Over a three-month period, five full-time MBA students consulted on strategic development issues for three of Grassroots.org’s member organizations — Adhikaar, which promotes social justice in Nepal and the Nepali Diaspora, Tailored for Success, which provides business clothing for low-income women, and Even Ground, which offers English-as-a-Second-Language tutoring to pre-K children. Students consulted on a wide range of projects that were designed by the top management of the nonprofits to address pressing needs in their financial and strategic development.

Angela Stuber, Grassroots.org Director, commented that “small to medium-sized non-profits struggle to balance staff time and projects. The Social Ventures Consulting Program provides an invaluable dedicated source of support for a specific challenge.”

Adhikaar founder, Luna Ranjit, needed financial and donor-tracking systems. After working with her two SVC consultants, Adhikaar will be able to put systems in place by early 2007. Commenting on her experience, Luna noted that “the biggest benefit we received from this partnership was how it forced us to think about our long-term goals because our consultants kept asking us in the context of designing a database. We had only been able to think day-to-day.”

Even Ground needed a strategic marketing and fundraising plan to meet its $15,000 annual goal. SVC consultants helped the two founders create a financial plan with goals and timelines for future development. “With [our] limited resources, it is very easy for us to take things one step at a time,” noted co-founder Sarah Chester. “This partnership has enabled us… to develop a concrete plan for development that takes us into the future.”

Back to past projects by semester.