Four years ago, a group of students made CMC history when the city of Claremont gave them money for their student-run consulting organization. That was followed by three repeat performances, then, this past May, another achievementthis time from origins outside of Claremont: a $5,000 grant to help multiply the group's thriving work in the local community.
The groupsponsored by the Kravis Leadership Instituteis SOURCE (Student Outreach Utilizing Resources and Community Exchange), and it was designed by CMC students to improve the services and capacities of regional nonprofit organizations. What it does is connect impact-conscious students who want organizational consulting experience with local nonprofit organizations that need these services. In this way, SOURCE facilitates dialogue between the community and Claremont McKenna College, helping foster long-term communication and cooperation.
The newest grant, this time from the Jenzabar Foundation, is helping SOURCE continue its work this academic year, as its leaders recruit new CMCers into the fold. It is one of seven annual awards given out by the Foundation to deserving student groups and their respective leaders for "demonstrating a commitment to making a difference through community service and/or humanitarian endeavors either in the United States or globally."
SOURCE 101: Built for Impact
"It's kind of like a year-long internship for student employees because they're working at no cost to the nonprofit, but they are still being paid for their work," says SOURCE student manager Charlie Sarosy '10, explaining how the student-run organization operates.
SOURCE, he continues, is divided into six teams, with each team working with a respective nonprofit. Each team has a team leader and between two to four team members. Students complete a variety of projects for the nonprofits, all of which are substantive projects and are not limited to copying and filing, Sarosy says.
SOURCE's other student manager, Francesca Ioffreda '10, adds, "As part of our relationship with the nonprofits, we require that the projects provide a professional learning experience for our student employees, while also making a meaningful contribution to the organization."
The specific types of SOURCE projects can include grant writing, public relations projects, outreach efforts, mentor/volunteer recruitment both in the community and on-campus, and fundraising. SOURCE then uses the dedicated work ethic and commitment to excellence that, Sarosy says, is "typical of CMC students" to improve the services and infrastructure of its nonprofit partners.
The results have been remarkable. For instance, the team assigned to Crossroads Inc., a transitional home for women who have just been released from prison, arranged an Athenaeum dinner with Warden Fawn Davidson from the California Institution for Women, located in Chino. Davidson spoke about the unique issues incarcerated women face, and programs at CIW that have been developed to meet those needs.
Another team, which is assigned to Schools on Wheels, a local nonprofit providing mentoring and educational direction for homeless children, helped develop orientation guides and instructional materials for its volunteer tutors.
Yet a third team, assigned to Uncommon Good, which helps the poor receive access to quality education, healthcare, and legal services, increased the number of student-volunteers and also helped secure a $20,000 grant from the Verizon Wireless Corporation.
"SOURCE has been the key to lifting Uncommon Good to a new performance plateau," says the nonprofit's director Nancy Mintie. "The research of the SOURCE members laid the groundwork for a successful fundraising campaign for our Adopt an Angel program that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to sponsor inner-city doctors for poor communities. SOURCE's accessing of college students and resources allowed our children's mentoring program to double in size."
And "in return," Sarosy notes, "students gain valuable professional working experience and a tie to the Claremont community."
Getting Bigger, Going Further
According to Ioffreda, student interest in SOURCE has increased as the organization has expanded within the CMC community. "Our generation is taking an active role in social entrepreneurship, and SOURCE provides a means for students to get involved," she says.
In planning the next steps for SOURCE, one of the tasks this past summer was reviewing end-of-the-year evaluations from its local nonprofits. "We wanted to know how we can improve our effectiveness," Ioffreda says. "We wanted to be able to hit the ground running this year."
Abby Flores, who as the associate director of foundation and corporate relations at CMC helps SOURCE to attain its grants, says the overarching goal is that the value of SOURCE's service will exceed the monetary compensation students receive.
As gratifying as the Jenzabar grant is, it is not the only "marquee" funding SOURCE has received in its brief history. As previously mentioned, the organization was awarded a $2,500 grant by the city of Claremont, the first time in CMC history that students applied forand receivedcity funding. That initial grant was followed by three subsequent city grants in the following years.
The Source of SOURCE
The seed for that first grant proposal to the city was planted by SOURCE founders Michael Peel '07 and Daniel Hayman '07.
In 2005, Peel and Hayman established SOURCE with the awareness that the Claremont community faced an imbalance between the high potential of students at CMC, and the need for intelligent, youthful involvement in local nonprofits.
Flores says the pair created an action plan and approached the director of CMC's Kravis Leadership Institute for assistance in making the program a reality. The Kravis Leadership Institute approved SOURCE and incorporated it into its annual programming.
As SOURCE strives to meet its mission, its student employees and CMC as a whole forge strong, long-lasting relationships with the network of nonprofit service providers that surround it.
In addition to Crossroads, Uncommon Good, and School on Wheels, SOURCE also worked this year with CLASP, Claremont Forum, and House of Ruth. These organizations directly assisted 320 clients in the fall of 2008.
"As someone who has worked directly with three different sets of student managers, I have been remarkably impressed by the level of professionalism, dedication, and skill of each and every one," Flores says. "These students truly run the organization and they have made an important impact on the community in just a few years."
According to Flores, there are many differences in partner organizations and the kinds of assistance that SOURCE provides; however, the SOURCE team ensures that their projects are challenging and substantive.
The desired outcome of any of these activities is to deliver efficiently a quality, final product that will allow the partner organization to serve more clientele in a more effective manner, she says. SOURCE strives to ensure that its services have a greater value to its nonprofit partners than the monetary value of a direct grant to the nonprofit.
SOURCE has already accomplished its primary short-term goal for the fall: to hire new student employees for the 2009-2010 school year. After a competitive hiring process that consisted of an information session, application deadlines, and interviews, SOURCE has hired 9 new, exceptional students to fill in positions that were left open by graduating seniors.
With the hiring process complete, SOURCE can now focus on completing projects for its nonprofit partners and professional development for its employees.
"We want to become even more professional and recognized within the Claremont community," Ioffreda says.
Plans are also being formulated to revamp the SOURCE Web site and create a SOURCE viewbook, brochure, poster, and business cards. Most importantly, Ioffreda says they want to improve overall SOURCE cohesion and student development opportunities.
"We are planning on increasing our student development workshops to include offerings on marketing, grant writing, consulting, data analysis, and organization dynamics. To improve intra-group SOURCE cohesion we plan to create SOURCE information binders for every employee, have a comprehensive orientation session, and have fun monthly gatherings."
With the recently awarded Jenzabar grant, a fourth consecutive grant from the city of Claremont, six strong relationships with its nonprofit partners, and a vision for continued self-improvement, SOURCE will remain as a professional learning environment for CMC students and a viable bridge between the College and the Claremont community.
"SOURCE has been the single most effective organization with which Uncommon Good has collaborated," Nancy Mintie says.