2. Northern Illinois University
FALL 2015
Contents
Assignment 1: Resume and Cover Letter..................................................................................................... 3
Assignment 2: Proposal for Credit............................................................................................................... 5
Assignment 3: Internship Work Experiences Diary..................................................................................... 6
Assignment 4: Artifacts and Artifact Descriptions ...................................................................................... 7
Assignment 5: Final Internship Summary.................................................................................................... 8
3. GLADYS SANCHEZ
311 ½ Roosevelt DeKalb, IL 60115 * 708.710.0684 *Gladyssanchez33.gs@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/gladyssanchez1
EDUCATION
Bachelor in Arts in Community Leadership and Civic Engagement May of 2016
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL
Associate Degree Early Childhood Education (Special Education), May 2013
Kishwaukee College, Malta IL
EXPERIENCE
Intern, Career Services at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL May 2013-Present
● Utilized project management skills in conjunction with 8 other interns to create a sustainable, year-long
capstone project that promoted NIU’s keystone goal of student career success
● Transformed individual’s resumes, cover letters, and interview skills with positive feedback and success
● Advocate for student career success by creating interconnected relationships with organizations I am
involved in: TRIO program, College Parent’s Group, Dream Action NIU, and NIU Honor’s society
Intern, DeKalb County Community Gardens, DeKalb, IL August 2015- Present
Prepare volunteer spotlights for the website
Assisting with programming and fundraising for community projects
Marketing Coordinator, Glidden Campus Florist DeKalb, IL August 2013-May 2015
● Created and manage the social media marketing tool such as Facebook and reached over 500 likes with an
engaging audience with using strategic posts, videos and interesting facts about the products.
● Reached and engaged over 25,000 listeners as the featured speaker on WNIJ to promote the Fair Trade
movement and the quality products
● Hosting events for the Chambers of Commerce, community building events, as well as being the point
person to market the store for DeKalb Chronicle’s publications
Director of Religious Education, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb, DeKalb, IL January 2014-
Present
● Develop 3 main Religious Education programs while training and supporting a support staff of 6
● Create and implement multicultural, social justice centered curriculums for over 40 volunteers to
implement with children K-12
● Facilitated marketing presentations to stabilize and increase membership retention
● Supervise staff and mentor volunteers to become leaders of the Congregation
● Spearheaded over 10 Faith in Action Projects and supported community relationships with collaborating
organizations
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Board Member, Safe Passage October 2013- May 2014
● Governed the organization by establishing broad policies and objectives
● Reconfigured the fundraising events and ensuring the availability of adequate financial resources by taking
lead in the committees while raising over 2,000 dollars for the organization
● Collaborated with Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity to assist with volunteers and proudly advocating
Safe Passage’s mission to the community
Board Member, Kishwaukee College August 2012- May 2013
● Represented over 5,000 students at the Washington Legislative Summit with the Board of Trustees Chair
and exemplified fearless leadership by being the first to be sent to the Summit within 10 years
● Founder of a program called College Hall as the liaison to the Board of Trustees to the students which
updated students with Board’s decisions by reaching over 30 students on a monthly basis
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Chief of Staff, Model Illinois Government August 2013-May 2014
Treasurer, Northern Illinois College Parents Group- May 2014-May 2015
4. GLADYS SANCHEZ
311 ½ Roosevelt DeKalb, IL 60115* 708.710.0684 * Gladyssanchez33.gs@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/gladyssanchez1
REFERENCES
Brandon Lagana
Executive Director of Northern Illinois University Career Services
blagana@niu.edu
Work: 815.753.4405
Evelina Cichy
Past -Vice President of Instruction at Kishwaukee College
Evelina.cichy@kishwaukeecollege.edu
Cell: 815.761.1048
Dan Kenney
Director and Founder of DeKalb County Community Gardens
Dkenney53@hotmail.com
Cell: 815.793.0950
Linda Slabon
Supervisor Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb
revslabon@aol.com
Cell: 815.501.4788
5. GLADYS SANCHEZ
311 ½ Roosevelt Rd. │DeKalb, IL 60115 │
(c) 708.710.0684 (h) 815.748.1281
Gladyssanchez33.gs@gmail.com
December 8, 2015
DeKalb County Community Gardens
Dear Amy Stratton,
Currently, I am a senior at Northern Illinois University majoring in Community Leadership and
Civic Engagement with an emphasis in Global Studies Aside from being a full-time student, I hold a
Director’s position at a nonprofit organization, intern for DeKalb County Community Gardens and for
NIU’s career services. I believe that I am an ideal candidate for your nonprofit organization because of
my marketing, leadership and organizational skills.
