Monthly Archives: October 2015

It’s Time!

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By: Catherine Pettis, BA 2016

Time has flown the last few weeks and it is almost time for our class to make some big decisions. After researching and speaking with each organization in our groups, this week we come together to discuss all that we learned. And boy have we learned a lot; this will not be easy!

The conference calls with each organization were very insightful. We researched each individual organization before we set up our conference calls, but there was still so much to learn with each call. The websites do not do these organizations justice, as we learned that they do far more than what their websites present. I have volunteered with various nonprofits, but I have never thought about how each individual organization was run. It was shocking to learn that only a few people run some of the organizations that we spoke with, some of which are pretty large organizations. In speaking to one organizations we found that until just recently, the whole organization was run by one man! He was able to hire a new staff member, but before that he was the only one overseeing all of the day to day operations. They have so many things going on that you would think they had an office full of people, which also made me realize that these organizations run because of volunteers in the community more so than I had ever thought before.

With each conference call my group inquired about many aspects of the organization, which helped us to get a clearer picture. My favorite thing was hearing their goals and future plans. In hearing goals and future plans we got to see a snapshot of what’s to come next in the organization and how they are only planning to continue to grow their services to reach more people in McLennan County. It was in answering this question that I could hear passion in their voices. And for the organization move forward, they will need resources. It is exciting to think that we as a class have the opportunity to help some of them move towards reaching these goals. However, it is also really hard because we will not be able to help all of them.

I would love to be able to give a grant to each organization my group spoke with, but the reality is we as a board will have to make difficult decisions to narrow down who will move forward to the next step of this process. Each organization has a story and mission and a heart for those that they serve and the thought of having to speak with them to tell them they will not be moving forward is heartbreaking. The Lord has provided for these organizations up to this point and the Lord will continue to provide for them and their needs even if we cannot play a part in that. It seems as though the semester just started and it felt like we were never going to get to this point, but we are here, and I am excited to see all that everyone has prepared for this week.

 

About the Author: Catherine Pettis is a senior Corporate Communications major from Madison, MS. She is a member of Chi Omega and is a leader for KLife Minisitries in Waco. She enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Difficult Decisions

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By: Rachel Gruehn, BBA ’16, MAcc ’17

I can’t believe it’s already October! This semester is truly flying by. It feels like just yesterday we were learning what this class is all about, and now we’re preparing for our first board meeting on Tuesday. I’m very excited to hear about what all of the other teams have been learning from the organizations in their program areas. I know that as a part of the Culture, Arts, and the Environment sector I have been overwhelmed with information – in the best possible way. The conference calls were an endless fount of information from some of the most passionate people in Waco.

At first, I was really nervous about the conference calls. First of all, I’ve never been very comfortable with talking on the phone – so a potentially hour long phone call with a stranger is daunting in and of itself. Secondly, I was nervous simply to talk to the directors of these programs. I’m just a college student; who am I to be conversing with leaders of some truly great organizations? However, all of my fears were dissuaded once we started our conference calls. I found the calls surprisingly easy and enjoyable to make! Not only was the content of each call incredibly interesting, but the people themselves were so much fun to talk to. These people dedicate their lives to the betterment of the cultural and environmental sectors of Waco, and their passion is contagious. I found myself wishing some of the calls could have gone on longer, that I could have learned even more about the organizations.

Now that all of our calls are over, one hard part awaits: telling people no. My group has met and decided which four of our twelve organizations we are going to recommend to the board for continuing on. That part was hard enough because all of these organizations are so deserving. They are all doing wonderful work for the Waco community and they all have great need. But sadly we can only move on with four. And even though it might seem like choosing which organizations move on would be the most difficult part, it will be immensely harder to actually let these organizations go. All of the people we have been working with are fantastic, full of passion, hard-working, and kind. Telling them no won’t be easy.

The next step for my group is preparing for our class’s board meeting on Tuesday. While we know which organizations we are going to recommend, we still have a lot of work to do. We only have fifteen minutes for our presentation, and way too much information to get across. But that’s a good problem to have! The key will be to translate the passion these people have for their respective organizations into our presentation to the class. Which I don’t foresee being too difficult, especially for the organizations we are recommending, because their passion is so obvious and contagious! And that is exactly what makes me so excited to be going through this process. I can’t wait to continue working more closely with these organizations and see how the rest of the semester unfolds.

About the author: Rachel Gruehn is a senior Business Fellow majoring in accounting. She is from Dallas, Texas and is the Costume Chair for Sing Alliance. Rachel’s passions include her puppy Zoey, coffee, Sing, Baylor football, the Dallas Mavs, and our Savior.