PlantPure Communities’ Fire Pods aim to become beacons in the community and beyond. Similar to Water Pods, Fire Pods also focus on taking action in their local communities by providing evidence-based nutrition education, outreach, and advocacy to the public to raise awareness of the importance of a whole food, plant-based lifestyle. This is accomplished through activities such as film screenings, restaurant outreach, implementing healthy changes to the menus of institutions such as schools, colleges, and hospitals, and organizing or participating in veg fests, conferences, or other large-scale gatherings. Connecting with other local groups advocating healthy living, environmental and climate issues, and animal advocacy is common.

In addition to these activities, Fire Pod leaders also form key partnerships across city or state lines, often apply for grant funding for programs, and seek to facilitate change beyond their local community. Pods may focus on lobbying elected officials, hosting conferences, applying for funding with other nonprofits, and creating systemic change across the state or country. One of the most salient examples are Pods which work together with other Pods in a given city or region to create a larger and more connected organization in a metro area.

Sometimes Fire Pods go on to attain independent state or federal nonprofit status, and continue to be members of the PPC Pod network in this capacity.

If you are not a PPC Pod leader and you think your local group would qualify as a PPC Fire Pod, apply and get more information here.

As a Fire Pod leader, you have put in the effort to make the necessary connections in your community. Now you can reach out and offer other community leaders and community members a chance to try out the whole food, plant-based lifestyle for 10 days. PPC is here to support them throughout the experience. Read on for more about our Changemakers Jumpstart!

Become a Changemaker!

PlantPure Communities is looking for community leaders who are interested in health, sustainability, and social action to participate in our plant-based Changemakers Jumpstart program. This program serves as an introduction to eating a plant-based diet, so if you already eat that way, please invite a friend to participate!

Who is a Changemaker?

We have kept the definition of Changemaker vague because, in truth, we can all make significant change. We hope to reach community leaders, educators, business owners, fitness instructors, physicians, nurses, and others who aren’t already eating whole food, plant-based, but are willing to give it a try! If you know a “Changemaker” who is interested in trying a plant-based diet, this pilot program could be just what they need!

What is the Changemakers Jumpstart?

The Jumpstart is a 10-day immersion which includes daily motivational and educational lessons, and may be accompanied by whole food, plant-based meal starters. The online lessons include videos about the science and benefits of a plant-based lifestyle. The Jumpstart also comes with a detailed PDF guidebook for participants to reference throughout their healthy journey.

Questions? Email us at Changemakers@plantpurecommunities.org

The following will help you evaluate if you would desire to form a legally recognized organization, such as a corporation or limited liability company, to be able to fulfill your Pod's intended scope. While some of the suggested steps may seem complicated, they can help make your Pod's work much more smoothly executed in the long run.

Things to Consider:

• Hosting Events: Thoughtful, upfront, and realistic consideration of the events you are planning, including the size of the events, the type(s) of venue, the services, products and speakers that may be involved, and what your future function in the community will be, are important in determining how to set up the organizational structure for your event.

• Small Event: If you are “testing the waters” in your community to see how much interest you can generate in the plant-based lifestyle, you may want to start off planning a small event at a donated venue with a few exhibitors, some food vending, and a few speakers. In this case, you may want to handle the arrangements for scheduling the venue, speakers and exhibitors using just your own identity and your own bank account.

• Making it Official (or not): While Pod events can be put on using the Pod Leaders' personal information to sign contracts, receive and disburse money, and prepare schedules, as your Pod grows in size and scope it can be better for the Pod Leader to form a corporate entity and do transactions through that entity. In most states, forming a corporation can be done online by filling out a form and paying a registration fee. There are also online services that will incorporate your organization for an additional fee. Receiving your Certificate of Organization from your state’s Secretary of State’s office may be very quick or may take a few weeks, so plan ahead.

