HBSCNY Community Partners Project Application Form

 
Founded in 1998, Community Partners is a program of the Harvard Business School Club of New York. Our mission is to create constructive partnerships between Harvard Business School (HBS) alumni and the nonprofit sector. We fulfill this mission by organizing teams of volunteers who provide valuable business advice to selected nonprofits free of charge.

Community Partners is organized into Committees in order to promote alumni volunteer opportunities within a particular area of expertise as well as build a sustainable presence within the relevant nonprofit sector in order to develop a recognizable, value-added approach.

• Arts and Culture
• Education
• Environment and Health
• Social Services

Community Partners volunteers bring a wealth of functional and industry-specific expertise to our projects. Depending on the assignment, we attempt to staff consulting teams with a mix of business expertise, including:

• Finance
• Strategic Planning
• Technology
• Marketing
• Business Management
• Sales

Community Partners primarily focuses on Consulting projects, which are 3-4 month projects in which a team of 3-4 HBS alumni address a specific strategic issue.

In addition, Community Partners engages a select number of Brainstorming projects, a structure that allows for 1-3 meetings in which a 3-8 person team addresses a highly specific strategic problem.

Where appropriate, Community Partners also undertakes Coaching projects, in which 1 person is teamed with a nonprofit to provide one-on-one mentoring over the course of a defined time period that can be as long as one year.

Project Criterion
• Organization must be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
• Organization must be located in and focus their activities on the Greater New York City metropolitan area
• To insure the success of the project, the executive director is required to be responsible for the project. The executive director and a HBSCNY Community Partners committee member and team leader generally set the direction and have oversight.

• CONSULTING
o Executive director gives direction and has project oversight from the non-profit
o Executive director hosts the initial meeting and ongoing interim meetings as appropriate
o Minimum $300,000 annual budget
o Minimum 3 full-time staff or equivalent

• BRAINSTORMING
o Executive director, 1 board member, and 1 staff member attend 2 to 3 sessions
o Organization demonstrates that it is has secured minimal or threshold funding level

• COACHING
o Executive director must be available to meet approximately once a month for the defined time period
o Should be a clear identification of the goal for a Coaching project such as a specific business issue
o Assistance to a new, entrepreneurial organization or help strengthening leadership skills

This is a competitive process and applications are reviewed on a monthly basis.

Please note - You may go back to previous pages in the application and update existing responses until the survey is finished or until you have exited the survey. After the application is finished, you will not be able to re-enter the application.

If you have any questions, please contact Jordan Hall, Program Manager for Community Partners, at jhall@hbscny.org.

Thank you!

1. Submission Date:

 MM DD YYYY 
Date:
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2. Organization Name:

3. In what year was the organization founded?

4. What is the organization's website?

5. Executive Director or CEO submitting this application (office information):

6. What is the organization's mission statement? (50 words at maximum)

7. Please describe your key programs and activities as they relate to the Greater New York City metropolitan area. (250 words at maximum)

8. Does the organization have 501(c)(3) status?

9. What is the organization's annual budget (in thousands)?

10. What is the organization's source of funding? List all that apply in (%) percentage. This should equal 100%.

11. What is the organization's affiliation status?

12. Please list number of employees:

13. Approximately, what are the number of volunteers?

14. Please specify the type of Community Partners engagement for which you would like to be considered. (You may select more than one choice.)

15. Select the most appropriate focus of your organization:

16. Describe the proposed project in as much detail as possible. (250 words at maximum)

17. Community Partners focuses on engagements that are strategic in nature. How does your project proposal align with your mission? (250 words at maximum)

18. Who in the organization would be involved in this effort? In addition to our consulting team, we will require the primary involvement of the Executive Director as well as relevant senior staff members.

19. What is your Board’s role in defining, approving and participating in this project?

20. When would you like to have the results of this project?

21. How did you hear about Community Partners?

22. Additional Comments:

23. If you would like an electronic copy of your application, please provide an email address:

Please make certain that every question with an asterisk (*) has a response. Your application is considered submitted when you are directed to the HBSCNY Community Partners web page after hitting 'Done'.

Upon submission of your application, you will receive a confirmation receipt within 1-2 business days. If you do not, or if you have any questions, please email Jordan Hall, Program Manager for Community Partners, at jhall@hbscny.org.

Thank You