MBA teams help community groups

Wed, July 16, 2008 |

Finding time to plan a marketing campaign is a challenge for non-profit organizations such as the Porter County 4-H, but Valparaiso University’s Master of Business Administration students recently helped three local organizations develop plans to better market themselves in the community.

Dr. Paul Trapp, assistant professor of marketing, assigned the projects as part of the MBA course “The Customer Challenge.”

“Working on these projects was a great way for students to not only develop their marketing skills, but also to provide something meaningful to Valparaiso and Porter County,” Dr. Trapp said. “Doing good and investing in our collective future are values that Valparaiso’s MBA program deeply cares about.”

Andrew Dorrel, an MBA student from Culver, said he and the other four members of the 4-H team were attracted to the opportunity to give back to an organization they each had participated in during their youths.

The group first met with Joan Grott, extension educator for 4-H youth development, to discuss the group’s needs – which included recruiting more adult volunteers and finding ways to engage more youth in the 4-H, particularly in the northern half of Porter County – then spent a month developing a series of actions to address those needs.

One of the first suggestions that Grott put into practice was starting a Facebook page that allows young alumni of the Porter County 4-H to continue their relationships with the organization. Since launching the page in the late spring, approximately 60 4-H alumni have joined the group.

“I’ve used the Facebook group to contact people when I need some volunteer help,” Grott said. ‘That’s been very successful for us, especially in busy times like this with the Porter County Fair coming up.”

Grott is also pursuing the Valparaiso team’s suggestions to recruit more young people into smaller clubs in areas such as Portage. During the Porter County Fair, for example, Grott is working with the Portage YMCA to bring students participating in a summer camp to the fair.

“Some of our current members and young alumni will show them around the fair to give them a better idea of what 4-H is and what young people gain from their experiences in it,” Grott said.

Valparaiso’s MBA team made the first contact with the Portage YMCA about the possibility of having youth participate in 4-H programs over the summer, and Dorrel said the team’s marketing plan encourages more partnerships.

“We think it’s important for community organizations to support each other so they can each become stronger and fulfill their missions,” Dorrel said.

The team also suggested having 4-H youth create podcasts or post videos on YouTube to generate interest in 4-H.

“Using these types of new media is a way to change some perceptions about what 4-H is and what its purpose is in today’s world,” Dorrel said.

Grott believes making better use of new technologies will play an important role in the future of 4-H and plans to pursue the team’s suggestions in that area. She also is interested in taking action on suggestions such as building tighter relationships with local schools, and said she appreciates how Valparaiso’s team developed a plan with elements that could be implemented separately as she and 4-H volunteers find the time and resources.

“The opportunity to brainstorm with some individuals who have an outside perspective was the most insightful part of this project,” Grott said. “We occasionally thought about marketing, but didn’t have much time to think about how we could take action.”

Others teams of students in “The Customer Challenge” during the spring term worked with the Valparaiso YMCA and United Way of Porter County. Each team prepared a final report addressing competitive advantages, opportunities for improvement, future goals and other marketing issues.