March Blog Post

This month has been pretty uneventful. Unfortunately, my mentor has been out of the office due to some personal stuff and therefore I haven't been able to go in too often.

On another note, my research is going pretty well. I've been able to formulate several answers which I feel are fundamental. For now, my best answer remains "The best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to encourage underprivileged teenagers attend college is by adopting a different business model." The non-profit business model is flawed in many ways. For example, by law, a humanitarian non profit isn't allowed to make any profit, and therefore, there isn't much money to sponsor it's activities, rendering it virtually ineffective. The way that most non-profits acquire capital is by practically begging for money from funders (usually right wing foundations). They never get enough money out of them, and have to keep coming back for more. Basically, the problem with non-profits today is that most use business plans that make them unable to sustain themselves in an economic sense. I'd also like to say that I feel that the essential question format is too restrictive in some cases. Yes it's good that a question be specific, but the way that essential questions are supposed to be structured makes some of these projects way too specific, making it difficult to find research as hindering the ability to explore closely related (and relevant) topics of interest.

Third Answer

EQ: What is the best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students attend college?

The best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students attend college is by expanding their overhead budget.

• Most non-profit organizations skimp out on their overhead expenditures.
• With less money to spend overhead, non-profits aren't able to afford the services and items they might need to keep the organization running fluidly. 
• A larger overhead budget means that employees are better payed, resulting in better services provided and increased productivity.
• A better payed employee is always a harder working employee.
• Larger overhead spending means that non-profits are less prone to under-report their spending.
• Under-reporting leads to funders providing NPO's with less money to spend overhead, therefore putting more burden on NPO's. They must work harder with less money to make up the deficit. 

Non-profits have to increase their overhead spending in order to revitalize themselves with trained and able staff, adequate services, and better programs. 

Fourth Interview Questions

1. What business model do you support?
   
2. How to foundations work?
   
3. Which is the most reliable source of income?
   
4. What is fundamentally wrong with the non-profit sector?
   
5. Who is doing/managing non-profit work the "right way"?
   
6. About how much money does Uncommon Good require on a yearly basis to continue being operational?
   
7. What does most of the money go into?
   
8. What is the business model of a typical non-profit organization?
   
9. Is Uncommon Good partners with any other NPO?
   
10. How is brand important?
    
11. How are visual logos important?
    
12. What is the most effective way to reach and immediately convey your message to the community?
    
13. What is the importance of networking in the non-profit world?
    
14. How did the Uncommon Good logo come to be?
    
15. How is internal order kept at a non-profit organization?
    
16.  How do you keep from slowing down and losing interest in your job?
    
17. What do you think is the most important component of a non-profit organization?
    
18. What do you think can be done relatively  soon/immediately to begin alleviating the monetary burden most small non-profits have to deal with?
    
19. What has been the most difficult monetary situation Uncommon Good has been in and how was Uncommon Good able to recuperate?
    
20. What'd be the one thing you would do differently if you were able to go back and start Uncommon Good from scratch again? 

February Monthly Blog Post

So this month, I was able to conduct my 3rd interview with Nancy Mintie, founder of Uncommon Good. I think that this has been my most insightful and useful interview to date. Nancy explicitly talked about the non-profit struggle with big business and lack of funding. She also presented her ideas on how to make it better. She talked about how the non-profit model is seriously flawed and that the best way to bring about social change is by investing in socially-conscious businesses, which basically take all the altruistic/humanitarian aspects of non-profits and meld them with revenue-earning practices. This means that the business can make enough money to fund it's good-willed ventures instead of struggling to fund raise and squeeze money out of conservative, unwilling foundations. Her answers reassured me that I'm on the right path because all of what she said coincided with the research I've done.

So I just want to comment on the first advisory house meeting we've had...
I found this time to be very poorly spent. I already know what articles I have, which help me with what, and of which I need to find more of. These meetings are supposed to be for our benefit. I feel like our time would be better spent doing research on the I pads or something like that.

Advisory Meeting #2

What is the best way for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students attend college?

Answer #2
A good public image along with a good logo/slogan is one of the best ways for an educational non-profit organization to raise funds for resources to help underprivileged students to attend college.

1. Good public relations encourage people to donate more money and invest in the NPO.
   (EX. Would you be more willing to donate to a reclusive NPO or one that gets out there, hosts events, and spreads the word about the cause they're fighting for?)
   "Nonprofit Organizations Have Become an Important Part of the U.S. Economy." Times Record News. Timesrecordnews.com, 20 May 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
   
2. A good slogan/logo is the first thing people notice about the NPO (a first impression) and therefore is very important.
   (EX. It's like when you meet someone for the first time. You tend to judge based on your first encounter with them.)
   Kylander, Nathalie, and Christopher Stone. "The Role of Brand in the Nonprofit Sector." Ssireview.org. SSIR, Apr. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
   
3. Good public relations helps NPO's connect with other similar NPO's which can spawn partnerships that'd bring about notable social change.
   (EX. there's always power in numbers, and high impact NPO's know that it isn't about individual prestige or recognition but rather real social change.)
   Grant, Heather M., and Leslie R. Crutchfield. "Creating High-Impact Nonprofits." Stanford Social Innovation Review. Ssireview.org, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

Independent Component 2 Approval

1. For my next 30 hours, I plan on working at the Uncommon Good office directly with the staff, helping with professional business activities of the organization. 
2. To meet the 30 hour requirement, I plan on going in to the office at least once a week for two hours. In order to prove that I will have completed 30 hours, I will keep a log as well as pictures of whatever I'm allowed to photograph.
3. My second component will help me better understand my answer by giving me first hand experience with the inner workings of a non-profit organization. My first component helped me realize the importance of non-profit organizations, and my second component will help me understand how they work. 
4. Independent Component 2 Log

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. One thing that went well for me during my presentation was the fact that even after the computer wouldn't run my presentation correctly, I had a classmate manually scroll through the slides and I was able to present despite this technical difficulty. 
2. I would give myself a P because I believe that I did hit all the major points on the contract and I did so well. Although I may have stumbled on my words a bit (presentation anxiety), I feel that I was able to get all my info across.
3. The one thing about my presentation that I was pretty proud of was my activity. My goal for my activity was to make it interactive, fun, and attention grabbing while at the same time have it convey my message effectively. I was pleased by my peers' reactions, which let me know that I'd chosen a successful activity. 
4. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and practice presenting a few more times. Although when I practiced I was at 12 minutes, when I presented, I was struggling to make time. When I present, I tend to rush because I'm nervous, so that's what I need to work on for next time. 
5. I believe that my answer two will be something along the lines of "By having a very stringent and thorough employee selection process."