All Volunteer, All Heart from Binky Patrol

When people have the idea to start a non-profit, they usually know some of the steps, especially if they've had experience in a board role before. We learned a lot when we started Binky Patrol and wanted to help newer non-profits avoid mistakes that could cost them their reputation, sponsors, and ability to grow.
VERIFY you have set up your 501c3 correctly at the federal and state level. Not doing this can cause all sorts of issues if you are not truly a non-profit but have been accepting donations. Have your documentation from both the feds and state handy in a folder on your computer or a shared drive. This includes your articles of incorporation and bylaws.
Register and submit your organization to sites such as GuideStar for credibility. This includes adding them to various directories and other organizations such as the United Way, Benevity, and other foundation sites that work with companies on matching funds. You will need an active website and should have an email with that domain name. You will have to pay for it. Google is the best mail service.
Register your site with TechSoup to get discounts on software and other items to run your organization. It has saved us a ton.
GET A REAL CPA! You need someone familiar with non-profits and compliance. Do your due diligence and check out their reputation, and contact other 501c3s they handle. This will make all the difference. They can help you with the handbook and other items to get started. Protect yourself, your reputation, and that of your great volunteers.
Create a handbook for volunteers that you review regularly. I'm not sure what Binky Patrol would do without our handbook we started our first month.
Bonus items if you are going to have regional locations.
If you will have regional chapters, how do you set them up? HIGHLY recommend not allowing ANYONE to set up a bank account. It all runs through your corporate office. You are accountable for ALL activities of each chapter. One bad apple can ruin your efforts and organization.
How often will you check in with them?
Do they have a central location for press kits, and materials to promote their local chapter?
If you donate to another organization or individuals, check them out to ensure they are what they say they are. Just as your site should have your 501c3 number, financials available upon request, and board members, so should these organizations you partner with or donate to.
 

The Legg family has welcomed over 30 foster children through their home and each one receives and leaves with a Binky Patrol blanket. They also have adopted four children from the foster system. She tells us about a child that arrived two weeks ago at her home. And just two Fridays ago, we received a, a little baby girl. And during the drop off of them inspecting our homes and whatnot. I had six blankets that had been delivered to our house and they were sitting on the porch. And, uh, the case worker that had come through said are those Binky blankets? And I said, they are. And she said, "I'm headed back to the command post. I have 18 teenagers that are sleeping in the command post right now. There aren't a lot of available foster homes." And so a lot of the older children are staying in the command post, and she said, "Can I take them? At least six will have blankets tonight."
Kimberly Legg's 19-year-old daughter says, "Mom if there's any other child that has a circumstance like mine, I wanna help to make sure that they have something that they can call their own for no matter how many years they've been in the system or how many years they've been when they're adopted or, that they have something they can call their own." Listen to the rest of this full-circle story.

What we do is simple. We make blankets and give them away to comfort teens and children who need a reminder that they matter, that they are not invisible. But can a binky be more than a blanket? Definitely, listen to this quick episode on how you can send binkies through your phone. A binky isn't just a blanket.
If a binky is a reminder that someone matters and that they are not invisible and that someone cares can it be something other than a blanket. Yes.

People want to be part of a community and a company that isn't only focused on the bottom line. Aligning with a worthy charity can fill that gap, and fill your hearts. You can also retain talent longer and attract more of the types of people you want working with you. Tim Johnson joined Binky Patrol 25 years ago when he bought is wife an elaborate sewing machine. Their entire family joined, and then the company he worked for, BMC Software. It was about actually doing something - not just writing a check. They involved all teams around the world and even those visiting the offices. Everyone was invited to get to know Binky Patrol by decorating squares for quilts, and participating in their company Bink-A-Thon. They were all in. Tune in for ideas of how you might consider getting your company involved with a charity - even if it's not Binky Patrol. What touches the heart of your team?

When Marlys Vaughan picked up the phone to talk to Susan Finch about volunteering to help with the Binky Patrol website, she had no idea it would lead to lifelong friends, a way she can craft for others, and daily joy from helping the children and teens in Salem, Massachusetts. This episode is the story of her one-woman chapter that grew to three people and a school and continues to grow.
Learn from Marlys' gentle story that you can start with a small effort and add to it as you go along the path. Marlys says one of the greatest and unexpected gifts is the friendships she has in Binky Patrol with people who have like-hearts. Hmmm, Lisa Cintron and Miriam talked about that too. I think they're on to something!

We are still one world and sometimes one very spread out company. A great way to get to know each other is through team-building events, but what can you do that will allow each location to get to know the other locations? An event where you work with one or more charities, perhaps make blankets live, have a guest speaker from the place your teams will deliver their blankets, have a relay benefitting a charity in those big inflatable balls at each location simultaneously rolling in a field. Well, you get it. The ideas coming out of our heads are endless, not very expensive, a lot of fun and build great memories, as well as help you retain talent.  Join Susan and Lisa for this 20-minute event idea firehose. If you have questions, want to talk about more ideas, let them know!

