company. We were also having differences of
opinion on how we were going to rectify the situation.
Leaving MDUSA was a scary time in my life. I had let my
personal gym, Mash Elite Performance, decline greatly in numbers because I was
focused on MDUSA. It was the obvious choice for me both financially and because
I was a professional coach. I was getting paid well by the company, and I was
growing my own online business at www.mashelite.com.
Of course being a coach of the best weightlifters in the country helped my own
online business, so it was a marriage made in heaven.
When I left MDUSA, I was forced to rely solely on my online
business for the first time ever. My online business was doing well, but now I
had to not only rely on it to support my family but also to continue to do so.
There was something else that was weighing on me as well. I knew that MDUSA wasn’t
going to be around much longer, and I didn’t want to let the sport of
weightlifting go backwards.
The boom of weightlifting happened in conjunction with the
boom of CrossFit. Then the legendary videos created by Cal Strength created the
first ever weightlifting groupies. However, when MuscleDriver USA announced
that they would be paying their athletes, they changed the game. For the first
time weightlifters could focus on their training and becoming the best weightlifters
in the country and even the world.
When I heard about this, I knew instinctively that this
would change the sport of weightlifting forever. I wanted to be a part of that
change. I wanted to see the sport of weightlifting flourish in the United
States. I was tired of people asking why the weightlifters in America were so
bad. We are slowly changing that perception of American Weightlifting with our
CEO Phil Andrews flying the ship. Our athletes are consistently medaling at all
International Competitions.
When I left MDUSA, I wanted to continue to be a part of this
change. I decided that a 501c3 nonprofit was a way that I could continue to be
a part of this revolution in American Weightlifting. I had no idea that would
lead to so much work. At first I tried to handle things on my own, and that
ended up being over a year of frustration.
The whole process can be quite overwhelming especially when
you are running a business and starting a family. Luckily one of my good
friends Professor Carol Anderson decided to help. She is a Professor of Law at
Wake Forest University. She introduced me to Professor Steve Virgil, who
specialized in nonprofit law. Once he found out that I was trying to start a
nonprofit that would benefit amateur athletes and at risk youth, he decided to
help me for free. When Professor Virgil got involved, the process was sped up
immensely. In no time at all, I had my nonprofit status.
·
Lesson 1
is getting a lawyer to help you. Looking back, I would have paid because it
would have saved me so much precious time and frustration.
You would think at that point I would have learned my
lesson, but unfortunately I didn’t. I tried doing everything myself. Until
recently, I was doing all the fundraising, managing of the team, booking
transportation to competitions, recruiting, and everything else that goes along
with coaching. Alone I have been able to gather some amazing sponsors:
These amazing people provide monthly revenue for us, and
amazing products including bars, bumpers, belts, wraps, straps, uniforms,
singlets, shoes, bands, recovery products, and recovery supplements. As you can
see, I have managed to produce quite a bit for our team, but I still have a
long ways to go to reach my goals.
 |
| Click to Support the Team! |
My for-profit business, Mash Elite Performance, covers the
majority of the team’s expenses, which is becoming quite the challenge. We
spend between $2,000 and $3,000 per month on the team mainly for travel
expenses. For a small company that can be rough especially when you are trying
to grow a business. Being low on funds has made growing the youth at risk
program near impossible until lately.
Most of you know that I have some amazing youth athletes.
This year we had three youth on Team USA at the Youth Pan American
Championships. We have four other youth and juniors that are looking to make an
International Team within the next year. That also means we have a lot of
parents that love what we are doing.
A few months ago I had the idea of recruiting the parents to
help me. One in particular decided to really step up and head things up for me,
Darlene Dunn. Her daughter is 15-year-old Hannah Dunn, who is one of my Team
USA to be athletes. Darlene, is helping me organize my thoughts, arrange
fundraisers, and write grants. Our main goals are to:
·
Raise funds for a fulltime youth at risk
employee
·
Raise funds for travel of all my athletes
·
Begin a scholarship fund for my over achieving
youth and junior weightlifters
· Lesson 2 Recruit
Help from existing members, family, and friends. A lot of people will
volunteer their time for a good cause.
Then I reached out on Facebook for people that had ideas or
wanted to help with our nonprofit, which led me Ilene Winters. I met Ilene
coaching her online several years ago when I first started Mash Elite
Performance. We became great friends during our time together. She met my wife
at one of my seminars in New Jersey when we were pregnant with our first son,
Rock. She’s been like family ever since.
When you first meet Ilene, your first impression would be
that of a sweet lady that likes to work out. Then you get to know her, and her
confidence comes out especially in business. You realize right away that there
is something special about this lady. If you are her friend, she might tell you
a bit more. You might be lucky enough for her to tell you about her time on
Wall Street. At that point you will realize that Ilene is an amazing businessperson.
Anyway that’s enough bragging on my Wall Street friend.
Maybe a lot of you know a person that have worked on Wall Street, but for me
that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. I mean, I grew up in a small
town in the Appalachian Mountains. I didn’t think that I would ever meet
someone from off of Wall Street. As I type this, I am realizing that I am a bit
of a fan boy.
After I reached out on Facebook for help, Ilene informed me
that she works with nonprofits fulltime now. Basically I struck gold! A few
weeks ago, Ilene agreed to help us get things rolling a bit more. Between her
and Darlene, things are finally moving in a good direction. I’ve never been
more excited about Mash Elite Strength (the official name of our nonprofit).
·
Lesson 3 use
social media to recruit help.
We still have a ways to go, but things are finally moving. I
am learning that I can’t do everything by myself. I have many amazing people
around me. Thanks to social media I have an extended family in all of you, and
I am very thankful. To wrap things up, if you want to start a nonprofit:
·
Lesson 1
is getting a lawyer to help you. Looking back, I would have paid because it
would have saved me so much precious time and frustration.
·
Lesson 2 Recruit
Help from existing members, family, and friends. A lot of people will
volunteer their time for a good cause.
·
Lesson 3 use
social media to recruit help.
These three things will help you make your dreams a reality.
If you have a good cause, people will help you. If they see that your heart is
in trying to help others, they will get behind your cause. Weightlifting is an
amazing sport. There are numerous life lessons that one can learn from
participating in this beautiful sport like: goal setting, perseverance,
dedication, and hard work. Our mission is to help our top athletes reach their
Olympic Dreams, while helping our local community by forming a youth at risk
program centered on the sport and its life lessons. This is a cause worth
getting behind, and now I am seeing some awesome people step up to do just
that.
Thank all of you for your support and belief in this team!
Ways to support the nonprofit 501c3 Team Mash Elite:
1. Donate (we have several options from a simple one-time any amount donation to monthly pledges with benefits from our team)
3. Sponsor our Team (this is for businesses or individuals that specialize in philanthropy)
No comments:
Post a Comment