As the final step in a 30-day fundraising project, Indiana Wesleyan University business students donated a total of $2,885.46 on Dec. 13 to the Grant County Rescue Mission (GCRM). Students worked in groups to creatively multiply a small sum of cash—personally provided by their professor—to give to the local nonprofit.
In 2007, Dr. Lisa Nieman, chair of the DeVoe Division of Business, started assigning the “Investing Your Talents” project to students enrolled in her Management Principles course. The goal of the project is for students to experience the management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling, in an effort to make a difference in the community.
Students begin the project by randomly selecting envelopes with $1, $2, or $5. Once in groups, students pool their funds together to grow them for the GCRM. Groups can begin with as much as $20 or as little as $4.
Students are required to plan, market and execute a strategy that will allow them creatively and wisely to grow their provided funds. At the end of the semester, groups typically have a return on investment of 1,000% or more. This semester, students raised money through several creative means, including dine-to-donate events, bake sales, an art show sale, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and more.
GCRM is a Marion-based nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for the homeless, hungry and addicted in the Grant County area. Donations go toward expanding programs for recovery and transitional housing, as well as providing meals—which cost just $2.05 each. That means the amount raised by this semester’s business students would allow GCRM to provide 1,407 meals to those in need.
“This project allows students to take what they are learning in class of the functions of management, and make a difference in the community,” said Nieman. “Our students are here on campus eight months of the year and this gives them the opportunity to use their gifts and talents that God has given them to make a difference in our community.”
To learn more about the DeVoe Division of Business, visit www.indwes.edu/undergraduate/division-of-business/.
