Project purpose or objectives:
For my project, I worked with the owner of Mountains & Strings Chamber Music Retreat to outline the process of converting a scholarship fund into a nonprofit. When the camp got closer, I spent time making promotional designs for the camp.
The purpose of this project was to help my mentor explore the potential of having a nonprofit in connection to the retreat so that donors and students are more fully benefited. The donors would be able to file a tax write off for their donations, and students would have more scholarships available to them.
The Project:
Below is the scholarship fund creation outline with steps in order that needs to be completed. The last page is pieces that I could create of bylaws and what kinds of details could be helpful in premotions.
The following images are promotional designs that I designed for my mentor to use on their social media pages.
Challenges:
The main challenge that I encountered was first that I had to cover lots of information in a clear way. Understanding the basic steps was not hard but reading through all the details and regulations from the IRS and simplifying it was more difficult. The other challenge that I faces was that the camp was nearly cancelled due to low attendance, which has been a nation wide struggle for music camps this summer. Because of this, there were a few weeks that I had to take a break for my mentor to focus on recruitment before directing me further.
Project Processes:
There were two main parts of this project. The first was the research phase. I had to do lots of research across several platforms and with my mentor to understand the history of the retreat and the needs of this program. I used official websites to understand the legal forms that would be needed to convert the scholarship program.
The next phase of this project was the design part. I studied the camp website and the social media to strive to create designs that would match the kinds of posts and designs they had used in the past while also making the designs stand out. One of my favorite parts of this phase was digitalizing photos from the first two years of the camp and editing a video to promote the alumni reunion that was being planned.
Overview & Insights:
Overall, I am really grateful for the knowledge that I gained. My mentor was great at explaining the different parts of this business and the work that she has put into it. I also learned about how big of a commitment it is to create a nonprofit organization. When starting this kind of charitable organization, the commitment to it has to be great to make the work and resources worth it.
I also learned how reflecting the values of an organization is important to a community and to the people that are making it possible. When making designs for social media I tried to consider what I would see as someone scrolling social media.