Some venues, permitting authorities, and insurers specify that they will only deal with organizations that are corporations or limited liability companies. Forming one of these organizations involves selecting corporate officers (some states only require a President), filling out forms with your Secretary of State’s office, and paying a charge that usually ranges from $100 to $500 for administrative and filing fees, depending on your state. You can obtain your specific state's filing and fee information by visiting your Secretary of State's web site. It usually takes several weeks for your application to be processed, but expedited processing that takes just a few days is generally available for an extra fee.

• Bank Account: If the Pod does not incorporate, there will be a need to use a member's social security number or an EIN/Tax Identification Number and a "doing business as (DBA)" name to open a bank account in order for the Pod to handle income and expenses. It only takes a few minutes to get an EIN/TIN online and there is no charge.

• Donations: Donations to help cover Pod expenses can be a great help. Even though your Pod may not have applied for IRS tax exempt status, you can still ask for and receive donations as gifts, but the donors will not be able to to get a tax deduction write-off for their donation unless the receiving organization has tax exempt status or is sponsored by an organization that has tax exempt status. Nevertheless, when people give small donations, they often do not care about the tax deduction because they are wanting to help a cause, so small donations are generally not taxable as income and small groups running a nonprofit function generally do not have to report the donations to the IRS.

There may be particular case-specific instances, however, where donations are considered taxable income (depending on use of the funds and other factors), so it is recommended that you keep specific records of donations received and consult a tax professional to be sure. If you decide to ask for donations, also check with your state charitable solicitation laws to see if there is a requirement that you register to solicit donations with the state. Most states require that organizations asking for donations fill out a registration form unless you are exempt. Depending on the state, small organization that raises less than $5,000 – $25,000 may be exempt.

• Nonprofit Incorporation: Although it is possible to operate as an unincorporated group using a DBA and receive non-tax-deductible donations, this is usually done "on the fly." This may be acceptable if the Pod is only planning to participate in one event. There are, however, several reasons that a Pod may choose to incorporate: i) It provides liability insulation for officers if there is a mishap at an event; ii) it allows the Pod to enter contracts without being personally liable on the contract, iii) it allows the Pod to transact business without using a member's social security number; and iv) it strengthens the group’s credibility.

Incorporating is a relatively easy process and there are numerous resources online. Depending on the state, it will likely cost a few hundred dollars. In many states, a trip to the state’s Secretary of State office will allow for the filling out and filing of the paperwork without incurring third party fees, but there will be a filing fee that must be paid to the state. Information required includes: i) the name of the organization; ii) an address for receiving official correspondence; iii) names of officers, and iv) other info the state may require.

• Federal Tax Exemption: If your Pod wants to be able to receive the nonprofit organization registration discount for events and give receipts to donors that allow the donors to have a tax donation, there are at least two options:

  • Easiest - Find a Fiscal Sponsor: A fiscal sponsor is a nonprofit organization that already has IRS status as a tax exempt organization. The fiscal sponsor will handle your donations through its bank account and issue checks for your group's expenses. You operate your organization, but the money flows through the fiscal sponsor and donors receive a tax deduction even though your group has not received tax exemption. A fiscal sponsor is usually one of two types of organizations: 1) it can be a nonprofit that is aligned with your cause and will allow you to be sponsored with a small fee or without charge; or 2) there are nonprofit organizations whose entire purpose is to serve as a fiscal sponsor. This type of organization will charge an administrative fee.

  • Not easy, but best for long-term - Secure federal tax exempt certification from the IRS: Find initial instructions here: http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-501(c)(3)-Nonprofit-Organization. This is a fairly significant undertaking and will likely take 6 months or longer to secure tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, but the Pod can operate as a nonprofit in the interim once a Tax ID Number (EIN) is in hand. The tax exempt application may be submitted to the IRS after the group has incorporated in your state.

