Big corportions always sound impenetrable, no-nonsense, and like everyone wears a suit… IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, General Electric.

New tech companies always sound fun, easy, slick, and helpful…Apple, Google, Qlick, Ebay.

But nonprofit names always sound like a kindergartner made them up. They don’t sound hefty or smart. Nine times out of 10 the organization has the word “Hope” in the title.

I think that’s part of the reason a lot of people don’t think of nonprofits as a “real thing” and why there is so much concern over what we are spending our money on.

Would you question a CEO’s salary at a nonprofit called OctoCorp or FB5 Technologies or HammerCo? No, you’d just assume they knew what they were doing.

Anyone thinking of starting a nonprofit should ask themselves these questions:

• Does the proposed name of your new 501(c)(3) sound like it could win a fight on BattleBots? No? Back to the drawing board!
• Does the name sound intimidating? Like donors would be scared not to donate to you? No? Go punch someone in the face and then see if something better comes to mind.
• Does the name have a number in place of word? Like 2/to and 4/for? Yes? Just…no. You’re not allowed to start a nonprofit.
• Does your email address start with something like Children4HopeinLA and end in @aol.com, @sbcglobal.com, @hotmail.com, or @yahoo.com? Yes? Call up your grandkids and ask them to help you get a real email address.
• Does the word “hope” appear anywhere in your name, mission, or vision statement? Yes? YOU BETTER “HOPE” I NEVER FIND YOU.

It’s time the nonprofit sector was filled with organizations that sound like Transformers.

“Where do you work?”
“OPTIMUS PRIME, BITCH!”