Smith Students Participate in Social Venture Consulting Program

MBA students, faculty and nonprofit leaders gathered at the Robert H. Smith School of Business on May 5, 2009 to discuss the efforts of these parties to enhance the future for several organizations.

The presentation was the culmination of semester-long consulting projects through the Social Venture Consulting Program (SVCP), an endeavor of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and newly launched Initiative for Social Value Creation in partnership with Grassroots.org. Twenty-four Smith MBA student consultants worked with nine nonprofit and community organizations on projects ranging from cutting overhead and raising funds, to marketing and social media outreach.

Each team presented a background on their client, their research and recommendations, as well as what they have learned about consulting, teamwork and the not-for-profit business environment.

One client was The LAMP, a nonprofit working to expand media literacy education, offering workshops to New York City children, parents and teachers. With help from the SVCP consultants, the client was looking to launch an advertising campaign, cleverly titled LAMPooned. The student team researched print advertising options in New York City, but concentrated on taking the campaign online, recommending an interactive Web portal and Facebook application, as well as expanding marketing efforts on Twitter and The LAMP’s blog, LAMPpost.

Another team worked with a small organization called Fathers and Families of San Joaquin based out of Stockton, Calif., which was recently named one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. because of its high crime rate. The nonprofit has several programs to help engage fathers and strengthen the families of Stockton, but really needed to focus on a couple programs, narrow its message and expand its reach in the community. The consultants arranged a Father’s Day event to be held at the local minor league baseball stadium, as well as compiling a contact list for future outreach endeavors and helping to narrow the scope and marketing efforts to two specific workshops.

Beyond location, this semester’s nonprofits also ranged in size, budget and establishment. The Carbon Offset Venture through the University of Maryland’s Office of Sustainability was looking for a place to start, seeking a viable business plan and partnerships within the College Park community. Angelwish, on the other hand, has been in operation for 10 years and was looking for advice on how to adapt to the many changes it’s seen in the charity industry, from struggling to find people to donate in this economy to specifying to whom the gifts should ultimately go.

There were several common trends in the presentations. Many teams found difficulty narrowing the scope of the project, as they were so excited about the many tasks presented, and found that the coaching provided by second-year MBAs who had previously completed the consulting program as well as Melissa Carrier, executive director for the Initiative for Social Venture Creation, helped lead the projects in the right direction. Multiple teams used a benchmark approach to get a better look at the case at hand while giving a solid basis for comparison. Reoccurring problems included having trouble quantifying outcomes and obtaining funding while in the midst of a recession.

Overall, students were grateful to be able to apply what they learned in the classroom in a real-world situation while helping nonprofit and community organizations that likely would not have been able to afford a consultant. It was a productive spring for all parties involved.

Andrea Cohen, Smith MBA Candidate 2011