20A – Growing Your Social Capital

I am switching gears a little for this assignment. One of my friends started a non-profit, Project Canis, and I am the outreach director. I am going to look at this assignment from that business standpoint as it will benefit me more. To give some background, Project Canis' mission is to help animals in shelters by giving them toys made out of recycled materials. Organizations can help by making their homemade pet toys with the instructions provided by us. Organizations send the toys to us, and we will make sure they go to animal shelters across Florida.

Part 1:

For part one, I talked to the Humane Society volunteer coordinator that I used to work for. As a volunteer coordinator, she has to recruit and work with all the single or group volunteers. She has to train new volunteers on the expectations and procedures that the humane society wants to uphold. The humane society has different areas where people can volunteer: adoption events and at the shelter itself. She has to ensure that volunteers at adoption events show up on time and know-how to crate, walk, and sell them to potential adopters. At the shelters, volunteers are expected to care and entertain the cats and dogs. She is the domain expert since she is well versed in non-profits concerning animal welfare.

I found the person when I was volunteering at the shelter when I was in high school. I used to go there quite often and help with taking care of the animals. I still follow their page on Facebook, so I looked at the Facebook page, contacted her, and reminded her of where she knew me.

I went to the organization when I was back home and talked to her about the non-profit that I was a part of. My friend had made a business plan regarding the non-profit, so I showed the project to her and discussed what some of our future ideas were. The nature of the exchange was friendly and comfortable. I think it helped that she already knew a little about me from high school. She did me a favor by just listening to the plan. As the outreach director, it is my responsibility to get people to donate their homemade toys. She gave me advice and tips on how to reach out to other organizations. I think the return expectation was to continue working for animal welfare, whether for her organization or others. 

Knowing the volunteer coordinator at a humane society might help me connect with other shelters in the state. Since Project Canis sends toys to shelters, they must trust us. Having the volunteer coordinator vouch for us could be a huge help.

Part 2:

For part 2, I contacted an officer in a club that I was a part of my Sophomore year of college. As a club officer, she had to influence other college students to participate in the meetings. Get students involved with volunteer projects that occurred off-campus and fundraising events. She also has to reach out to students, other organizations, and businesses to persuade them to donate money for Relay for Life. She would be the market expert since she knows what it takes to get college students involved in an organization.

I found this person last semester as I am part of Relay for Life. I recently just applied to be part of the club's sponsorship team, and that is how I got to know her a little more. I am in a group chat with her and other members of the sponsorship team.

The exchange was awkward at first but became comfortable relatively quickly. She gave me advice on how to reach out to organizations and convince students to be involved with what Project Canis is trying to do. She mentioned that they have an email template that they send out. I didn't feel like she was expecting anything from me at that moment. It is beneficial knowing how this organization reaches out and gets people involved.

Part 3:

Project Canis makes toys from recycled materials, that is old clothes. The person I contacted for this was one of my mom's friends who owns a consignment store. People donate old clothes to her, and she sells them for a discounted price. She would be fulfilling the supplier domain. 

I found this person through my mom. My mom works with the owner of the consignment store. My mom told her about my organization and the class I was taking. This is how I came into contact with her.

The exchange was easy-going, I met her before when I was visiting my mom at work, and I have even been to her consignment store a couple of times. She knew a lot about me, mostly because of my mom, so the initial awkwardness of knowing someone was over quickly. She was kind and funny, so the conversation was easy. If I were to guess, the expectation was to give positive feedback about her and her business to others, tell them how helpful she was. Knowing her means that my organization can get used clothes for the toys if no one donates it themselves, maybe at an even more discounted rate.

Reflection:

I think this experience showed me that sometimes just talking to people without any expectations for something initially is essential. Building up the rapport, letting them get to know your abilities, knowledge, and values. Build a relationship and get to know them. When you ask for a favor, they are likely to comply since they value you. I felt this networking experience was less pressure when you are networking with a recruiter. It is sometimes challenging to let loose.