When we deliver binkies we encounter angels of hope. Our guest today, Liz Bias, is an angel of hope for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. As a survivor herself, she knows exactly what they are going through. A lot of these women when they leave, have nothing. They have no clothes, and their driver's license and their social security have been taken from them by their abuser.
Sarah's House gives them all the resources and the contacts where they can make the phone calls and set up the appointments so they can get back their license, and the paperwork that they need so they can get a job. And you always have some that go back to their abuser - that is heartbreaking for someone like Liz. Our Guest Liz Bias helps usher these women into a better life and break these habits. Listen to her story and what she's done to turn it around by creating the Wounded Heart Foundation in Texas.

There is no replacing the in-person experience of laughter, and compassion. Time to dip a toe into these events again through speaking, team building, 5Ks, and more! Lisa and Susan go through some ideas to make it easy for you to do what you are comfortable with and will tell you some of their experience at Race for the Cure events, corporate team building, quilt guilds, and even ski events. It's time to get back out there and really connect with your communities!
From sewing blankets on-site during a Race for the Cure, to golf tournaments, and competitive events, they could all use some warmth from your charity. At least that's what Lisa and Susan think in this episode. They share stories from at least a dozen events where Binky Patrol was exposed to entirely new audiences, kept the crowds entertained and made some blankets at the same time. Tune in.

This episode talks about some of the early deliveries that still impact us as they truly show the full mission of Binky Patrol from holding premature drug-addicted babies in soft, dark, quiet rooms to driving quickly to deliver a binky to a girl in an orphanage that called us to get one for her friend arriving shortly. Carolyn Berndt joined Binky Patrol when the company she was working for was in search of a local charity they could help financially. She showed up and fell in love immediately with Binky Patrol's simple mission of making and giving blankets to comfort children who are hurting, ill, abused, alone, in trauma of any kind. Her background is in marketing and PR, not blanket making so that's what she dove in to help with. She also helped with deliveries.  Join Carolyn and Susan to hear why we continue to do what we do. Bring your hankie as they tell true stories of real kids who were so happy to receive a binky.
Carolyn Berndt joins Susan to talk about how she found Binky Patrol. They also talk about the impact volunteering had on Carolyn's children, Malena and Max. Then break out the hankies as they both tell of deliveries and holding babies with no moms to hold them. It's all a reminder of how the little things and a bit of time can change lives. Consider doing SOMETHING other than "sending love and prayers" - show up, help us comfort these kids. It's easy. This episode talks about some of the early deliveries that still impact us as they truly show the full mission of Binky Patrol from holding premature drug-addicted babies in soft, dark, quiet rooms to driving quickly to deliver a binky to a girl in an orphanage that called us to get one for her friend arriving shortly.

People would watch Oprah DAILY. She inspired, and continues to do so. But she was upstaged in 1996 by little Hydeia telling us what it was like as a child to be born with and live with AIDS. The entire country wept with her, even though she fought back tears with enormous strength to tell her story and drive us to action. In the middle of it, Oprah showed a photo on the screen of Binky Patrol founder, Susan Finch holding a blanket and with her business phone number if you wanted to help comfort kids like Hydeia.
Let's put this in a better context. The internet was just starting. People got their news and found who to follow on television, radio, and in newspapers. Oprah was a big presence. AIDS was still a stigma. Children who were born with it were shunned, ridiculed, and ostracized as if they had a choice in the situation. They felt alone. When Binky Patrol started it was specifically for children like Hydeia. Plenty of organizations made blankets for kids with cancer and other diseases, but they were not addressing those with AIDS, born drug-addicted, in foster care, abandoned, forgotten, or invisible. Those 30 seconds launched Binky Patrol nationally because when Oprah tells you to call a number to help kids, you do it. We are forever grateful.
Lisa Cintron joins Susan to recall the impact 30 seconds on the Oprah Show had on Binky Patrol. We had launched less than 30 days prior, weren't officially a 501c3 yet, but were approached by the staff at the show because we were focusing on kids like Hydeia who had AIDS. People would watch Oprah DAILY. She inspired, and continues to do so. But she was upstaged in 1996 by little Hydeia telling us what it was like as a child to be born with and live with AIDS. The entire country wept with her, even though she fought back tears with enormous strength to tell her story and drive us to action. In the middle of it, Oprah showed a photo on the screen of Binky Patrol founder, Susan Finch holding a blanket and with her business phone number if you wanted to help comfort kids like Hydeia.
If you want to help, visit our site - there are many ways to help comfort these children. https://binkypatrol.org