January Blog Post

A blog post for the month of January...

This has been a pretty eventful beginning of the year, especially this past week with 30 minute presentations. What follows are a couple of things I've noticed about them which are essential to the success of these presentations, and which I'll have to make sure I accomplish.

• Appropriate body language
• MAKE TIME 
•  Have a creative and engaging activity. ENGAGING. 
• Provide a clear explanation of the EQ

So my essential question is "What is the best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students attend college?" The answer I've composed for my presentation that is to happen a week from this upcoming Monday is "by exploring and employing business practices used by profit-oriented businesses." 

Third Interview Questions

1. What is the best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students attend college? 
   
2. What inspired you to create Uncommon Good?
   
3. How did Uncommon Good come to be?
   
4. What is the most important thing you've learned about managing a non-profit organization in general?
   
5. How do you generate enough revenue to keep Uncommon Good active?
   
6. What is the biggest obstacle you've faced in your years managing Uncommon Good?
   
7. How has the fact that you are an attorney helped you in this non-profit venture?
   
8. What do you seek in an employee?
   
9. What has been most rewarding for you during your career?
   
10. How do you continue to improve your practice? 

Blog 11: Mentorship Ten Hours

So here it is...

1. I am doing my mentorship with Uncommon Good, doing most of my work with the Teen Green branch of Uncommon Good.
   
2. My contact is Carlos Carrillo, program coordinator.
   
3. To be honest, I'm not really sure of how many hours I've done with Uncommon Good. I should be keeping track of them, but I haven't. I do have proof that I've done at least 10 hours, and I certainly have done more than that. I'll get the rest of them together before the deadline. And yes I will provide legitimate documentation.
   
4. I've spent these ten hours attending and helping at things like volunteer days at a local farm, helping maintain a community garden, and participating in other similar activities organized by Uncommon Good. I find it interesting to witness how the community has benefited from the efforts of this non-profit organization. 

Senior Project, The Holiday

1. Over the break, amid the chaos of the holidays, I wasn't able to go into the office to volunteer because the staff was out on break for most of the break, since their schedule closely follows that of the students who are part of the program. I was, however, able to conduct some research online, and found a couple interesting facts about non-profit organizations.
2. The most important thing I learned from my research was that the concept of non-profit work has been around for far longer than most people think. 90% of the non-profit organizations still around today were founded before 1950. I find this to be important because it demonstrates just how successful a non-profit organization can be if properly managed. My goal is to find out what it takes to sustain a non-profit for as long as those found in that 90%. My source was a paper written by American author Peter Dobkin Hall. I found it on a Harvard sponsored website.
3. If I were going to do a 10 question interview, which I'm sure we'll have to do at some point, I would interview Nancy Mintie, the director and founder of Uncommon Good, the non-profit organization at which I'm volunteering. She'd best be able to answer my questions because she's the founder. She has years of experience and the organization has thrived, meaning that the goal she intended the organization to have has been well supported. She obviously knows what she's doing, which is why I choose her as my most viable interview candidate