What began in 2003 as a side project to raise money for women in developing countries has blossomed into a full-time passion for Terry Gifford. Serving Women Across Nations (SWAN) is a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing education and business loans to women in Bolivia and other nations.
Through the Center for Service-Learning, Gifford has been able to jumpstart the organization with the help of students, who used their business education to help Gifford create a new nonprofit management and operating model for SWAN. Mary Sass's Management 413 students began working with SWAN in January 2009. Gifford said she has seen improvements behind the scenes of her organization since she began partnering with service-learning students.
What Do Nonprofits Do for You?
Check out this student video about the impacts of nonprofits in Whatcom County!Building our Community Together
The Center for Service-Learning values the partnerships between community organizations and Western. We believe that sharing ideas, resources and knowledge, with the common goal of working together to build healthier communities, benefits everyone. To this end, CSL collaborates with over 80 public and nonprofit organizations and 3000 students each year. We hope you will contact the Center for Service-Learning to share your ideas for a partnership.
Below is a list of ideas for possible service-learning projects. To see more, visit our page of project examples.
- Grant research and writing
- Brochure/publication design
- Copywriting for websites, reports, manuals, etc.
- Event planning
- Program planning and support
- Strategic planning, mission/vision values analysis
- Research on an organization-identified topic (such as online volunteer training, capital campaigns, expanding to new locations, etc.)
- Survey development, implementation, and analysis
- Marketing and public relations
- Social media projects
- Direct service to client populations
Next Steps
The CSL welcomes new partnerships with community organizations. Here is how you can get involved:
- Look at examples of service-learning projects
- Consider projects you have that could benefit from a group of students
- Contact Alex Allyne, CSL Program Coordinator, at Alex.Allyne@wwu.edu or 360-650-7518 to discuss a possible match with WWU courses
© 2010 Center for Service-Learning