NBLP Projects

Projects for Nonprofit Boards

Each year, approximately 30 MBA students and alumni participate in this program. Students are selected through a rigorous application process and matched with an alumnus based on experience and interest. Project topics have included:

• Community Development: Develop a business plan to create new revenues relating to a business involving labor from assisted program participants.
• Education: Rebuild the organization’s financial model to reflect changes in the way they provide services to charter schools; conduct competitive mapping to determine primary competitors and how to measure success.
• Public Radio: Assist a brand development project and a customer experience comparison across five key markets to determine differentiating aspects and what works in each area.
• Young Women: Conduct thorough board of directors evaluation on effectiveness and underlying metrics used to judge success; Recommend more effective ways to communicate and simplify evaluation metrics.
• Healthcare: Conduct an ROI analysis of all fundraising activity including gala events, mailings, phone drives, etc; benchmark against comparable organizations.

A Sampling of Partnerships and Projects from 2007

Alix Goelet '08 is working with Social Enterprise Program Advisory Board member Lise Strickler '86 , who is also on the board of Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY). EANY serves the people of New York as an effective and aggressive watchdog and advocates on nearly every important state environmental issue. Goelet is working on an analysis of funds raised by board members, individuals and foundations. She will be benchmarking that information against other nonprofits.

Paul Gorbaty ’08 is working with Professor Ray Horton, who is on the Board of Directors of Community Resource Exchange (CRE), a nonprofit consulting group that provides strategic advice and technical services to more than 350 community-based organizations fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS. While working with a senior manager at CRE, Gorbaty’s project focuses on streamlining the process of tracking when grants for foundations that CRE currently has partnered with, as well as improving their methodology of cost allocation.

Nicolas Lam ’09 is working with Mary Jane Brock, a board member of Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Lam engages in researching and analyzing programs for young donors in other New York City cultural/historical institutions. He is also researching and analyzing policies at select corporations to gain insight to what they do to encourage and support “good citizenship.”

Brian Lavery ’08 is working with Project Renewal, an organization with a mission to renew the lives of homeless men and women in New York City. Lavery is embarking on an assessment of operational effectiveness, via a survey of stakeholders both internal (staff) and external (board members, donors, New York City government liaisons).

Helen Rhim ’08 , is working with Tess Mateo ’97, on a project that benefits American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an organization where Tess is a board member. ACO performs at Carnegie Hall and is celebrating its 31st Anniversary this year. Rhim is exploring and evaluating new potential sources of revenue for the organization.

Angie Lessuise ’08, is working with Shari Levine ’86, a member of the board of Literacy Inc. (LINC), an organization envisioning that every child should be reading well by age 8 and that the strengths and resources of every community can be coordinated to provide encouraging voices and a language-rich atmosphere to support early readers. Lessuise is identifying target corporate foundations that could provide funding to LINC, by researching the foundations’ missions, objectives, restrictions and board members, then developing a strategic action plan.

Giselle Leung ’08, is working with Social Enterprise Program Advisory Board member, Diana Taylor ’80, also a board member of amfAR, an organization dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research. Leung is researching and analyzing organizational structures that might fit best with hypothetical strategic goals of the organization.

Casson Masters ’08, is working with Deborah Jackson ’80, who serves on the board of Project Sunshine, an organization that provides customized recreational, educational and social programs to children facing medical challenges and their families by leveraging the time, skills and resources of a diverse group of dedicated volunteers. Masters is helping Project Sunshine examine and prioritize the various growth efforts of the organization.

Stacey McKeever ’08, is working with Mark Zurack, who serves on the board of Alzheimer’s Association. McKeever is researching the relationships between local chapters and national organizations, with a focus on fundraising. She also researches board development opportunities and best practices. Zurack is also an adjunct professor and Executive in Residence at Columbia Business School, as well as a Social Enterprise Program Advisory Board member.

Betsy Poirier ’08, is working with Dan Cain ’72, member of the Board of Overseers, who is also Chairman of the Board of the Norman Rockwell Museum. Poirier is working on an analysis of online sales and the development of an Internet marketing plan for the Museum.