For those NU students not looking for a career in consulting or investment banking, student group campusCATALYST wants to open the door to other career options.
High-level business leaders, including two Northwestern alumni, spoke to about 50 students Tuesday night about the overlap of the nonprofit and profit sectors at the McCormick Tribune Center. CampusCATALYST, along with Rotaract, AIESEC and the Illinois State Board of Education, headed the event in a collaborative effort.
During the discussion, panelists discussed the difficulties nonprofits have in raising money.
“Corporations have a lot of money, not-for-profits have to have a way to get to them,” said Anne Kohler, executive vice president and chief operating officer of The MPower Group, a management strategy consulting firm.
There needs to be more accountability in the corporate sector, Kohler said.
“(Corporations) have a responsibility to do both,” she said. “They have an obligation to educate the public. But they have to put their money where their mouth is.”
Panelist Lisa Dietlin, president and chief operating officer of Dietlin & Associates, a consulting firm catering to nonprofits, agreed that the accountability needs to be two-fold.
“The buck stops here,” Dietlin said. “How much is enough profit? Let’s start doing the right thing, not the easy thing.”
Only about 4 percent of the $209 billion given annually to nonprofits in the United States is from corporations, Dietlin said. The majority of the money, 84 percent, comes from individual donors, and 11 to 12 percent is from foundations.
For nonprofits, finding the support is not always possible because organizations might not have the skills to get funding and could fall under the radar, Kohler said.
“It’s a constant struggle to try to find professionals to come and work,” Kohler said.
Molly Day, executive director of campusCATALYST and SESP ’07, said she thought the panel opened the way for more discussion.
“The common thread (was) what the corporate sector should be responsible for in our community and how they can do that responsibly,” Day said.
Weinberg junior Jason Wang said he attended the event because he is considering pursuing a career in a related field.
“It really opens your eyes to what the nonprofit world has to offer,” Wang said.
Elizabeth Griffith, a Communication junior, said she wasn’t sure she wanted to work for a nonprofit, but still wanted to find out more ways to help out.
“I’m interested in ways to be more conscious of (nonprofit work), even if I don’t work in it,” Griffith said.
The groups that brought the panel to campus have a common thread. CampusCATALYST works to improve the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, while also striving to give student leaders the avenues to change and form local nonprofits. Rotaract is a student volunteer group, and AIESEC organizes paid-internships for students in a global environment.
CampusCATALYST is the only organization on campus that facilitates the blend of the profit and nonprofit sectors, said Serena Raheja, a Communication senior and one of the event organizers.
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