MESI Major Case Study

I just wanted to mention a few things about the Manhattan Emergency Shelter, Inc. (MESI) who I did my major case study on.

Quick facts:

MESI can house 26 people in their location in Manhattan, where they provide temporary housing (6-10 weeks, but it’s circumstantial), and any sort of aide toward obtaining jobs, etc. Basically, they try to help their clients get to the root of why they are temporarily homeless and make sure that they can get back up on their feet.

Mandy Chapman Semple, executive director, believes that the poverty rate in Manhattan, Kan. is up to about 40%….which means that many times K-State students don’t see the amount of poverty that is all around them. Along with Semple, there are only about 5 people on staff at MESI. 

Much of how MESI survives in the community is by federal grants (local and state). Fundraising & contributions also make up a huge chunk in their operational fees. Semple does much of the fund-seeking for the organization, but it is hard to do when she is so busy and doesn’t have a large staff to assist her.

Upcoming events:

MESI is moving into a larger house: will be able to serve more clients and hopefully hire more staff (if there are enough funds).

Goal: raise $100,000 in the next two years.

I have a LOT more info. on MESI but I don’t want to bore everyone with a long LONG report, so if you have any questions or want more info. just ask!

end of semester

This class has really  helped me decide what I want to do for a career. I am still going to pursue a medical career working with non profit hospitals and hope to become a public relations practicioner. I think this class has allowed me to see yet another part of working in a hospital. I think I am now up for the challenge!

 

From grant writing, case statements and using other mediums of communication, I think I have some background to get my foot in the door.

The end of the semester….

This class has opened my eyes to new experiences and ideas about fundraising. To be completly honest I never really thought about anything in fundraising or nonprofits until now. It was kind of ironic to be working at the Boys and Girls Club as an intern, but also be in this class. So, the things I learned in this class helped me in my internship. When I was interviewing for summer internships and people asked about my classes, this class was a really easy one for me to talk about and tell them what I have learned. Then they were genuinly interested in the things I was learning and some of the projects we’ve been working on. Despite all of this I don’t know if I could actually work in nonprofit as my profession, it just doesn’t suit me and my personality. Maybe if I found an organization that I had feelings for and really cared about I would consider working in the nonprofit field. i will of course continue to donate and volunteer, but as far as my profession goes…this is not for me. Having said that I definitely admire the people that do have the patience and the dedication to work in nonprofits, so much of their work goes unnoticed, but it truely makes a difference!

Case Study Butler CC

I did my case study over Butler County Community College, and I decided to blog about it this week since I will be giving my presentation on Monday and no one will be in class, except the people that have not gone.

I really actually enjoyed this project, because I found out some really interesting information and learned a lot about the different techniques you can use.

I interviewed with Stacy Cofer who works for the foundations department at BCCC. They have a really strong fund raising department and have really been growing the last few years. She works with a team of about five other people and then they have some student volunteers.  They do most of their fund-raising from events. Such as, auction, poker night, and dinners. I think this works well for them since Butler is a small community and they can get people involved.

A strength is their retention rate, they have a great relationship with all of their donors. A weakness might be that they don’t really research or compare themselves to other small colleges that fund-raise.  If they did they might be able to get some good new ideas.

case studies

After listening to the case studies the last couple class periods I have found it really interesting all of the different nonprofits we have in Manhattan. I know they haven’t all been based in Manhattan, but for the ones that have been, everything is so different financially and through the fundraisers they plan. I wonder if it depends on the organization or the people running it? Some of the nonprofits are more financially stable and more people know about some more than others. For example the FHCC and the Boys and Girls club, they are both nonprofits in Manhattan. But, at FHCC their fundraiser raised $8000 adn the BGC raised over $60,000. Is it because they are different kinds of nonprofits or because they advertise differently or because of the people organizing everything? Why do people give to some organizations and not others? Do they chose their nonprofits because of personal feelings or because of their image? It’s just a thought. What entices Manhattan residents to give?

The Zoo

The presentation today in class about the Sunset Zoo made me think a lot about city-funded agencies and their limitations. I learned that because the zoo is owned by the city they cannot accept certain donations, but rather must have the Friends of the Zoo accept on their behald. What’s going on? Why is this?

Honestly, before this presentation I had not considered the differences among agencies, who runs them, who technically owns them, and how this might affect their fund raising abilities. Similarly, I learned that the Boys and Girls Club must adhere to blackout dates determined by the United Way during which they cannot both fund raise. This makes sense so that the United Way will be more sucessful in their campaign, but September through December seemed like a very long blackout period and a very key time when fund raising is easier (i.e., the holiday season).

In the end I do not see these issues as problems, but rather wanted to say that I am a victim of “the more you know, the more you don’t know.” Today is my last day of undergraduate school and suddenly a world of fund raising issues has opened up to me that I’m curious to know more about. Yet, I move away this afternoon.

Major Case Studies

I agree that the major case study has opened my eyes to all types of non profits and their fund raising tactics. It’s also been interesting to see how different some of them have been. From a small town coalition joined together to better their community to a large business like Target, fund raising is vital for all organizations. I am really glad that I have taken this course to expand my knowledge on  philanthropy and fund raising. Regardless if you work directly with fundraising, it is still important background information to know and understand.

Leadership Presentation

I really enjoyed all the presentations for our major case studies that we’ve seen so far. I think they are really interesting and good information to know about certain organizations. I really liked Erica’s presentation on the K-State Leadership building that is going to be built. I think it’s great to see people like the Staley’s who will donate such a tremendous amount of money to such a good cause and not want any of the benefits. The fact that they didn’t want their name on the Leadership House just shows that there still are donors out there who donate for selfless reasons. I also think it’s great that there are people and organizations out there who will donate to the Leadership Studies and Programs who didn’t even go to K-State and have no connection with it. It’s reassuring that people can still do good deeds for no selfish reasons.

St. Jude

I have been working on my major case study for the past few weeks, and never thought there was as much going on with St. Jude as there actually was. I know they need millions to keep the hospital open for a week, but it is so incredible to think that they successfully fund raise millions and then some in order to not only keep the hospital open, but to be able to do additions, treat more patients and treat more and more diseases as the years pass. It really is overwhelming to try to understand everything that involves St. Jude. I feel like they set an example for every nonprofit organization because of the immense success they had beginning with ALSAC, along with the success they continuously have.

Last week of class

I’ve learned a lot about fundraising and philanthropy this semester.  I came into the class without any knowledge of the non-profit sector and I feel I have a better grasp on everything.  I also learned a lot about fundraising and all the challenges that go along with it.