JANE PHILLIPS - Founder, Crown Jewel Club

12/16/09 | Jane Phillips | 2 Comments

Jane Phillips, Founder, Crown Jewel Club

How I Did It will now showcase top tips from women who started their own nonprofits, along with top tips from women who started their own businesses.

Opportunity (and the opportunity to start something like a nonprofit) knocks when you least expect it. The idea behind my nonprofit, the Crown Jewel Club, came about when I was hosting a tea party to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  One of the guests was an elementary teacher in South Central LA.  She talked about the girls in her class, and how she wanted to help them have better manners.  We came up with the idea that I could be a guest teacher in her class. I could teach her students manners, thereby empowering them for the future.

We were both shocked to see how well the girls responded to one class.  These little girls were hungry for appreciation and affection.  We immediately thought that this would make a great after school program. Since then, hundreds of little girls have graduated from our program.

1. Follow your passion.  Starting a nonprofit is hard work.  I work for NBC full-time, and I spend most of my free time working on the Crown Jewel Club.  There are so many things that need to be done, and there are days when I feel like giving up. But when I see the smiles on those little girls faces, when I hear that they are doing well in school and staying out of gangs, when I receive thank you notes from their parents, I know that it is all worth it. I get goose bumps, life’s way of telling me that I am doing what I am supposed to.  Which leads me to my next point…
2. Never give up.  Life is hard; accept it.  It has a way of throwing things at you when you least expect them.  When I was in second grade, I was diagnosed with encephalitis, a brain infection.  That was the point in my life when I thought I was going to die, but I survived.  Since then, I have known that I can get through anything.  Even if I make mistakes, it’s OK… I know that I am going to get through them and be a better person for it.
3. Surrender and ask for help. You can't do everything. I learned that I need to share the pleasure and joy of empowering these beautiful young ladies with others. I can't do it all, and I may actually be giving someone else a gift in asking for their help.
4. Search for knowledge. You will never know everything there is to know about running a nonprofit or business. I have encountered a lot of issues in running a nonprofit where I had no idea what to do. I took classes, read books and listened to great advice. I looked for the answers I needed. 
5. Be fearless when asking for money. Remember that when you ask for money, you are asking for your cause, not for yourself. 

Jane Phillips is the executive director and founder of the Crown Jewel Club, which had it first class in September 2005 and got its tax status in May 2006. She has worked at NBC as a local news editor and supervisor for 28 yearss. Learn more at www.crownjewelclub.org