Every semester, Social Impact teams engage in a consulting project with a non-profit client in Philadelphia. Under the guidance of a Project Manager, SIC consultants undertake tasks ranging from financial analysis to surveys to market scoping and more. Projects culminate in a final powerpoint presentation given to the client at the end of the semester.
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Gesu Institute
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| | The Gesu Institute
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The Social Impact Consulting Group worked with the Gesu Institute to study the financial performance of the school of Incarnation of Our Lord Parish. The group provided a detailed overview of the school's financial performance and made recommendations on ways to decrease uses of cash and increase sources of cash. Recommendations for cost reductions included ways to increase enrollment, consolidate classes, and decrease purchasing costs by joining a purchasing consortium. Recommendations for increasing revenues and sources of cash included exploring the expansion of the after-school day care program, a summer school, and third party grants and donations.
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Healthy Times
| | Healthy Times
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The Healthy Times student newspaper project is a start-up group of school and after-school publications focused on health-related topics. The program began in 2003 and has operated under the auspices of The Food Trust, a Philadelphia nonprofit organization, since October 2006.The project seeks to develop short-term financial stability and long-term sustainability. The Social Impact Consulting Group is working with The Healthy Times to achieve these two goals through the development of a marketing and fundraising strategy. This semester, the SIC team is working with founder, Marian Uhlman, to develop a fundraising strategy by analyzing the three sources of funding: foundation grants, fundraisers, and corporate underwriting and sponsorship, and identifying areas for growth. In addition, to better target these stakeholders, the SIC team will also develop a marketing strategy to increase awareness of Healthy Times.
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Big Brothers
Big Sisters
| | Big Brothers Big Sisters
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The Social Impact Consulting Group works with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to develop a marketing mix that BBBS will use to grow its corporate volunteer base. In past years, BBBS partnered with several Philadelphia-area firms to generate mentors for its school-based mentorship program, and under this partnership, firms allowed their employees to leave work to visit mentees. Recently, however, several firms expressed concern that their employees now spend too much time away from the workplace while mentoring. Not wanting to lose valuable mentors, BBBS responded by creating workplace-based mentorship program - a program whose initial results look very promising. The Social Impact Consulting Group works with BBBS to creating a marketing for this new workplace-based model. To this end, SIC consultants will conduct a full program evaluation and take steps at valuating the returns to corporate social responsibility and philanthropy.
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Family Care Solutions
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| | Family Care Solutions
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The SIC Group is currently working on a project that involves fundraising for a nonprofit organization called Family Care Solutions. This organization's mission is to help teen parents to continue their education. FCS provides scholarships to help students pay for childcare and raises awareness in the community regarding this issue. Because of a recent policy change, government funding for the organization significantly decreased. The SIC Group is in the process of finding short-term and long-term funding sources for FCS, as well as exploring possibilities for the organization to become self-sustainable. The group has analyzed the organization's current situation and has conducted research on government, corporate, and private sources of funding and on the marketing strategies and income sources of similar organizations. The group will present to the client recommendations for short-term improvements, a database of potential donors and grant sources, and a strategic plan for fundraising, marketing, and expansion.
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Enterprise Center
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| | Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation
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The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation (CDC) works to build equitable communities that enhance Philadelphia's urban fabric, made prosperous through the enterprise of their residents. TEC-CDC is working on a commercial corridor revitalization strategy for a commercial area around 48th and Spruce Street. After conducting a market analysis of this corridor's direct community, the SIC team is working directly with local businesses within the commercial area, offering assistance in areas such as marketing strategy and financial planning.
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Gesu Institute
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| | The Gesu Institute
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The Social Impact Consulting Group worked with the Gesu Institute to study the financial performance of the school of Incarnation of Our Lord Parish. The group provided a detailed overview of the school's financial performance and made recommendations on ways to decrease uses of cash and increase sources of cash. Recommendations for cost reductions included ways to increase enrollment, consolidate classes, and decrease purchasing costs by joining a purchasing consortium. Recommendations for increasing revenues and sources of cash included exploring the expansion of the after-school day care program, a summer school, and third party grants and donations.
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Big Brothers Big Sisters
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| | Big Brothers Big Sisters
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After the success of the Spring 2007 project, Big Brothers Big Sisters offered SIC the opportunity to work with their organization once again in Fall 2007. This time, the focus was on helping their Temple chapter achieve sustainable growth. What made this project uniquely challenging was that, unlike at UPenn, the Temple chapter lacked university support and funding which made growth difficult. The SIC Group conducted thorough research to identify ways to circumvent these key challenges. The research included interviews with Big Brother Big Sister leaders, surveys of Temple students, and interviews with Temple student volunteer organizations. At the end, SIC presented Big Brothers Big Sisters leaders with a "Best Practices" report that integrated our findings and outlined a strategic growth plan for the Temple chapter.
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People's Emergency Center
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| | People's Emergency Center
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During the engagement of this project, members of The Social Impact Consulting Group were required to think about the possibility of generating business growth along the Lancaster Avenue through green friendly initiatives. The client's main concern is to find ways to generate attraction and growth along this corridor and wondered if going "Green" was the best avenue to do that. In that effort SIC members research profiles of other green communities, green building requirements and also research the specific community around Lancaster Avenue to try to find a connection. Significant research has been done on both aspects and the client will be presented with a recommendation in a meeting held December 11th.
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Philadelphia Museum of Art
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| | Philadelphia Museum of Art
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The Social Impact Consulting Group worked with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to assess the growth potential of the Museum's Art After 5 evening program. Art After 5 is a weekly jazz and world music performance. The objectives of the engagement included evaluating the possibilities of increasing attendance, audience diversity, as well as the need to launch a new program geared toward a different audience. The team identified drivers of current consumer behavior by conducting extensive surveys in the Philadelphia community. After researching consumer awareness in key segments, the group made recommendations on ways to refocus and reallocate resources for marketing communications. The group also determined optimal options for a new music or movie program, and projected expected future attendance.
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Big Brothers Big Sisters
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| | Big Brothers Big Sisters
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The Social Impact Consulting Group examined the potential need for a "Bigs Community" at the Big Brothers Big Sisters(BBBS) University of Pennsylvania chapter. One interesting phenomenon occurring at the UPenn chapter is the lack of interaction between big brothers and sisters. This was a concern for the organization as it continued grow the program. The SIC Group assessed the current situation, determined the reasons for lack of interaction among Bigs, and analyzed the effects and actual needs of a "Bigs Community." Through extensive interviews, focus groups, and ethnography, the SIC Group found very compelling data showing the benefits of a "Bigs Community." We presented the BBBS UPenn chapter with our analysis and findings including suggestions for creating such a "Bigs Community."
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