For the past two years, I have been interning at NIU’s career services while serving as a Director
of Religious Education at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb. My position at UUFD has
enabled me to approach any difficult situation with critical thinking and a positive mindset. It has also
allowed me to have experience with youth and adults by creating interpersonal relationships and aiding
them with access to community resources. Balancing both jobs while being a student took careful
planning and making the right decisions, flexibility and an on-the-go attitude. I have a strong worth ethic
and am self motivated. Also, within the two years I managed to build my social media networks with over
500+connection, 5k friends on Facebook and over 1k followers on Instagram. In regards to budgets, I will
be graduating with no college debt due to my organized and strategical tactics. With my communications
and networking skills, I was chosen to be a fearless representative to go to the Washington Legislative
Summit for Kishwaukee College.
Additionally, I am confident that I have the skills necessary to be part of an organization that is
committed to inceasing access to food and improving the community. With developed leadership, a
humanitarian heart, and a business-centered mind set, I believe that I can evolve into a phenomenal
employee of your company. Through my experience with actively engaging with clients and my
community, I hope to cary Dekalb County Community Garden’s by being an exemplary candidate.
I look forward to discuss opportunities. Feel free to contact me via email
gladyssanchez33.gs@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Gladys Sanchez
Assignment 2: Proposal for Credit
6. Proposal for Credit: CLCE 490
I will be completing an internship with the DeKalb County Community Gardens. My
supervisor is Amy Stratton and she is the Volunteer Coordinator for DCCG. The organization is
dedicated to alleviate hunger in DeKalb County by implanting over 40 garden sites in the
community and create partnerships with other nonprofits to help raise awareness about the
scarcity of food in the county.
During the course of the internships, I will be mainly focused on fundraising, social
media and developing my fundraising skills. One event that I will be solely marketing is the
Local Flavors’ Benefit which will be held at Tapalaluna. Also, I will be creating “How-to”
videos with two leaders in the organizations to help community members grow their own
vegetables and encourage organic food. I will promote DCCG by attending meetings and
community events to help raise awareness of the organization and to aid with their current
fundraiser strategies. This organization has also agreed in supporting me with two, one-day
classes at Rockford University to aid my process to develop more online fundraising abilities.
The skills that I will be developing are my marketing strategies, public speaking skills
and improvement on marketing publications. This internship will enable me to grow with my
organization and prioritizations skills while working specific projects such as creating and
maintaining a concrete process for volunteer spotlights. My internship with DCCG will open up
several doors of opportunities as well as feed my passion for food justice in my own community.
Assignment 3: Internship Experiences Work Diary
7. Students will complete 6 short work diaries during the course of their internship experience.
Each work diary should be a minimum of 200 words and should be a reflection on one of the
following things:
insight into personal work preferences
discussion of a particular work incident
reflection on newly gained knowledge
insight into your career field of choice
an experience in which coursework experience applied to your work setting
reflection on an area in which you know you need improvement
Please include all 6 of your work journals here.
Journal Entries: DeKalb County Community Gardens
Due: October 13, 15
Gladys Sanchez
Dekalb County Community Gardens is a nonprofit organization that diligently works to
alleviate hunger in our community. My first month with DCCG has been very fulfilling and
productive. The first few meetings with Amy Stratton and Dan Kenney were very informative
and helpful. I was given a flashdrive that contained vital information to guide me with my
internship process. In those meetings we established that I have a weekly meeting my
Supervisor, Amy, to help with internship assignments and projects. My internship has a multi-
focus. So far, I have been heavily focused on the social media and fundraising promotions.
