Alia Rafeh ’13
My Experience
I worked on Charity Connector’s business strategy for potential future investors. I researched the nonprofit industry to see how much nonprofits of varying sizes spent on marketing efforts. I used my marketing research to create surveys and analyze the data. I also did a lot of industry research of the nonprofit space. Finally, I also found out how much nonprofits spend on digital (websites, social media, etc). This was important as it was needed to make the case that Charity Connector’s services were relevant – both to charities and to brands that may have been interested in this space.
I also worked on Charity Connector’s marketing. I was in charge of their digital presence through social media as well as organizing their events offline. This fits with the organization’s mission as it helped spread the word of mouth for Charity Connector and increased their number of partnerships
I used my analytical skills to assess the market. My classes in accounting and financial statement analysis helped as I studied nonprofits’ financial reports to determine what their operational costs were. I also used my marketing research skills as I created surveys, assessed the most efficient and relevant subset of nonprofits to send them to and analyzed the results. I also directly used hard-statistical skills in order to analyze survey results. Finally, I studied extensive industry data and used all my research findings to draw conclusions on the industry. Additionally, I projected the growth of Charity Connector over a five year period and reviewed their business model.
Finally, I also used lessons I learned through my various marketing classes to increase Charity Connector’s level of brand awareness. I used skills I learned through my social media marketing class as well as the more traditional marketing strategy courses.
The challenges faced at Charity Connector are similar to those that are generally faced at small start-ups. As a pure start-up, the organization’s mission was not completely defined. Things were still being finalized and changes and tweaks to the mission were a regular occurrence.
Along the same vein, things changed rapidly from day to day. Deliverables had to be put on hold or altered as more pressing matters arose. Again, as with most start-ups you need to be flexible in order to ensure that the organization’s goals are met. There were no clearly defined roles so I had to be comfortable in an unstructured environment.
Finally, both founders were part-time employees who are very busy so there were challenges in communication occasionally. I had to be able to take initiative and be comfortable with ambiguity.
I think this was a very exciting experience. It taught me about the various challenges of starting an organization. I also learned a lot about marketing specifically within social media from the two co-founders, as this is their background. I also learned to be more comfortable with ambiguity and changing the path when needed. Things change rapidly in this environment and the organization needed to stay flexible and re-examine itself constantly. I learned that it was good to have a plan but that this plan needed to be constantly reassessed and altered.
Finally through my industry research I learned a lot about the nonprofit industry – how it is run, what expenses it generates and the various challenges it faces.
