Building an Accelerator for Idea-Stage Nonprofits

How ChangeMakers helped the cohort of Athari Group get their social ventures off the ground 🌎

“The marketplace of ideas has a support gap: a great business or social enterprise can get funded at the idea stage, but nonprofits are typically not funded before they get off the ground. Individuals with great ideas often lack the requisite knowledge, fundraising capacity, support, and network to start a successful organization. Athari Group would like to bridge that gap, and support those interested in being in service to a cause greater than themselves.

We take future nonprofit founders through a first-of-its-kind accelerator for idea-stage nonprofits. Leaders in our program will receive world-class mentorship and networking opportunities with nonprofit founders, workshops from root cause analysis to board development to initial and advanced fundraising, and the experience of learning alongside a group of peers”. - Athari Group

HOW WE MAKE CHANGE

Athari Group were looking for volunteers to help them with Administration, Design, Marketing, Writing and Web Development in order to address their main Sustainable Development Goals of Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).

We connected them with skilled ChangeMakers. Here’s how they have helped 🙌

“THE EXPERIENCE HELPED ME FEEL CONNECTED TO A PURPOSE AGAIN AND MOTIVATED ME TO VOLUNTEEER IN OTHER ASPECTS AS WELL AS EXPAND MY HORIZONS FOR MY CAREER TO BETTER SERVE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE”

BRANDY AMERICK 🇺🇸

‘My name is Brandy, I'm originally from New Jersey but recently moved to upstate New York. I have a BE in Civil Engineering and a MS in Construction Management from Stevens Institute of Technology. I am also working on my MS in Biomimicry from Arizona State University. I currently work as a Project Engineer for a general contractor.

My main role for Athari Group has been to help define and edit proposals for budding non-profit organizations. I use "design" in a broad term here which can apply to the designing of the proposal as well as helping the founders to solidify the designs of their organizations or specific projects through the proposal writing process. I also used writing skills to edit the proposals.

I volunteered in high school and college fairly often, but once I graduated that part of my life fell to the wayside. I wasn't really looking for volunteer positions, but happened to come upon this opportunity through a job search. Finding Athari Group through We Make Change was unexpected but life changing. It's helped me feel connected to a purpose again and motivated me to volunteer in other aspects as well as expand my horizons for my career to better serve society as a whole.’

You can learn more about the whole Athari Group cohort on their Instagram!

“ATHARI HAS HELPED ME IMPROVE MY GRANT PROPSAL WRITING AND EDITING SKILLS, IT HAS INTRODUCED ME TO PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE CONTINENT”

TAYLOR PANGMAN 🇺🇸

‘My name is Taylor and I am from Schenectady, NY. I received an undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing from the State University of New York at Oswego. I work as a content writer, staff writer, technical writer and UX writer for several websites and companies. I hope to serve one day as a TEFL volunteer with the Peace Corps.

At Athari, I relied heavily on experiences from my Creative Writing classes in college, especially from my experiences in 'workshop' settings, when everyone would provide feedback on organization and intent in each other's writing. I edited and proofread proposal drafts, with standard conventions of written English in mind. It was fun to get to know other writer's voices and find ways to showcase their perspective and passion.

It's been a great experience. Athari has helped me improve my grant proposal writing and editing skills, it has introduced me to people from all over the continent. I've also learnt patience when dealing with non English speakers and time management skills.’

RESULT

“We were able to connect the nonprofit organizations we support with skilled website developers and grant writers from across the globe through We Make Change. The contributions of these volunteers have had a positive impact and are greatly appreciated. We always receive applications few hours after we make a volunteer request, which facilitates our volunteer onboarding process. We recommend We Make Change as a first-choice volunteer recruitment platform for organizations looking for skilled social impact-driven individuals.”

EGBE OKPAGA
PROJECT MANAGER, ATHARI GROUP

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