During the Fall 2023 semester I have been interning at WOCP and it has been an influential opportunity. WOCP is a non-profit organization focusing on empowering young children through training programs, sports, and after-school activities. Through this internship, I have learned a lot about the non-profit industry and what it takes to run an organization. We have focused on learning about community outreach, fundraising, different CRM software, and donor relations. This internship has allowed me to learn about myself and my future career goals.
At the start of my internship, we began by focusing on the different branches extending from the non-profit organization including a podcast. The podcast focuses on providing important for families and children involved in sports and physical activities.
Once that was finished we focused on fundraising and finding potential donors and sponsors. I started by researching different companies and franchises that provide support for non-profit organizations. This also included reaching out to different companies and people through LinkedIn. With the help of our supervisor, we created an outline that we would send to potential donors and sponsors. With the CRM software we researched we can insert the donors into a database and create a relationship with them.
Since WOCP is a small non-profit organization fundraising has been an important part of my internship. I have also had to create different flyers for events such as Giving Tuesday so that we can spread awareness. As part of fundraising, I have also contacted different chained restaurants in hopes of hosting a fundraising event. Our ultimate goal is to be able to raise money to provide young athletes with training programs such as summer camps to provide them with the resources and tools they need to succeed.
At the beginning of the internship, I did not think that what I would be learning would be applied to my career goal, a clinical psychologist. But throughout the semester I realized that a lot of what I was learning could be applied to my career. For example, learning to reach out to donors will help me in the future when applying for grants and scholarships for graduate school. Also, running a non-profit organization is a lot like a business. If one day I decide to open my practice I will know what it takes to run a business.
Overall I am beyond grateful for the opportunity. I am happy that my supervisors have guided me through this internship and given me the support needed to succeed. They constantly provide new learning opportunities and allow me to put my input when needed.
If you are interested in an internship where you are learning about the business aspects of a company/organization, this is the internship for you. This internship is also virtual so that is very convenient but prepared to actively be working and creating new ideas to grow the non-profit organization
