HBS Alumni Clubs Help Nonprofits Succeed

Social Enterprise Newsletter, Summer 1999

When the Midsummer Mozart Festival, a long-established San Francisco tradition, found itself facing dropping attendance, precarious finances, and an uncertain future two years ago, it turned to a high-powered consulting group for help: HBS Community Partners.

Established by the HBS Association of Northern California, the Community Partners (CP) program brings together teams of alumni volunteers to provide pro bono business consulting to Bay Area nonprofit organizations. It is just one of the innovative social enterprise programs run by HBS clubs across the country through which alumni find powerful ways to make a difference in the world. Says Nayla Rizk (MBA '84), chair of CP, "I had always wanted to do something in the community, and CP lets me leverage what I know how to do to really help an organization."

Volunteer Consulting

Since CP's founding in 1986, more than 400 alumni have focused their management skills, interests, and desire to serve the community on consulting projects for almost 130 organizations. They've helped the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County become financially self-reliant, created a business plan for the Rainforest Action Network, evaluated public television station KQED's external communications, and are devising a long-term strategic plan for the American Lung Association, to name a few.

Run by part-time project director Liz Kind (MBA '86) and guided by a steering committee chaired by Rizk, the program has served as a model for others in Boston, New York, and Cleveland.

Since two transplanted San Francisco alumni Jay Misra (MBA '82) and Kathy Salmanowitz (MBA '78) launched the New York Community Partners program in 1998, more than 100 volunteers have tackled consulting projects ranging from strategic planning to marketing to technology management. Clients include the Animal Medical Center, Jobs for Youth, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the New York Public Library, Doctors Without Borders, and Concern Worldwide. The group also helps recruit and match board members for client organizations and arranges shorter-term involvement for the busiest alumni.

"The CP program lets people take a good step into community service to see if they find it enriching," says Misra. "It's also a chance to meet fellow alumni with similar interests and community consciousness."

"These volunteers are powerhouses," says Elena de Murias, president of the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. CP's Discovery team is conducting an organizational audit and developing a strategic plan to help the museum evaluate the feasibility of building a world-class art and science museum at Bridgeport's Harbour Place project. "The caliber of management experience they offer is exceptional," de Murias says. "To pay for similar services would be unthinkable, given our budget."

In Boston, the Community Action Program (CAP), chaired by Brian Kinney (MBA '88), has been active since the early 1990s. Last year more than 65 alumni consulted for 13 organizations, including the New England Aquarium, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and SquashBusters, the country's first squash and mentoring program for inner-city children.

"People are passionate about the notion of volunteering," says Kinney. "Plus it's a lot of fun and a fantastic way to connect with the Boston community." Many volunteers develop long-term relationships with clients, often staying on as informal advisors or joining the board, he says.

Jim Stocker (MBA '56), the San Francisco program's cofounder and steering committee chair for its first ten years, says volunteering for CP offers unique rewards. "This form of community service gets our HBS volunteers even closer to the action than sitting on a board," he says. "Though often, after a project is completed, our people are asked to join the board. My involvement with CP has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my later life."

Executive Education Fellowships

Several HBS alumni clubs, among them Atlanta, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Malaysia, have reached out to their communities by sending local nonprofit executives to Harvard Business School's Executive Education program, Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM).

"We wanted to sponsor an HBS scholarship, where the participant would return to our area and make a difference in this community," says Milwaukee resident Byron Foster (MBA '57). After reviewing more than 60 applications for its SPNM scholarship last year, the Wisconsin club selected Bonnie Bellehumeur, president of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Wisconsin. "Bonnie returned with a stronger sense of how to achieve her strategic objectives," he says. "And that means everyone came out a winner-Bonnie, Second Harvest, our club, and the community." The Wisconsin club will soon be selecting another scholarship winner for 1999 from an even larger pool of applicants.

The Atlanta club started its scholarship program in 1997, raising funds through a Community Leadership Dinner. "We wanted to take advantage of our unique ability as an HBS club," says Brad Armstrong (MBA '88). "By sending nonprofit leaders to the School's executive program, we can help inform their actions and thinking." This year's recipients include leaders from the Nonprofit Resource Center, the Agape Community Center, and Girls Incorporated.

Summer Internships

Since 1993, the HBS Club of Philadelphia has sponsored summer internships for Harvard MBA students interested in social enterprise. "We were looking for ways to strengthen our ties to the School, promote the Philadelphia area as a great place to live and work, and do some good for nonprofits in our community," says Mary Cahill (MBA '80). Students have interned at the Winterthur Museum, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, and the City of Philadelphia Mayor's Office. Last year's intern, Denean Williams (MBA '98), worked in the mayor's policy and planning division on welfare reform and at-risk youth issues. "Our interns have done some wonderful and very helpful projects for these organizations," says Cahill.

Another internship program is the Non-Profit Performance Initiative (NPI) in northern California. NPI was created by Mark Hildebrand (MBA '96) and Eric Stein (MBA '96), with support from Nayla Rizk and the CP program. For the past two summers, student interns have worked in partnership with the alumni club, McKinsey & Co., and the United Way of San Francisco to develop strategic performance measurements for nonprofit organizations.

Learning From Each Other

Alumni clubs benefit in many ways from their involvement in social enterprise programs, says Sandra Mallalieu, assistant director of Alumni Programs and HBS club liaison. "It¹s a way for clubs to develop contacts with senior nonprofit and corporate executives, improve networking opportunities for alumni, expand membership, engage with the local community, and increase club visibility among current HBS students," she says. Clubs can learn "best practices" for these programs through the Club Officer's handbook, which will be posted on the HBS Alumni Web site in June. The Alumni Program Office is also developing Web bulletin boards where club officers and board members can meet in cyberspace to exchange ideas.