Endeavor is a nonprofit global entrepreneur support network created on the premise that by promoting high-impact entrepreneurship you can, in turn, foster job creation and economic development. My work at Endeavor primarily consisted of assisting the head of global partnerships with the development and implementation of sponsorship and other revenue-generating initiatives. I was assigned to three initiatives: their Global Ambassadors Program, which created an exclusive network for their leading mentors; EndeavHer, their female entrepreneurship and gender diversity program; as well as their Open Innovation Program for corporate partners. I was able to participate throughout the full fundraising lifecycle. My duties were to research relevant leads, conduct outreach, and engage with prospective corporate and institutional partners. I not only supported and tracked partner correspondence and program progress, but I also collaborated with the marketing and communications team to create fundraising materials. During my final weeks of my internship, I was able to write the initial drafts of a major grant proposal for their EndeavHer program.

My experience with the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program through the Social Enterprise Club and the Tamer Center was critical in understanding the basics of nonprofit fundraising. Additionally, both the core Strategy course and Foundations of Innovation elective gave me the tools to effectively articulate Endeavor’s impact and how their mission is relevant to a prospective partner’s CSR priorities. I was able to define the value proposition and mission-alignment of a strategic partnership with Endeavor to potential corporate sponsors to ultimately foster several new business development opportunities for the organization.

With COVID-19, a significant percentage of charitable funds that would typically be available to Endeavor had been redirected towards immediate pandemic relief. This further exacerbated existing challenges and competition that nonprofits face with fundraising. Many leads expressed that their funds were fully committed through 2021 and therefore were unable to pursue any sponsorship with Endeavor. However, with several prospective partners we were able to position Endeavor within the current context to demonstrate the organization’s importance towards local economic recovery post-pandemic. As research has shown, innovation and entrepreneurship often flourish after an economic recession and Endeavor’s mission is squarely focused on supporting these entrepreneurial ecosystems that result in job creation and unemployment reduction.

Through my internship with Endeavor, I gained immense exposure to entrepreneurial activity and innovation trends across many verticals and around the globe. My supervisor shared with me best practices in both business development and client management, and taught me how, in order to cultivate successful relationships, you need to fully understand the needs of the other party. This was an extremely helpful learning experience towards my second year at CBS and career goals. Endeavor works closely with the venture capital ecosystem in the United States and globally, which gave me useful connections as a transition into VC. We are currently working on formalising our recommendations for the US go-to-market strategy through synthesizing the data we collected from customer interviews, competitor, market, and legal analyses.