8. The third day of my internship, I created an Instagram account name
DCCG_PROUDLYDEKALB. The Instagram account has the DCCG logo as the profile picture and
has the official website as profile explanation. Within a month, the IG account has 73 followers
and still growing. It is a great way to create strategic posts that promotes DDCG’s plant sales,
Chipotle fundraisers, and their Annual Flavors Benefit.
A fundraising event that I attended and promoted for DCCG is the Chipotle fundraiser.
During the event, I took pictures of NIU students and spoke to them about the organization to
9. spread awareness. This was also a time that I met with one of the DCCG staff, Nathan Dettman,
to brainstorm ideas on creating a video for the website. This fundraiser earned 551.27.
Another event that I promoted and volunteered at is the 2-day plant sale. For this event,
I created strategic posts for the social media outlets: Instagram and Facebook. Within the two
days, I sold plants to NIU students, faculty, and community members for the price of 3.00$. This
event raised over 300$.
10. The Local Flavors Benefit is DCCG’s yearly fundraiser and community building event. I
was able to see the culture of the organization and participate in the event. It was a wonderful
to experience the first half the event. The Local Flavors Benefit Dinner is consisted in two parts.
The food served was intricately designed, vegetarian and majority of the food used are from
the gardens itself.
This event was the most recent event that I attended. It was a panel presentation that
consisted of local and global presenters. My assignment was to take pictures of the event and
gain more knowledge about the interactions, partnerships and true issues of food insecurity on a
local to global basis.
11. My internship is fun, well-rounded and very interesting. I have been given the
opportunity to prepare volunteer spotlights by sending out emails to the volunteers and
interviewing them about their experience. The volunteer spotlights are a way to thank the
volunteers and create ongoing relationships. I also had the opportunity to attend one of their
monthly board meetings where strategic planning was discussed. In October, I will be involved
with the event Make a Difference Day, promoting the Potbelly’s fundraiser, volunteering for the
plant sale, attending the Madison Nonprofit Day conference, and more.
12. Making a Difference Day was on Saturday, October 3, 2015. It is a day where Northern
Illinoi University’s student organizations volunteer on campus or community organizations. I
was given the responsibility to oversee the Outreach Garden location with the support of Nathan
Dettman for DeKalb County Community Gardens (DCCG). Before the volunteer organization
came, Nathan and I discussed what needed to be done for the gardens. As soon as the volunteer
organization arrived, we explained what needed to be done and gave them options. Majority of
the work accomplished as taking weeds out and cleaning the space. I use to participate as a
student, it was nice to see a different perspective and experience being part of the organization
that needed service. I loved to engage with my colleagues. Many asked questions about DCCG
which is a great opportunity to raise awareness!
13. The Madison Nonprofit Conference was held on Tuesday, October 7, 2015. My
internship was able to count the conference toward my internship hours especially since I am
interested in the fundraising and management aspect of a nonprofit organization. During the
conference, I was able to network other staff members of organization as well as attend two
forums. The first forum I attended was facilitated by David Allen. His forum was titled: Five
Ideas to help Board Raise Money. The five main key points were to screen current donors and
membership lists, adopts a set of donors, thank donors personally, and choose board members
from the existing donors. He made several great points about board membership and how they
can chorale more donors from their group of friends. One book that he recommended is by Kim
Klein which is specifically targeted for grassroots organizations called “53 ways to make money
for your nonprofit organizations”. The second forum I attended was titled “Best foot forward” by
Brent A. Hafele. Since DCCG does not have a main building location, I figured it would be
useful to attend a Capital campaign forum. Brent spoke about ways to avoid the common
campaign mistakes during campaign process. He pointed out expecting uniform gifts, skipping
the research, going public too soon, and launching prematurely are all common mistakes of
capital campaigns. He highlighted the 80/20 rule in which 80% of the money will come from
20% of the donors.
14. Donor pyramid –
Lead->
Major ->
Middle ->
Regular ->
I was only able to attend two of the forums for the Madison Nonprofit Day, but I truly
enjoyed the experience. I loved that I was able to be accompanied by one of my colleagues and
we were both able to learn useful information that can be implemented to our future careers.
