2008–09 Projects for Nonprofit Boards
Neha Gupta ’09 worked with SEP Advisory Board member
Joyce Roche ’72, who is President of
Girls Inc., a national nonprofit youth
organization providing educational programs to millions of American girls,
particularly those in high-risk, underserved areas. Gupta worked on a
project which focuses on how Girls Inc. can harness the power of social
networking for marketing and fundraising. She interviewed board members for their insights, and conducted research to analyze whether other
nonprofits or for-profits similar to Girls Inc. are leveraging social
networking sites, and if so what they are doing.
Joanne Greenstein ’09 helped the
greening initiatives of Manhattan’s Jewish Community Center
(JCC). The initiative has several components and Greenstein focused on ways to engage the staff and community in more environmentally
friendly behaviors. She researched best practices in offices and gyms to
see which of those practices could be implemented at the JCC. She then
worked with marketing to see how these changes could be adopted. Joanne also
researched practices that young families can adopt to be more environmentally
conscientious while at the JCC and outside in their daily lives.
Rochelle Dalton
’09 worked with Diana Taylor
’80, who is on the board of The After School
Corporation (TASC). Taylor
is also a member of the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers, and the
SEP Advisory Board. Over the past 10 years, TASC has been instrumental in
promoting policy initiatives that support the development of after school and
out of school programs in New York City and nationwide. In this capacity, they
have provided a number of intermediary functions (e.g. funding, training,
higher education) to the community based organizations with which they partner.
Dalton worked on developing a financial model that would enable TASC to quantify the
impact and value it has added to the after school/ OST space through its role
as a funding intermediary. In particular, she analyzed historical funding
data to identify the cost savings that TASC has realized for its partners in
the public and/or private sector.
Lindsey
Dratch ’09 worked with Mary Jane
Brock, a board member of the Big Apple
Circus. Dratch worked with the Circus to draft a business
plan for their new Circus archive website- circopedia.org. The website is
intended to help the public better understand and appreciate circus as an
artistic, cultural and uniquely global phenomenon. Lindsey investigated
operational issues such as options for how the site should be managed going
forward and what revenue will be needed to maintain its development.
Daniel Petroff ’09 worked with
Tess Mateo ’97, on a project to help the
American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an
organization where Tess is a board member. ACO performs at Carnegie Hall, and
is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this year. Petroff worked on a project
exploring and evaluating new potential sources of revenue for the organization,
specifically in the public sector. Once individuals and groups were identified,
he worked to develop an outreach strategy.
Guarav Podar ’09 worked with
Shari Levine ’86, a member of the board of
Literacy Inc. (LINC), an organization providing
reading resources through Community Literacy Networks (CLNs) in high need
neighborhoods in the five New York City boroughs. These networks support
reading partner programs and literacy events at community sites across the
year, providing valuable hours of out-of-classroom reading time to thousands of
young children. Podar’s project focused on analyzing and evaluating CLNs,
according to specific metrics. Podar also drafted a case study focusing on
the necessary steps to set up a successful CLN, by working closely with and
interviewing responsible staff members.
Lisa
King ’09 worked with Stan Buchesky
’02, who is on the board of Equality Charter
School, which upon opening in fall 2009, needs additional
philanthropic funds for the start-up and ongoing operations to supplement funding it receives for
being a public school. King developed a fundraising strategic plan for the
board. This fundraising strategic plan included research and analysis of
fundraising best practices among other charter schools; a segmentation analysis
of potential donors (from large institutions to Bronx-area businesses to
individuals); and recommendations for Equality Charter School fundraising, including: targets, timeline, marketing suggestions, ideas for fundraising
events, etc.
Natasha Oppenheim ’09
worked with alumna Deborah Jackson ’80 who is
on the board of Legal Momentum, the nation's
oldest legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights of women
and girls. Oppenheim researched the structure and composition of boards in
similar organizations.
Gavin Weiss
’09 worked with SEP Advisory Board member
Cecily Carson, also on the board of
The Doe Fund. Weiss conducted research on
approaching donors regarding estate planning and planned giving. Her
deliverable was a report on best practices in this area.
Mason Beard ’09 worked with SEP
Advisory Board Chairman, Bill Lambert ’72, who is
also on the board of the NY Civil Liberties Union.
Beard worked with the Investment Committee of the Board to provide
performance analysis for one of NYCLU’s investment funds. The committee is also
focusing on bear market investment ideas for money they plan to invest this
year. Beard also worked with NYCLU staff on a database marketing
project.
Bryant Dieffenbacher
’10 worked with Columbia Business School Board of Overseer
member Mike Overlock ’73, who is on the board of
Urban Education Exchange. Dieffenbacher worked on various projects for this small nonprofit including: assisting with an
accounting project; helping to streamline their books and finances; and helping
with the design and implementation of their new online platform for delivery of
their curriculum. Dieffenbacher also gave feedback regarding the
organization’s business plan, which is being modified.
Gabrielle Breslow ’10 worked with the
Child Center of NY, by examining the current state
of board involvement in the organization. She met with and interviewed
board members, and prepared a report to summarize levels of engagement. Breslow
also worked with their Director of Development to conduct a benchmarking study
of creative fundraising techniques that can be applied to the Child
Center.
Emily Essner ’09 worked with Marcia Santoni ’87, a board member
for Pathways to Housing. Essner is conducting a
board assessment and recommendation. The objective of this project is to survey
and analyze each board member’s views on the desired strategic priorities for
Pathways to Housing. She used a strategic plan as a basis for many of the
assessment questions and focused on development, as this is a
demonstrated area of need and interest for both the board and the organization.
Based on board member interviews, she made recommendations to
incorporate this feedback into specific plans for Pathways to
Housing.
Michael Heuberger ’09
worked with Gia Machlin ’91, who is on the
board of The Blue Card, an organization that
provides direct financial assistance to needy Jewish survivors of Nazi
persecution and their families in the US. Hueberger was involved in the
"Long-Term Strategic Planning Project" that the board has initiated.
He interviewed all board members regarding their perspective as to where the
organization should head. The final deliverable was a summary of the key
takeaways from these interviews provided for the Executive Director and the
Long-Term Strategic Planning Sub-Committee.
Amanda Cahn ’10 worked with William
Goodloe ’00, who leads Sponsors for Educational
Opportunity (SEO), an organization that prepares young people of
color to lead by example in their families, communities and careers through
mentorship opportunities. Cahn worked with one of SEO’s main initiatives,
the Scholars Program, which aspires to get high school students of color into
top colleges through assistance with school work, college and financial aid
research and college applications. Cahn’s project involved researching the
math achievement gap among minorities and what strategies might be used in
closing this gap.
Kathleen Fregeau
’09 and Jeff Turkanis ’10 worked with Creative Arts Workshop for Kids
(CAW), an endeavor that utilizes the visual and performing arts
to teach life skills to children and teens while enriching their communities.
The organization runs after-school, Saturday and Summer programs that aim to
empower youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their
leadership and public speaking skills, build self-confidence and deepen the
relationship between art and community. Fregeau and Turkanis created a
business plan to identify local businesses and organizations that could benefit
from the artwork of CAW or the services of its participants. Likewise, CAW
could benefit from such entities through the creation of potential internships
for CAW participants, funding for CAW, or other business-specific discounts/benefits.
Anna Thoman ’09 worked with
Zev Greenfield ’04 and Orpheus
Orchestra on a project addressing the following
questions: What factors should Orpheus consider in structuring its
future relationship with Carnegie Hall?