I am Kylie Stanley, a soon-to-be graduate with a major in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law and a minor in Nonprofit Administration.
I was first introduced to the nonprofit world during my sophomore year at BGSU in 2020 right before the COVID-19 Pandemic. I was lucky enough to attend a Bowling Green Alternative Break (bGAB) and volunteer for the International Rescue Committee and I fell in love with the nonprofit sector. I have always wanted a career where I could help people and also have a comfortable life, and I found that in nonprofit work.
After my bGAB trip, I immediately switched my minor to nonprofit administration and that is where Dr. Abhishek Bhati came into my academic life (thank goodness)! Dr. Bhati created the nonprofit administration minor from scratch and has taught almost all my classes on nonprofits.
The final project this semester felt like the culmination of two years of studying and learning about the nonprofit world, now it was time for action. When Dr. Bhati informed the class that we would be fundraising, grant reviewing, and grant writing this semester and the class was hesitant, to say the least.
It was a lot of work for us, but it was clear that we the students were in control of how the project went. As a class, we would vote on important decisions about fundraising, class assignments, and due dates. Even the grant name: From Students for Community Grant was
created by students and voted on. Dr. Bhati trusted us to make the right choices and I believe that gave the class the confidence to create an amazing grant project.
In my 4 years at BGSU, I had never had the opportunity to use real money and contact real organizations for a project and while it was a daunting task, I knew Dr, Bhati would see it through to the end. I have learned how to fundraise using real money through real experiences.
We would use class time to visit local businesses and ask for donations and write solicitation letters, quickly it became the favorite class of my senior year. I felt like all the hard work I had been doing was finally paying off, and I could see the fruits of my labor. This project brought my classmates and me closer together as we collaborated and brainstormed every Monday and Wednesday, and now that the class is officially over I will miss every single classmate involved in the project. We all worked extremely hard and our hard work brought us closer together, we became a tiny nonprofit family in just one short semester.
With the support from Dr. Bhati and his confidence in us, we raised over $1300 to give away to a local nonprofit whose mission focuses on inclusivity in the community. As a class we did the following:
● Created a mission for our grant project based on what students value in the
community.
● Wrote a Request for Proposal and reached out to local nonprofits and encouraged
them to apply.
● Created solicitation letters, and a social media campaign, and asked local
businesses for donations in person.
● Read grant proposals and voted on who should win the grant
● Held a small ceremony with the class to present the grants to our winners.
While we voted on who would receive the grant I felt as though I was in a real NPO meeting. When it came to voting on the winner, it felt like giving away a part of me! We had raised all this money, created a website, solicitation letters, and a social media campaign in just 15 weeks, now it was time to give it away to a charitable cause. I am so thankful for Dr. Bhati and his mentorship during my time as an undergraduate student, especially with this class project. Being able to create a $1,000 grant from just an idea felt surreal, yet here I am with the experiences and knowledge ready to contribute to the nonprofit world.
I will forever take this class with me and I hope to work with Dr. Bhati in the future on a similar project after all the Nonprofit Management minor is only getting started!
Kylie Stanley
BGSU