My experience with DeKalb County Community Garden is a learning experience. My
further improvements include: professional branding. I would like to increase my professional
branding by being able to communicate to my internship organizations what future nonprofit
goals are. So far, I have mentioned that I am interested in the fundraising aspect which is why I
promote the fundraising event. However, another aspect of raising money is to be able to write
grants. I plan to take initiative in the grant writing process if given the opportunity and
responsibility.
15. APOonline.org
This is a reminder for your upcoming event:
What: DCCG Plant sale
Where: Dusable
When: Tuesday December 1, 2015 at 10:00am
Additional Information: DCCG plant sale
The plants are $3.00 each! Basically, you will just try your best to raise money for
DCCG by selling plants.
There will be a sign in sheet there for you.
call 708.710.0684 in case you have any questions
Also email Amy Stratton- astratton1@niu.edu
View event on APOonline
Login at APOonline | Edit Email Settings
There were six plant sale fundraisers days during the semester. The picture above is from my
service fraternity’s, Alpha Phi Omega, database. For each plant sale day, I collaborated with my
service fraternity to support DCCG’s plant sales. Two weeks before a plant sale, I would create
an event in our database so we can get volunteers. It is a great relationship since the fraternity
gets service hours and DCCG gets volunteers for the plant sales.
16. Assignment 4: Internship Artifacts and Artifact Summaries
Volunteer Spotlight Email Blasts:
Congratulations Tricia DeBoo and Peter Schram,
You have been selected for a Volunteer Spotlight for DeKalb County Community
Gardens. We are grateful for you dedication to our organization and excited for your efforts to
alleviate hunger in our community.
You have the choices of phone call interview, one-on-one interview or via email. We
want to make this as convenient for you as possible. Also, would both of your prefer to be
featured together or separately? Please send me your availability so we can feature you on
our website.
To look at a volunteer spotlight, please visit http://dekalbgardens.org/ . Thank you for
your constant dedication and commitment to our organization. Any questions, please call Gladys:
708.710.0684.
Featured Volunteer Contact Info Completed
Carol Bushong daklb6@aol.com Gladys
Tricia DeBoo & Peter Schram tdeboo@comcast.net Gladys
Tom Riley
Patty Ruback Gladys( 9/20/15)
Jacob Maas
Dana Stover dlstover@niu.edu Gladys emailed
Ron Cress roncress3@gmail.com Gladys emailed
Dorothy Coleman dcoleman1@niu.edu Gladys emailed
17. Michael Payne mpayne1@niu.edu Gladys
Tracy Coyle 8/1/2015
Joel Maurer 9/1/2015
These summaries should highlight which skills from your major you used in creating the artifact?
What concepts from your courses did you apply? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
piece?
The artifact displayed up top is the first step to creating the DCCG volunteer spotlights.
When I was first introduced to the idea of volunteer spotlights. I thought it was a wonderful
idea to show gratitude to our volunteers and to continue a partnerships with our dedicated
volunteers. The first step was to create an mass email that would congratulate them since they
will be featured on our website. In the email they get the option to meet do an inperson
interview, a phone call or answer the questions via email. All of the volunteers chose to send
me a picture and their answers via email. For every month, I created a volunteers spotlight and
learned to put the publication on the website. As soon as I put the publication on the website, I
also promoted the volunteer via Facebook to ensure that our supporters see them. I practiced
organizational skills and work prioritization by creating attainable goals. Instead of doing all the
volunteer spotlight at once, I created reasonable deadlines to ensure that it could be finished
and negotiated with my supervisor.
I created more spotlights than expected and now they can be used for future
references. The strength of the spotlight process is that more spotlights can be created to store
then for future use. It is also a way to show gratitude towards our volunteers and to encourage
people of the community or university students to volunteer with DCCG. The weakenesses of
the process and artifact is it’s one time use. The spotlights are so unqiue in itself that they
18. cannot be used for another spotlight. However, the spotlights can be used for other
publications and also ways to remember facts about the volunteers.
The volunteer spotlight was also our way of creating relationships with the clients. Once
they answer the questions, it is a perfect way to re affirm why they are invested in working for
DCCG and why they would donate to our organization. It is a simple tactic to “friend” raise for
the future.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23. Social Media Artifact
These summaries should highlight which skills from your major you used in creating the artifact?
