When Donna Ralston opened up non-profit organization South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet, she dreamt of more than launching a business. She was fulfilling a personal mission to meet the needs of the most vulnerable part of her community — people in need of medical rehabilitation equipment who couldn’t afford the expenses.
In business since 2016, the Denver-based NPO faced troubling times in spring 2020 when COVID-19 forced it to close doors from March to May 2020. Far from breaking its spirit, however, the pandemic eventually brought only a few adjustments to the organization’s operations. These included social-distancing guidelines, mandatory sanitizing of equipment, and PPE for staff and visitors.
In today’s customer spotlight, MightyCall customer and South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet Founder Donna Ralston shares insights about starting an NPO versus a standard business, finding inspiration in human values, and garnering the team power to fulfill her mission. Discover her story below!
“Everything came out of the wish to help people.”
Every business starts with connecting the dots between supply and demand. But with an NPO, connecting the community’s needs with its capabilities to serve people is a lot more than a mission statement. It’s what the whole organization revolves around.
Launching the “Loan Closet”, as it is known in the neighborhood, Donna found a way to perfectly match the supply and demand for used medical equipment in her city through charitable funding.
“South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet came out of a wish to help people who are recovering from surgery and couldn’t afford to buy various medical equipment for rehabilitation. Because unless you’re a veteran, a member of a church, a senior center, or on Medicare, you have no way of getting this equipment with financial help. And then, why would you even buy equipment that you need for only three weeks?”
Looking to the other side of this gap, Donna saw a group of people who could quickly meet the demand given just a bit of organizational help. It was then that things began coming together.
“A lot of people I knew had equipment in their attic or basement or garage. It was just sitting there, and I thought — why not “recycle” and get it to the people who need it short term? Our policy is established to help people borrow what they need for up to three months, and when people return [equipment], we ask them to donate to us to help us serve other people. About 70% of our borrowers make a contribution. That enables us to pay our expenses.”
NPOs run on people power
As the saying goes, “One head is good; two are better.” When building an NPO, people power accounts for 90% of what you’re doing, from administration to daily management. The founder’s role is the ability to filter people’s skills based on where they can be most useful, and organize different teams to work as one.
Clarity of thought and organization is something Donna is really good at. Nevertheless, she credits the deeper success of her organization to the volunteers who make it all happen.
“We do everything by volunteers. There are about 25 of us who volunteer a couple of days a month. There are people who answer the phone since MightyCall transfers phone calls to everyone’s cell phone, so we can all work from our separate locations; people who help with donations of equipment; people who update our inventory; people who help us pick up and move equipment, or do repairs.
“We have volunteers who don’t all live within the neighborhood. They drive over to help. These people are looking for ways to utilize their background, skills, and knowledge at the same time helping people even if they’re retired. When COVID is over, I’d like to once again invite all the volunteers over for a pot-luck and just socialize and celebrate the fact that we made it through without closing down!”
It’s not just the volunteer part of Donna’s organization that runs on people power. Community networking fuels the smooth operations of South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet. As Donna explains, an NPO is about reaching out rather than conventional marketing.
“Calling on your friends and knowing a lot of people really helps. For me, things started from my church, and from there, it was that ripple effect. We’ve also had tremendous support from Rotary clubs in our area. Our goals are so aligned with their mission statement that they feel we’re part of the community, and they support our project.
“We promoted our organization through rehabilitation centers, hospitals, senior centers, so we try to make all those people who’re involved, especially in the surgical part of the medical field, to be aware of us. We get a lot of calls from people who are in the medical field. When they’re discharging a patient from rehab, the rehabilitation nurse would often refer people to us and so our network is growing.”
Who can start an NPO
We could safely say that starting an NPO without a deep wish to make a difference in people’s lives is a waste of time and will lead to loss of credibility within your community.
If you’re thinking about how to start a non-profit organization, you’ve got to be deeply devoted to putting the needs and time of others ahead of your own. As to business skills, organizational or managerial experience will be a huge bonus, Donna says.
“I was an executive director for several non-profit organizations for over 20 years and used the skills I had to establish and operate this organization. So I was able to organize the activity, the paperwork, the insurance, the legal stuff, and coordinate the training of volunteers so everyone has a good idea of what they’re supposed to do.
“Anybody who has organizational skills could do what I did. You have to recognize volunteers for their effort, their skills, and the time and effort they put into assisting the organization. Our volunteers are very faithful and dedicated, and they really like doing the jobs they’ve chosen to do. A lot of our volunteers are occupational therapists, or physical therapists, or even nurses. They like using their skills to help people in a recovery situation. Using the skills of your people and building on them is a big advantage in making an NPO organization work.”
Finding anchor in values
When building a non-profit organization, business skills run hand in hand with deep personal values. It’s these that have served an essential role throughout Donna’s life. In fact, they are the reason that Donna’s organization has been successful where many others could have failed.
“Being a Christian, I really believe you should do good for as many people as you can, in as many ways as you can, as often as you can, for as long as you can. That’s been my motto. I’ve had a lot of mission trips overseas and mission projects locally. South Metro Medical Loan Closet evolved out of my passion and the mission to help people.”
For Donna and her volunteer team, inspiration lies in the joy of bringing a bit of sunshine into the lives of people who’re going through tough times. This goal finds its greatest and sometimes only reimbursement in words of gratitude and happy, relieved smiles: the kind of simple gratitude that makes both life and work worth it.
As Donna sums up,
“When people bring the equipment back, they often tell us it was a lifesaver. They show us how our work fulfills a deep need in the community and that makes me so glad we’re there to help.”
South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet is on Facebook. Learn more about them today!
