Giving Compass' Take:

• In this Blue Avocado post, two young socially-minded college grads discuss the ups and downs of starting a nonprofit to help sick children get an education.

• From dealing with rejection to building a mentor base, there are nuggets of good advice for all nonprofit professionals. Which resources do we need to succeed?

• Here's why nonprofit sustainability relies on investing in people.

A couple years ago during our sophomore year of college, we were sitting in our tiny bunk beds discussing the profound lack of access to educational tools for young, sick children after witnessing it all summer long in a pediatric clinic. We decided to do something about it and started Pedi-Ed, a nonprofit dedicated to pediatric patient education through videos and resources that inform and educate children about various medical conditions and obstacles.

Teaming up with an old friend who agreed to be our Chief Creative Officer, we got started by building out our first set of congenital heart videos for kids. Since then, Pedi-Ed has grown and developed tremendously in just two years — but not without many doubts and setbacks. Our advice is simple, and we think it can guide you more quickly to the best practices without learning the hard way.

If anyone knows how difficult rejection can be, it’s us. We sent hundreds of hopeful emails to healthcare professionals, content developers, public health professors, and child development specialists on a weekly basis ― and received an average of two or three responses. Without a doubt, this was one of the most discouraging aspects of building our organization. Oftentimes, when we did get a response, it wasn’t what we wanted. When Pedi-Ed first began, we tried tirelessly to develop our product with doctors and hospitals, but sadly their support and engagement was limited. We felt hopeless ― if we couldn’t get hospitals and professionals to support us, how were we going to legitimize what we were doing?

Even though this felt like a major roadblock to our success, there was such a clear need for what we were creating that we refused to give up.

Read the full article about building a nonprofit from a college bedroom by Ahaana Singh and Caroline McGuire at Blue Avocado.