What concepts from your courses did you apply? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
piece?
The first social media outlet I created was Instagram. I learned the concept of creating an
Instagram from the CLCE
course 390. There was a presentation by Amanda Shea that centered on social media marketing.
At the first meeting, I immediately asked if it was appropriate to create an Instagram since
DCCG did not have one. I made sure to mention that it would engage the youth and it would be a
great targeted population since we are on a college campus. In this process, I made sure to put a
24. link of the website in the “ About Me” section to create another outlet of awareness. So, once the
Instagram user sees the homepage, then they will have the option to click on the website.
I used Instagram as a tool to encourage the NIU students to follow and be involved with
DCCG. I also used the Instagram every time I went to an event. I created short video clips and
promoted the Annual Local Flavors Dinner. Instagram was also another way for me to create
double posts. I used Instgram to post to Facebook to reach more followers and viewers.
The strength of this artifact was that it is new and innovative. It started with 0 followers
and now has over 80 followers. The followers consist of community members, businesses and
students in DeKalb. It is a free social media tool that is growing in usage with youth. Currently,
Facebook and Instagram are the most popular tools to use. The weakness of the artificat is the
follow-up. This internship is only this semester, Instagram is an interactive social media tool and
needs constant attention. If the next intern does not use, then the followers, or social media
awareness does not grow.
25.
26. These summaries should highlight which skills from your major you used in creating the artifact?
What concepts from your courses did you apply? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
piece?
This artifact is a flier that I created for Thanksgiving. I created this artifact by using a
template. This was used as our Thanksgiving flier to remind our supporters that we are grateful
for them. This was a very easy process because the Executive Director gave very clear
directions. The weakeness of the artifact is the absence of a picture. Since, it was a template it
was impossible to enter a picture which makes it less personalized. The strength of the artifact is
the design and simplicity. Pictures are uncessary to create a personal touch, sometimes the words
can depict gratitude. However, I for future reference, instead of using a template, an original
design should be in place. The background can change, but the message can stay the same. The
staff is the only text that should change. This will save time for future references. The creativity
will still be expressed by the interchangeable background.
In this artifact, Dr. Barbara Fouts came in to our class to explain professionalism and the
idea of a
brand. When I picked out this template, I thought of what DCCG stands for in the community
and the message they give out. The pumpkin, corn, pears and grapes are all representations of
what DCCG. It represents the food that everyone has the right to have. It represents an
egalitarian community meaning equality for all which is a concept that I learned in Dr. Schuller’s
class. The polka dots in the back in just a sense of flair and order. It is also for the detail oriented
which is a necessity in any career. The corn at the top compliments DeKalb County, farmers, and
everyone that associates corn with DeKalb.
27. The wording of the message represents the harvest that we want to have next year. It is an
optimistc view of the future, but realistic as well. It is a letter to remind our supporters that we
appreciate their support and including them in the solution for hunger in the community. It is
also purposeful to keep the same message every year so people know our signature quote. It is
also a strong and repetitive reminder that the community will always be part of the solution to
the hunger issue.
28. These summaries should highlight which skills from your major you used in creating the artifact?
What concepts from your courses did you apply? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
piece?
This artifact is used for the Bread and Roses concert. It a brochure that advertises DCCG
as a nonprofit organization. It states that our one goal in mind which is to eliminate food
insecurity and hunger as well as provide access to healthy, fresh, oganic produce to all. The
social media included are the website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. It has the icons for the
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so it can be recognizable and visually noticed. Walnut Grove is
also advertised in the brochure. It is an active farm that welcomes employment for people with
special needs. The Box of Hope Vegetables are advertised to raise money for the organization.
29. The season subscription is 500$ weekly, bi-weekly 250$, monthly 125$, or individual boxes for
30$. The boxes are 25$ each and 15$ for students. There are vegetables boxes available for
senior citizens and limited income as well.
There was great support from the Bread and Roses. Although I was not able to attend this
concert. I was still able to create flier in support of the event.
Notes from the Madison Nonprofit Day: October 7, 2015
Best foot forward
Brent A. Hafele, M.A.
