Well my group’s decision was pretty easy, we decided to donate to River edge Nature Center. They were the only group that could come in and it is pretty local. Their tax forms we evaluated were pretty good and most of their money went to helping nature. Working in this group really taught us what it is like to work as a team and having to rely on each other to get everything done and achieving your goal. I thought working in a group was hard at times because the communication wasn’t always the greatest and some people were doing the same thing and they didn’t know it. We had a couple disagreements on our fundraiser but we came together as a group and we decided on something that we all liked. We tried to involve everyone and their ideas on any decisions that were made.
Week 7- Eric Bauer
We had our second board meeting and I think that it went better than the first one. We had more people come in for this meeting and they seemed to be more prepared whereas the first group seemed to just kind of wing it. They had a lot of advice for us and it was nice of them to come in and share their own personal stories with us. Our fundraiser is going pretty good, we have raised over $100 which is halfway to our goal. We already have a pretty good idea of who we want to donate too and I think we will reach our goal of $200.
Week 6 – Eric Bauer
I learned a lot about their non-profits but something that I was kinda surprised by was that all of them needed volunteers in order to expand and do what they want to. I was kinda surprised when the lady from the Humane Society said that their goal was to go out of business because normally that is a terrible goal. In this case it would be amazing if they went out of business. Challenges with working in a group is communication, communication is a huge part in being a successful group. Everyone needs to be informed and up to date on what the group is doing so that they are organized. Some challenges with fundraising is that we keep changing our ideas because we think our first idea isn’t going to work and then we think we found something better but we actually didn’t.
Week 5 – Eric Bauer
A good way to evaluate a company is by using their 990 form. You can also contact the company by email or phone. I think that talking to them over the phone is the best way because then you get to actually talk to someone from their organization instead of just looking at numbers. I am finding it pretty easy to evaluate non-profits because if you just look at their 990 form you get a pretty good idea of what they do with their money. Since all organizations have a 990 form it works for every organization and you don’t have to try and contact them or anything to be able to get most organizations 990 form.
Week 4 – Eric Bauer
I learned that the KAA is an association that teaches life lesson’s and goals to youth sports. They are not limited to sports though, they are helping create Reigle Park. That is why my group is looking at them because we are focused on nature and environmental assistance. The park is having a pond that needs to be stocked with fish. They are the main association we are looking at right now but before we make an investment we have to look at their tax reports. It is important to look at the numbers because then you find out what they are really spending their money on. I learned that the KAA had a bad year in 2016 because their expenses were more than their revenue but they have been around for awhile and lot’s of people put their money towards them.
Week 3-Eric Bauer
My experience with the Mission Statement and stuff went pretty well. It started out slow and hard at first but once we got going it went pretty smooth. They are important because it keeps you on a plan/track of what to do. Without having a reason to do something then you don’t really want to do anything.
I think this week we are going to have some mixed emotions from organizations. I think some are going to be really happy and are going to want to come in and be apart of this. I also think that there are going to be some organizations that are going to think we aren’t serious and this is going to be a waste of their time.
Week 2: Eric Bauer
I learned a lot about my partners and the different things that they enjoy to do. I learned that some of them like to do a lot of exploring and trying to find different things. I learned that one of them is in the FFA and is a big horse fan. She has a couple of horses that she takes care of. I also learned that she likes to take pictures of different things. Also one person brought in a charm that her mother gave her and it means a lot to her. I learned that I wasn’t the same as everyone else and that only one other kid participates in sports.
We have decided exactly what our fundraiser is going to be. We are planning to help out the Reigle Park and their fish pond because it deals with nature. We have a couple ideas that we are trying to decide from. We were talking about doing some type of penny drive but then we didn’t really like the idea. We also came up with selling candy like Swedish Fish or wristbands. We would probably do it at lunch because everyone goes to lunch.
Week One- Eric Bauer
I learned that there were a lot of different areas and that it was hard to pick certain ones knowing that you left other ones out. I learned which parts I cared for the most and who I would help out the most, also that Alex is a very caring person and likes to help others. I hope that it can make me a better person and leader, also that I can make a difference with helping raise money and that I will appreciate charities and what they do and how much they can help people out.