Faculty
Professor John H. Vogel Jr
Objectives
NOTE: To receive 1 full credit for ESS, you must take parts I and II.
Introduction:
The goal of the second half of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to get first hand experience using their MBA skills to help a non-profit or socially oriented for-profit organization. The project should deepen the students’ understanding of social sector management issues. In some situations, the idea for a project comes from the student group. Many times the project comes from organizations, which have approached Tuck for help. You will find a description of three types of projects that have worked well in the "Materials" section of this electronic syllabus. This year one group will get the opportunity to work with the former dean of Dartmouth Medical School on a project in Kosovo to save mothers and babies. In particular, this organization needs help in developing marketing materials. A second group will have the opportunity to work with a group of local organizations includings VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science) and LISTEN to create a buying consortium. The goal of this project is to help a group of nonprofits save money by finding ways to do things jointly. A third project is with a charter school in Boston where a Tuck grade is the COO. This charter school is looking for help in purchasing a new building. Finally, a fourth project is with the Farm Based Education Association. FBEA works with about 100 farms and needs help refining its strategic plan. We will provide information about these projects on Friday, March 27. If you and your group are interested in one of these specific projects, please tell Prof. Vogel. The projects will be assigned based on who signs up first.
Requirements
Schedule and Next Steps:
See also Schedule section of this electronic syllabus.
Those interested in continuing on to the second half of the Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector course should plan to have at least one representative from their team meet with the course instructor on Friday, March 27 at 12:15 p.m. in GM Classroom. Professor John Vogel will be happy to provide additional information about how this part of the course will work, answer questions and provide feedback on individual project ideas. While it is not necessary for every group to have a specific project in mind at this first meeting, it is important for everyone to have shared expectations.
During the two weeks following this March 27 organizational meeting, each group should make an appointment to meet with Professor Vogel to begin to hone in on a specific project. Comments from the course evaluations in past years indicated that the most successful projects were those where there was ample time to plan the project and where some of the long lead items were started before April 22. The two-week period in early April is a great time to find out if the nonprofit or social enterprise you have chosen is committed to this project and able to provide information in a timely fashion.
The second part of the Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector course officially begins on Thursday, April 23. That day, we will meet at the regular class time to discuss the logistics of the second part of the course and related issues.
Teams will then have about a month to do their project. They will be expected to check in regularly with Prof. Vogel and include a meeting with Kevin Peterson from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, who can be a wonderful resource suggesting people to talk with and resources that are available. Project reports will be due on Friday, May 22. We will also have a class on Thursday, May 21 at the regularly scheduled time. Each team will give a short, timed presentation about their project for the benefit of the instructor and the other participants in the class. The reports and PowerPoint slides must be handed in by noon on May 22.
We hope that those of you who choose to participate in the second part of this Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector class will find it an interesting and enriching experience. The key is finding an organization and/or an issue that is important to you personally. You will also find that most non-profit organizations are deeply grateful for your efforts on their behalf, and should your project work out, it can make a real difference.
Materials
The goal of the second half of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to get first hand experience using their MBA skills to help a non-profit or socially oriented for-profit organization. The project should deepen the students’ understanding of social sector management issues. In some situations, the idea for a project comes from the student group. Many times the project comes from organizations which have approached Tuck for help. You will find below three types of projects that have worked well.
1. Grant Proposals: All non-profit organizations need to write foundation grants or government grants to obtain support for their work. In past years, three students wrote a grant for "Trips for Kids," a non-profit organization that provides mountain bike outings, environmental education and job training for low income youth. (A copy of their proposal and a couple of others are on reserve at Feldberg Library.) There are some non-profits in the Upper Valley who need this help or you can find one of your own. It is essentially like writing a short business plan.
2. Strategic Planning for a Social Enterprise Organization: We receive many requests for this kind of help. For example, the Haven used a group to help them think about setting up a for-profit subsidiary.
3. Write a Case Study: In past years, student groups have researched and written the "Lee Pesky Center for Learning" case study, "Grassroot Soccer" and "The Original NBA.".
Grading
Schedule
03/27/2009
Organizational Meeting at 12:15pm
Organizational meeting at 12:15 pm in GM Classroom. The entire team does not need to attend.
04/23/2009
Discussion of Group Projects
Required Attendance: Discussion of Group Projects. 1:15-2:45pm in Danziger
04/30/2009
Team Meetings with Prof. Vogel
Required Team Meetings with Prof. Vogel for 30 minutes between 1-5 pm in his office, Tuck 5B.
05/07/2009
Class Meeting with Guest Kevin Peterson
Required Attendance: Class Meeting 1:15-2:45 in Danziger with Kevin Peterson, Executive Director, UV Region, NH Charitable Foundation
05/14/2009
OPTIONAL - Team Meeting with Prof. Vogel
Optional team meeting with Professor Vogel (between 1-5 pm in Tuck 5B)
05/21/2009
Project Presentations
1:15-2:45pm: Project Presentations in Danziger
05/22/2009
Reports due by 12 noon Friday, May 22