New Day Nonprofit solutions
Avoiding Common Capital Campaign Mistakes
Agenda
Four common mistakes (and how to fix them)
Book recommendation: Capital Campaigns: Strategies that work By: Andrea Kihlstedt
What is a capital campaign?
Raise tons of money
1. Intensive, highly coordinated fundraising effort
a. Campaign steering committee
b. Campaign leaders
2. Large goal ( typically 3-10x annual income)
3. Defined period of time ( begin and end)
Capital Campaign Goals
-larger facility
-add onto or remodel current facility
-additional locations
-expansion of programs
-upgrade equipment
-endowment and reserve
-provide better services to more…
Mistake #1: Expecting Uniform Gifts
Simply 1,000 donors give 1,000
80/20 rule 80% of the money will come from 20% of the people
Example: we asked 100 women to give 1,000 dollars (however) there are actual donors that
would have a larger capacity to give
30. Donor pyramid –
Lead->
Major ->
Middle ->
Regular ->
Gift range chart or table of gifts needed
(5-year pledge period)
It is important to have people that will be in the 10,000- 150,000 range in order to carry on with
the campaign
Mistake #2- Skipping the study
Short cut
Meeting with individual donors and identifying your case
How does the community want to fund this project?
Prepare the big donors for the big gift
A good case
1. Problem
2. Solution
a. Why
b. Why am I the one to solve it
3. Call to action
Case, Capacity, Leadership
Does your universe, community and capacity to fund the next move?
Leadership- Find the right people to lead the campaign
a. Test case-> is it compelling? ( top 20 prospective donors)
b. Assess capacity -> can it be funded? From where?
c. Identify leadership-> who will raise it?
d. Evaluate readiness-> can the org handle it?
Plan for success (strategy, timing, budget, etc.)
Prepares donors and leadership
Mistake #3: “Going Public” too soon
Campaign phases (specifically the capital campaign)
Readiness planning study quiet phase public phase celebration phase
Quiet phase- strategically meeting with high quality and high capacity donors
- One on one
- Going through very detailed list of donors
When you go public
Campaign strategy
Inside out – board members, steering committee, staff, one on one fundraising
One-on-one fundraising
Mistake #4 Launching Prematurely
- Readiness assessment
31. - One metric is that the executive director will have the capacity to give 30% of the time
(If not, then the system needs to be fixed in order for the E.D. to meet with the donors to
make the ask)
- When planning these projects-> always think ahead
- Think about sustainability
Strategic plan –
-have your staff member met with your donors in person
-meeting one-on-one with the organization
-have you shared the major points
-Standard strategy – meet with your TOP 25 donors every year
Major donors will ask for
-990 on guide star
-audits
Board development
-people of affluence
-people of influence
-people of support
Project
-is it compelling?
-do not trust an architect’s bid take it to a builder to ensure the actual cost
Counsel
-consultant
Five Ideas to help board raise money
“Fundraising is an organization muscle that needs to be exercise”
10/6/15
David Allen
www.developmentforconservation.com
Build relationships
Board members: Listen to what they want to do
5 things for board members
1. Screen your current donors and membership list “ identifying the now”
Screening-
- Who do you know?
- Who has money? ( get from membership list and circle the people you know)
- Who would make a good board member? (B for board member candidates)
2. Adopt a set of donors follow up with current successful donors ( phone tree concept)
Maintain the relationship-
32. Each board member will write a note to their current relationship
-appeal
-conduit of information for the future donors
-personally invite them to annual events
-send the email to the adopted donors (board members successful donors)
3. Thank you
-phone calls with a follow-up information
- Quarterly to donors with a specific gift award
-“generous gift-> don’t mention the amount” (tell them a story when you talk to them)
- share the stories to increase the impact
- The board members should be the ones to tell the stories and create opportunities for
them to engage in the program
4. Give money –
-“most passionate” and “most committed”
-choose your board members from your existing donors
-35$ base level membership /100$
Ways to give money $ what is your elevator speech for your organization?
- Write a check
- Collect your change in a jar
- Everyday look at your wallet, take out the 5$ bill for the organization
- Host a party ( make tacos, pancakes) for 20 of your friends and ask for donati
Kim Klein (for grassroots organization) 53 ways to make money for your
nonprofit organization
Board members need practice to tell stories about the organizations.
