Pictures provided by Eliam Chang for use in this article
“I don’t really care if I succeed or fail, I’m going to do it because that’s my passion. And that’s what I want to do.”
Have you ever wondered what it takes to get a non-profit off the ground? We’ve all had good ideas, but how does an idea grow into a fully-fledged organization that can truly make an impact? I sat down with Eliam Chang, founder of Edenova, to find out.
Tell me about what inspired Edenova.
“Back in September of last year…I did a program called Ideator at the Wond’ry and I pitched my idea for a Christian dating app. That’s how it got started, and I won $2,300 for the Christian dating app.”
“The idea was basically Christian Omegle, and you would match with people in your city and could very easily meet up with other Christians in person. I tried creating the app, but I’m not very good at coding, so I had somebody else build it for me.”
After Eliam’s developer fell through, he pivoted to his current idea.
“The idea is in-person events for Christians where they can meet one another. When it comes to Nashville and even at Vanderbilt campus, there’s very few events that bring together a lot of Christians. There’s Navigators, ENC, RUF, UCAT. There are so many different Christian orgs, but a lot of people actually don’t know each other. I think that’s a bigger problem in all of Nashville, especially for young adults and college students. Christians at Belmont and Lipscomb don’t really know Christians at Vanderbilt. Christians at different churches don’t really know Christians at other churches.”
“So, I wanted to create a fun environment where people can meet that’s not explicitly spiritual….For example, we hosted a Jeopardy night already, and now we’re hosting a Christian concert. It’s just a fun way for people to come together, and it’s very low commitment.”
What was the biggest challenge from idea to execution?
“There’s two big challenges when it comes to starting something new. This is not just necessarily this project, but in general. When it comes to entrepreneurship, the first [challenge] is becoming official. The process of becoming a non-profit…that was really challenging. As a college student, I don’t have that much time throughout my day to work on it…So trying to figure out how to start a non-profit, like the legal process, while also working was really challenging because I had to go to a bank a couple of times, I had to file for things online…I had to learn almost everything on my own.”
On top of sorting through the red tape that comes along with starting a nonprofit, Eliam also mentioned that gaining an initial core group of members / users poses a challenge:
“The second challenging part just comes with any entrepreneurial endeavor. People don’t believe in your idea until they see other people believe…Most people, when they see a new idea, don’t take the initiative to join it until they see a mass percentage of other people join it. And I think that’s the biggest problem. You have to find those early people that would be on board with your idea.”
What do you envision for the future of Edenova?
“The mission of our nonprofit is to connect Christians…Over the summer, I hosted a singles young adult Jeopardy night. We had 30 people come and there were four dates that were set up from that. Then, there were two second dates that we helped set up. Even if they don’t end up dating each other, they still met each other. And dates mean something. That means that there was at least a chance of connection.”
Eliam also talked about a concert that Edenova will soon host, describing it as a more casual opportunity to connect. “Yes, you can meet people, but you’re not necessarily going there specifically to meet people. But in the process of having fun, you could very easily meet somebody else. There’s going to be intermission…there’s going to be food, it’ll be very easy to just talk to other people.” He also discussed why this event will be beneficial to the organization in the long run: “I think the biggest thing about the concert is brand recognition. Yet again, going back to the early members.” He describes that the concert will build reputability for the organization and help to attract more members on top of the initial early members. If they host a good event, people will trust them to host more good events.
Eliam also mentioned how attendees of the concert will have the opportunity for further and more personal connections within the organization: “I might do some sort of QR code [at the concert] where we could put people in lunch groups…Then, we could pair people up into groups of six to eight…that could be something really easy.”
Additionally, the concert will be a general event for the Christian community that can later open the doors to more specialized events for attendees: “The concert could help funnel people into the organization so that I have their emails, their phone numbers, and other contact info. And from there, I could funnel them into different categories. So, I could have singles events and couples events…Something I realized, for a lot of young married couples, is that they don’t really have people in the same stage of life because a lot of people don’t get married until they’re about 25 or later. If couples get married right after college and they’re 22, they want to find another.”
What has been the biggest personal takeaway for you?
“The Nike slogan is probably the biggest, closest thing [to a personal takeaway]. Just do it. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was super young, and I’ve always been a little held back. Because entrepreneurship isn’t really a stable job, even if you’re really good at it. That was the reason why I was pre-med for so long. I wanted to be a doctor, partially because my parents wanted me to be and also because it’s a very stable job…I stuck in it for too long because I was scared to pursue my dreams….Taking that extra step of saying, ‘Hey, I don’t really care if I succeed or fail, I’m going to do it because that’s my passion.’ And that’s what I want to do. I want to create something from nothing and provide something for people.”
Want to get involved? Visit Edenova.org to learn more about Eliam and his team’s mission as well as stay up to date on their upcoming events. Edenova’s Christian Concert will take place on October 17th from 7-10pm at the Fourth Avenue Church in Franklin Tennessee. If you’re inspired to see what your own idea can turn into, check out the Wondry’s Sullivan Family Ideator program.
