Students Helping Honduras

Abstract

A student-founded, student-led nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Hondurans escape from the cycle of poverty accomplished this by engaging college students in its projects from beginning to end. It operated with a yearly budget, augmented by student fundraisers and a grant from a private foundation. By the summer of 2008, it had three full-time employees living in Honduras and an ambitious business plan to expand its college chapters, increase its student-volunteer visits and summer service-learning internships, continue its three existing projects, and begin three new ones. Progress was slowed by limited resources—people and money. Having given money to the organization already to partially fund its operating costs for 2008–09, the foundation thought it had served its purpose and its funding was over. Faced with this financial reality, team leaders questioned the organization's future and how to proceed. Excerpt UVA-ENT-0105 September 19, 2008 STUDENTS HELPING HONDURAS Students Helping Honduras (SHH) was a student-founded, student-led nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Hondurans escape from the cycle of poverty. SHH was founded in 2006 at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) by Shin Fujiyama and his sister, Cosmo. Its mission was twofold: to empower communities in Honduras by providing educational and economic opportunities and to cultivate a spirit of volunteerism and global responsibility. SHH accomplished this by engaging college students in its projects from beginning to end. Its aim was to co-create sustainable ways out of poverty with Hondurans, while simultaneously developing a new generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs through the transformational volunteer experience. By spring of 2008, SHH had begun three major projects in Honduras. SHH supported 10 student chapters at colleges and universities in Virginia, and had more than 250 students involved in its projects. It operated with a $ 65,000 yearly budget, augmented by student fundraisers, which had raised more than $ 678,000. Operating costs had been funded by a grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation—the private foundation of Doris Buffett. Exhibit 1 provides the 2007–08 operating budget that enabled SHH to use 100% of the proceeds from fundraisers for its projects. By the summer of 2008, SHH increased the number of its full-time employees living in Honduras to three and had an ambitious business plan. SHH wanted to expand the number of college chapters, substantially increase its student-volunteer visits and summer service-learning internships, continue its three existing projects, and begin three new ones. This plan was expanded further by requests from SHH chapter leaders. They wanted more tools and a manual to run the chapters and fundraisers, to update project videos, to increase communication between chapters, to send monthly newsletters, to form an SHH alumni group, and to have better preparation for site visits. . . .