It touches what they believe and not what they know
If you want to get their gift and make sure to touch their heart
Make sure not to sell them tell them your personal story
Check on the website http://www.developmentconservation.com/about-us/resources/
90% is to build relationship and 10% is asking if the board member is not comfortable (take
the asking portion)
33. Internship Summary
My internship with DeKalb County Community DeKalb Gardens has been a fulfilling
learning experience. In the duration of the internship, I was able to develop my leadership skills,
organizations skills and immerse myself in the nonprofit world. I was able to develop my
leadership skills by taking initiative and also being able to take direction from my Supervisor,
Amy Stratton. I got to explore all of the different skills and talents. The main skill that I got to
practice is mostly the social media aspect of DCCG and promoting their fundraising events.
Throughout the internship, I attended the Annual Benefit Dinner, Potbelly’s fundraiser, Chipotle
fundraiser, Food Security Summit Conference, Make a Difference Day, Altrusa 16th Annual
Community Spelling Bee, Carson’s Community Days selling events, plant sale fundraisers and
the Board meetings. In addition to the events, I took the initiative to go to the Madison
Nonprofit Day conference with a colleague to gain more information about grant writing and
funding for nonprofit organizations.
Evaluation of how well you think you performed your job (strengths/weakness) and whether or not
you met the goals you established in the proposal
Strengths
If I had to rate myself in overall performance with 1 being the lowest and 5 being in the
highest rating, I would rate myself between 4 to 4.5. My strengths in the internship would have
to be my flexibility, curiosity, and initiative. An example of my flexibility was when I had to pick
up copies for the Food Security Summit within less than a day notice. Because of my well-
planned schedule, I was able to pick up the fliers and drop it off at necessary location so they
could be passed out at the Summit. Just like in any nonprofit world, flexibility is a vital talent
34. because every day is different. So with a very an adaptable mindset, I was able to take anything
my way and use critical thinking to find a solution. A different situation that is a perfect
example of initiative was when I attended the Nonprofit Day in Madison, Wisconsin. I planned
on attending this conference with the goal of networking and learning more about capital
campaigns and fundraising. After planning months before, I asked my supervisor and the
Executive Director if I could use the event towards my hours. At the event, I was able to attend
two workshops named Best Foot Forward and Five Ideas to help Board Raise Money where I
took intensive notes and connected with other nonprofit employees. Last but not least, I found
my curiosity as a strength. During the entire internship, I found myself always questioning and
curious about the organization. Every weekly meeting, I would check on my progress and try to
relate the relevant course work to the internship. For example, when we had Amanda Hill Shae
present in our class, I took the initiative to find her on LinkedIn, ask for the social media
presentation, and share it DCCG to promote the usage of Instagram and Hootsuite. In result of
that action, we now have an Instagram with over 70 followers and still growing.
Weaknesses
As far as my weaknesses, I am a big believer that there no one is perfect and that in any
position, there is always room for improvement. My weakness would be perfectionism and
time constraints. The first weakness is perfectionism. There were times when I would create a
social media post or a publication for the DCCG and I had to have absolutely perfect. In some
cases, it is great to keep a publication or post free from grammar errors and spelling mistakes.
However, there were times where I would check more than four times and spent longer than I
should have on a simple document. Throughout the course of the internship, I was able to
35. express this to my supervisor and was able to gain in her support with editing as well as taking a
more light hearted approach to creating publication but still with a more serious approach
towards the content. In regards to time constraints, my organization was very understanding
about my status as a single mother. Although, in all walks of life, I find being a single mother as
empowering entity, I still found it as weakness because of all my duties. I did my best with
immersing myself in the internship and still was not able to make all of the events offered
because I have two internships, a part-time job, a wonderful child, and full time classes. All in
all, I still feel that it was a successful experience, I wish I did not have to have so many jobs in
order to be financially sound during each academic semester.
Meeting the proposal goals
In regards to marketing, I developed those skills by creating a social media strategy plan.
