Submitted by FROM STUDENTS, FOR COMMUNITY
For the third year, BGSU’s Nonprofit Management and Leadership class student run grant project “From Students, For Community” funded three local nonprofits – The Cocoon, Special Olympics, and Girls on the Run Northwest Ohio.
The grant project is part of the capstone project of the nonprofit minor in the Department of Political Science and taught by Dr. Abhishek Bhati.
This year the class raised $2,270 and received grant applications from 13 nonprofits. Kassidy Hoyt, MPA student, said that “the process started with a class agreement on how much we would like to raise. From there, the class was divided into committees to ensure everyone was playing an equal part in the process.”
The class had a goal of raising $2,000. Keliah Fish, undergraduate student majoring in Communication with a Professional/Organizational Communication, noted: “From the beginning of our class in January to the end of March, we were able to surpass our goal, raising over $2,200. If you are among our donors here today, thank you for generously giving to our mission and our education. We are grateful for your support, and we would not be here without you.”
The class put effort into evaluating all the submitted proposals and going in groups to interview the nonprofits that have submitted the proposals. Heidi Grasser, a Political Science and Nonprofit Administration student, said: “All applications were carefully read and reviewed by each class member where initial impressions of project relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency were documented.
Moving into the interviewing process, the class split into small groups to meet with the applicants and gain a deeper understanding of their proposals. After the interviews were completed, the class reconvened, and the groups presented their interview questions, clarifications, and overall findings for holistic consideration. Finally, we individually assigned point values to applicants in categories of lasting impact, human-centric service, and From Students, For Community’s (S4C) mission alignment.”
The first grant receipt this year was The Cocoon (grant award – $750). The grant proposal was written by a Social Work class taught by Dr. Jeanelle Sears at BGSU. Agatha Hickerson and Sam Davis, both students in the class noted that “the grant funding we are awarding will go towards psychoeducational resources, calming and diverse decor, vertical storage for more floor space, sensory items and materials, art supplies, and more diverse dolls for the dollhouse so that children can play with toys that look like them.”
The second grant receipt is Wood County Special Olympics ($1,000 grant award). “This $1,000 grant will support their annual highlight, the State Summer Games, hosting at Ohio State University. This three-day event brings together over 3,000 athletes across nine sports, providing not only a competitive platform but also a rich social and educational experience for athletes and their families at no cost,” Jacob Goberman student in the Nonprofit and Management class said.
Finally, Emma Wade and Lorenzo Zamora both MPA students at BGSU gave the final “big check” to Girls on the Run of the Northwest Ohio. Funding of $525 will be used to provide running shoes to the Conneaut and Crim students at no cost.
Bhati said that in the last three years, Nonprofit Management class has raised over $5,500 and funded seven local nonprofits. This is a great way for students to learn more concepts such as fundraising and grant writing and at the same time support local nonprofit organizations thereby touching many lives in a positive way.
