Help Kelsea Start Her First Nonprofit

Hello, friends! My name is Kelsea Little, and I am launching this GoFundMe to take the first steps of hopefully starting my very own nonprofit.

I have worked at GoFundMe for nearly 11 years, and during my tenure, I have had the extreme privilege of helping to tell the stories of local change makers all around the world. I cannot overstate how inspired I am on a daily basis by how these folks show up in the world, and the impact they make for their communities, and causes they care about. They are truly my heroes.

For a long time, I have felt a dormant wish inside of me to be more like them, and to start an initiative of my own. I finally asked myself who I was waiting around for permission from to start—so I gave myself that permission.

So many of the organizations and community heroes I admire do such critical work to provide the essentials to communities that need it, tackling things like food security, erasing lunch debt at schools, filling classrooms with supplies, providing shelter to unhoused folks, feeding families, etc. I started to think about where I could make an impact, and do something that support all of this amazing and critical support being organized—and I landed on joy.

My organization is called Presents with Purpose, and its mission is to deliver moments of joy to individuals during celebratory moments such as birthdays and holidays. I plan to partner with existing organizations who are providing the essentials to help identify people who could use some celebrating, and try to include dignity of choice whenever possible so that they're receiving something they really want, and that will truly bring joy.

Because I believe that joy is a basic human right, too.

This is quite a big goal and undertaking, and there are so many steps to take. A conversation with one of my community change maker hero friends, Dion Dawson, inspired me on how to get started: just start.

So my first step is to raise the money I need to start providing moments of joy through gifts! I am going to start by doing, and take the nonprofit registration steps as I go. But nothing is stopping me from starting now—I even have a partnering organization already, to provide gifts to a community in Georgia in the winter :) As soon as you say it out loud, entropy begins. It's pretty magical.

On May 5th, 2024, I am combining this fundraising goal with a physical challenge to help raise awareness and support—I will be doing the 5-Peak Challenge all in one day, and sharing the GoFundMe throughout! It's 5 separate summits, and 17 total miles of hiking. Wish me luck, lol!

Also: my parents' company, Little Consulting Group, is matching the first $300 raised during the hike! Thank you Mom and Dad!!

I'd be beyond grateful for any kind of support you can offer, whether that's a donation, a share, a connection for doing the actual work, etc.

Thank you so much for supporting me in this wild dream—sending joy your way <3