As soon as I heard Amanda Shae’s presentation about hoot suite, Instagram, and pinterest. I
immediately went home and asked via LinkedIn for the presentation. I reviewed some of the
facts that were portrayed in the presentation and realized that using Hootsuite and Hootlet
would save time and energy. In the beginning, my first social media goal was to create an
Instagram. The target population for Instagram is vital for DCCG’s growth. The argument was
that I we created an Instagram, then it would engage the youth. I received all the passwords to
the social media and decided the best choice is to create an Instagram to engage the youth.
I created a marketing strategy using Facebook, Hootlet and Hootsuite. In the beginning
of the internship, I strategized the posts by creating a schedule. By the end of the internship, I
36. sent out all of the posts on Monday using the strategies from the power point that Amanda
Shae shared during our class time.
In regards to the marketing publications. I created volunteer spotlights for DCCG. It was
a process. First, I created a mass email to congratulate the dedicated volunteers for their hard
work and asked them to answer a set of questions. They had the option to meet up, email, call
or answer via text. Most of the volunteers answered the questions via email and sent a picture.
After I received the answers and pictures, I created a publication. The publication was sent to
the supervisor and Executive director for approval. Once, they have approved my entry, I
developed the skill to uploading all publications on the DCCG website. To make sure all of our
supporters were reached, the spotlights were promoted in all social media outlets as well as
our email blasts.
Evaluation of the job as an internship assignment- what was good, what could have been better?
I truly loved working for DCCG as my internship. I observed my leadership development as well
as my organizational skills. I mostly appreciated the once a week meetings to keep track of all duties and
tasks. I had a lot of freedom and was able to take initiative. My main worry was to reach all of my hours,
so I sought out different ways to support the organization. Aside from promoting the different
fundraiser events, I was able to attend the Madison Non-profit day to network and represent the
organization on a regional base. I attached the notes in the portfolio because my main goal was to help
the organization raise money and to develop future grant funding. Another way to help with awareness
and fundraising was to reach out to the National Service Fraternity that I belong to. The service
fraternity Alpha Phi Omega has a yearly philanthropy event where over 100 members raise money for
37. an organization. In this case, I asked the Dan Kenney if I could use this for my hours and I created a
presentation about DCCG. In October, the night before my birthday, I presented in the evening to the
Alpha Phi Omega Eta chapter. After a few hours, I got the results and they decided not to fund the
organization because the organization is a well-funded organization and has been around for three
years. The organization that was picked just started and did not have a lot of support.
Analyze how your previous course work connected to the work you did in the internship, as well as
what additional course work would have helped you in this internship.
My current course connected really well with my internship. My grant writing class with Dr.
Castle inspired me to seek for different grants that could help DCCG. Dr. Castle had a presentation about
Board member policies and it helped me analyze the situations better. With Dr. Schuler CLCE 429 class, I
was able to grapple with the feminist theories and its relation to International Non-governmental
organizations. A lot of the feminist theories were visible even in the local nonprofit world. Professor
Everett’s CLCE 100‘s class exemplified the theory of a “lassie faire” society from Alexis de Tocqueville.
Learning about the “lassie faire” society taught me a lot about my future goals as well as help me
navigate through the nonprofit sector.
Discuss how your internship relates to your future educational and career goals.
The DCCG internship truly defined my future educational and career goals. This semester
Reaffirmed my love for the Community Leadership and Civic Engagement program. To me, I enjoyed
that every day was a different day. It took my flexible and easily adaptable nature to do what was asked.
I realized then, that the internship fed my curiosity to learn more and do more. I always caught myself
asking more questions that were expected just to make sure I was doing the job right. Most importantly,
I love working towards to improve and create a better society for all.
38. Professionally, I enjoyed the freedom and being able to immerse myself in the experience. I saw
my entrepreneurial spirit coming out when for more hours and analyzing what would be relevant to the
organization. With the experience and development gained, I decided that I want to passionately
pursue a Master’s in Public Administration. In the future, I would like to have the options of having local
government positions or to be an Executive Director of a nonprofit organization. To me, seeing the
impact and the being part of the difference is what moves me forward towards furthering my education.
I am confident to say that one of my future goals is to make a difference in the lives of millions.