The Healthy Childhood Nutrition course is for anyone interested in raising healthy, plant-based children. Learn about how food affects childhood development and mental health, tips and tricks for feeding your kids while traveling, and how to navigate social settings with family and friends. This course also contains resources for working with school nutrition programs to improve the quality of food served at the school(s) in your community. Learn how to form a school food committee, how to work with your school's food service director, institute a Meatless Monday Campaign, and more. Get connected with organizations that are working to advance school lunches to help you achieve a wide range of goals.

Fire Pods may wish to enact a large scale analysis of (and facilitate an overhaul of) childhood community education regarding nutrition. Going into the schools with tasting programs, cooking classes, or helping build gardens on school campuses may be a part of a Pod's strategy. Working closely with local farmers to connect them with school children may also be a part of a larger opportunity to build a healthier future for our children.

Fire Pod leaders are exactly the type of Pod leaders who are suited for PPC's Mentorship Program. You can take your extensive leadership experience and use it to help another Pod leader gain the confidence and skills to take their Pod to the next level.

The PPC Mentorship Program supports new and existing Pod Leaders (PLs) who are interested in being paired with other Pod Leaders (Mentors) in order to work on strengthening their own Pods.

What is a Mentor? A Mentor is a Pod Leader (PL) who has experience running a Pod for at least 6 months, and who is willing to dedicate time to work with one or more PLs who have requested assistance.

Time Commitment of Being a Mentor: Mentors are expected to communicate with their Mentee (via phone, video, email, or other) approximately 2x/month for 2 - 3 months, for up to 30 minutes per session. After the initial 3 months, Mentors are encouraged to continue offering support if contacted by Mentees. Efforts will be made to match Mentor PLs with the needs expressed by those requesting assistance. Matches may be based on geography or type of community (i.e., urban, suburban, rural). Discussions between Mentors and Mentees may be in person, over the phone, via video call, emails, or any other mode that works.

Mentoring a Pod Leader: PPC’s website contains a plethora of information to support PLs, but any additional tips that Mentors offer from their personal experience will be valuable. We have put together a list of questions which the Mentee could be asked by the Mentor: • What was your first meeting like? How many people showed up and how did you ‘market’ it? • How do you promote your Pod to the community? Have you recruited new members? • How did you come up with the name? How do you meaningfully engage members during your Pod meetings? • What projects, activities, or events have you found to be successful? • What was the most interesting pod meeting? • How often does your Pod meet? • Do you have co-Group Leaders? If so, what is their role(s)? • Were you able to recruit members who were inexperienced/new to plant-based diets? If so, how?

Feel free to share any other general advice or things you wish you knew when starting your Pod!

"Running Successful Meetings" (found in the Leadership Toolkit): Contains information gathered from PLs and can be used to discuss what has worked well, or to direct the new PL to review it on their own. Direct your mentee to review information on the PlantPure Communities website, this site, and to especially focus on studying our Leadership Toolkit. This information provides PLs with guidance on how to maintain and grow community member participation in their Pods.

When talking with the Mentee about their Pod, encourage them to:

• Make the Pod their own/unique, i.e., adjust the Pod’s tone, focus, and rhythm as the PL sees fit. Encourage the PL to share what has motivated the Mentee’s WFPB diet journey and explain why they want to share plant-based information with their community.

• Shape their Pod’s goals based on what they, and their members, want to see done in their community, and to create a sense of welcome and flexibility.

• Structure Pod events around their (and their members’) interests. For example, if they like to cook, hold a plant-based cooking demo! If they want to see a new documentary, hold a film screening. Do they go to the farmer’s market? Have a meeting at the local market. Are they mostly concerned about the quality of the food being served in local schools? If so, review PPC's Healthy Childhood Nutrition course and decide if the Pod wants to launch a campaign.

Special note: Pod Leaders who participate as Mentors will be ranked higher for future scholarship opportunities that are administered by PPC for the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate, offered through the Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell. Refer to the Scholarship Opportunities page for more details.

If you are interested in Mentoring, please complete the following form:

Pod Leader Interested in Being a Mentor: https://formstack.io/AAFCB

Check out this Info Sheet to find out what being a Mentor may involve.