Hello! My name is Grace and I am on the Foundation Board of Students for Students. With my team members, Tanya and Helen, the Board works collaboratively with other teams, striving to stay organized and committed. (Check out our Facebook page for group profiles and more information on each team’s role!) As students in the Human Services & Social Justice’s (HSSJ) Senior Capstone class we have been provided with a unique opportunity to establish, organize, and maintain a sizeable grant-giving project. We sixteen students manage many moving parts! We divided into five different groups, taking on unique tasks and objectives, reminding me of a relay where each group sought to build upon the layer of last, creating fluidity among teams. Through the passing of the proverbial baton there are regular in-class workshops where the class reviews the work of the respective team and engages in a discussion to highlight strengths and discuss areas for change.
As part of the Board I have helped find and contact organizations that align with Students for Students’ mission. Through this process I had the opportunity to delve a bit deeper into some of the organization's efforts and see the change they are making in their communities. This was motivating and reflected the impact education can have in one’s life. It may feel cheesy, but that is what our name is about: students supporting students from various walks of life in education and professional opportunities.
The trials and tribulations our class faces teach us lessons on organization, communication, and ensuring mission alignment. For example, there was a misunderstanding among some organizations when we sent out our first invitation email as we are still gaining experience. The emails were addressed to the organization, instead of the program director or a specific person working for the organization, and they were signed ‘Students for Students’ as opposed to the writer’s name. This lack of personalization resulted in emails to our professor ensuring that our foundation is not a scam. Now, thanks to our Communications Team we have an official email signature included in a new round of proposal invitations that have been met with positive responses and confirmation that organizations plan to submit proposals.
Weekly classes keep me motivated and discussing the progress of our foundation reminds me of the importance of collaborative work. I look forward to continuing contact with the organizations submitting proposals and gaining a better understanding of how foundations can support applicants during their writing process.
--Grace
Responses from our class
This project is definitely a big one, and I certainly find myself learning more and more about the different moving parts each class! I love that you brought up a misunderstanding that occurred, and the way that we as an foundation needed to adjust accordingly. In my opinion, learning is all about this constant give an take between mistakes and growth.
I experienced some of this in my own group work. In my group, we worked to create the Request For Proposals (RFP) that would be distributed to nonprofit organizations in their invitations to apply. As part of the RFP, we outlined the various programs that organizations should offer in order to apply for the grant. We identified our focus areas as Educational Achievement, Extracurricular Programming, and Professional Development. However, we neglected to think critically about the different ways organizations provide this kind of programming. One organization responded to their invitation to apply, asking if they were still eligible if they help connect clients to other organizations that provide these services. More simply put, the organization asked if they were still eligible if they outsource these programs, or must they be provided in house. This was not specified in the RFP, and my group members and I realized we had left a question unanswered.
We have all worked in organizations that help connect clients to programs elsewhere, so their existence should not have come as a surprise to us. However, we neglected to carry out the thought of the RFP, and think critically about the organizations applying. This was a very important lesson in connecting past experience with future endeavors.
--Haley
Your team, the Foundation Board, was an essential part to the moving bodies of our foundation. Like every institution has a governing body to supervise-in a classroom it’s teachers, at home it’s parents, our class has Professor Kelso and the Board. As a member of one of the other groups, I can say it is very helpful to know that there is always support from the board (thank you)!! Additionally, because our class does work independently within our teams, coming together as a class to review and discuss our progress really fosters knowledge exchange which I have personally benefited from.
--Arshia
Your example of a relay structure is nearly spot-on for this class. It has been an interesting experience to see as we move through the various obstacles of grant-making. I personally have been wondering how it would look if we remodeled our approach to involve every team throughout the process. For example, if instead of founders, RFP writers, communications, grant reviewers, and a board we had writers, editors, communications, grant reviewers, and a board how would that change the process? I've seen often that our Team 1 (founders) tend to be the ones who bring us back to the original mission and vision we created at the start, if instead they were part of a writing team that drafted all of our key documents, would that commitment to the original mission and vision remain? I hope so, but I can't say for certain.
--Helen
I really enjoyed reading your post about your experiences managing this process. I have also appreciated being able to work collaboratively with you and your team and have been grateful for all of your insights and inputs. I agree that this is definitely a learning process, and I had similar experiences when creating the website and receiving feedback from the class on potential changes. I believe this growth is essential and has allowed us to refine and hone our skills on our individual teams. Although we each are technically assigned different roles on our teams, being able to witness and provide assistance where we can to other teams allows us to learn even more and experience all parts of the Foundation experience. I look forward to continuing to have opportunities for growth through trial and error and appreciate your perspective on this topic!
--Wynn