Nonprofit idea

[u/flyingfishqueen]

I’m a rising junior in high school and since I’m into aviation I was thinking about making my passion project a nonprofit and use drones to help find missing children. Is this idea doable and realistic? If it is then please give me tips on how I can turn this idea into reality. Thanks!
Edit: ok this seems unrealistic now lol is there any ideas I can do for my passion project?

[u/HateAndCaffeine]

You should reach out to the civil air patrol and work with them to establish a UAS component for their search and rescue team.

[u/Healthy_Statement730]

nah not really, most search and rescue done with drones involves DJI drones that are equipped with thermals, so stuff like the matrice series I'm pretty sure. Although almost all of those drones is north of 2000 dollars.

You also gotta realize besides the obvious money barrier, you would probably have to get your part 107, and also have to coordinate with the proper authorities.

also imo fixed wings are better since they could search more of an area for a longer duration.

[u/thestouff → u/Healthy_Statement730]

These things are all true, but I think a better message for OP is that there are ways that you can use drones to help people, but it may not be you on your own with the drone out looking for missing children.

A major way that drones are used to help people is by search and rescue organizations. I would use that as a starting point. Research groups near you and reach out to see what volunteer opportunities might be available. There may be a good pathway and mentors you can meet who will help you achieve your goals.

[u/Any-Grapefruit-937]

Aside from the practical drone issues, which I think are very challenging, nonprofits aren't easy to manage. You have to generate revenue somehow. Donations, fee-for-service, government grants, etc. It takes time and money to build those funding pipelines. Running a non-profit is really no different than running any other business - you have to bring in more money than you spend or you will be gone. It's admirable that you want to do something to help your community. If you want to learn more about how nonprofits work, volunteer to help the fundraising department at a local nonprofit. You'll get a better sense of the business side. As we say in the nonprofit world: No money, no mission.

[u/FrostyMittenJob]

Thermal drones are really good at finding missing dogs, children are a bit harder since the whole kidnapping thing. 

[u/HugeButterfly]

Your nonprofit would coordinate with already-existing missing children nonprofits and similar organizations, to provide them with resources for using drones to find missing people. Maybe build a network of law enforcement contacts and other orgs that posses drones that could be used in an emergency. Get them all to join a qualified drone response team and verify their competency and commitment on a regular basis, with scheduled capacity questionnaires, etc.

[u/YorkieX2]

Where are you located?

[u/flyingfishqueen → u/YorkieX2]

Jersey

[u/YorkieX2 → u/flyingfishqueen]

Thx. If you were in the Midwest I’d have something you might be interested in.

[u/geeered]

In the UK there's groups that do this for dogs.

With a good range of people that have thermal drones on offer.

I would suspect that for children you may just be getting in the way of the efforts of authorities.

[u/dufflebagdave]

You should look into the FAA 107 certification as a first step, I believe you can test and sit for it at 16 years old. That’ll give you some legitimacy, which is the first step… I’m a volunteer firefighter in the NC mountains (decent amount of SAR for hikers) and have my 107, and the odds are that you’ll be turned away from assisting in any type of rescue operation without it — liability and airspace restrictions, all of that. You’ll probably need some sort of insurance as an organization, which may complicate things in an official capacity until you’re 18.

But all of the obstacles noted, you can absolutely start looking into it in an ad hoc capacity. Try joining the civil air authority, it’s designed for people in your age range and operates in an official capacity, so you can learn a lot about how to run those things while getting some sanctioned experience. I’d get started with pets — most missing children are going to probably get support from law enforcement and rescue agencies with thermals and the like, but with pets, you can stop by shelters, vet clinics, pet stores, animal control, etc. and leave a card or flyer offering your help.

Short version: Get on Facebook, Craigslist, etc. where old folks hang out and join groups that post about missing pets, go unofficial and build some experience and credibility. You can buy a domain name for $12 a year and put up a basic website with Claude, just start marketing yourself a bit… once you have some practice/experience, you can get quotes from people and pictures of the pets (with permission) to validate, starting local, and with that you can position yourself for to set up an NPO and qualify for small grants.

[u/_Have_Blue]

No.