Project Option 1:
Write a paper on a currently nonexistent non-profit organization. Include the following:
1. Discuss your interest in non-profit organizations.
2. In your opinion, what it takes to start a non-profit organization.
3. What needs to be done to make it acceptable to the general public.
4. How to make it attractive to donors.
5. Describe the type of legal structure that would be most appropriate for the non-profit organization.
6. Discuss an event that could be done to help fund the non-profit.
Project Option 2
Pick a product or service and formulate a plan for researching the customer.
Identify what information needs to be collected (secondary and primary) and how to collect it.
Justify the plan in a two-page report.
Present the industry analysis in a logical format, building a case for industry support of new ventures. This exercise will help you understand the importance of knowing the industry and finding support for new business opportunities.
Project Option 3:
Interview an entrepreneur in an industry or business that interests you. Focus on how and why this entrepreneur started his or her business. Relatives may not be used for this assignment. Use all of the following questions when submitting the assignment.
a. Contact information
b. The entrepreneur's name, address, title, company name, and phone number
c. Background
d. How did you find this person and why did you choose her or him?
e. Why is this person an entrepreneur?
f. What influenced the entrepreneur to identify and pursue this opportunity?
g. How did the entrepreneur's background (family history, prior education, and work experience) affect the opportunity discovered?
h. Describe the opportunity that the entrepreneur decided to pursue and the process the entrepreneur used to evaluate the opportunity.
i. How did the entrepreneur evaluate the opportunity?
j. What criteria did the entrepreneur use to decide whether to pursue the opportunity?
k. What were the perceived risks of this opportunity and how did the entrepreneur expect to manage them?
l. What did the entrepreneur do to turn the opportunity into a business?
m. Identify specific activities the entrepreneur undertook to develop the opportunity into a business.
n. Identify when the entrepreneur did these activities (provide dates: month and year).
o. Identify important contacts and individuals who were helpful during the startup process.
p. What major problems did the entrepreneur encounter along the way?
q. How were these problems solved?
r. What advice would the entrepreneur give to someone thinking about pursuing an opportunity?
s. Why was this entrepreneur successful?
Project Option 4:
Create and propose an assignment using TedTalks as the foundation.
Project Option 5:
Interview the CEO of a non profit organizations and ask him/her the following questions:
a. How did you become involved with this organization? (Or, if the leader also founded the organization: Why did you start this organization? How has it grown or changed over time?)
b. Can you tell me about the work your organization does and the program or programs you run? [As a follow up, what differentiates you from other organizations?] (Here you are trying to get at how the organization is unique while confirming your impression of what causes or people it serves, what programs it offers, and how it gets results.) What do you think your constituents or beneficiaries would say is the best thing about your organization?
c. What results does your organization achieve? How has your program improved over time?
d. What are your goals for the next three to five years? What priorities will help you achieve them? What barriers are in your way?
e. What proportion of your revenue for next year will come from similar sources to this year's revenue? Do you have plans to increase this consistency over time? (Here you are trying to get a sense of how stable/unstable their revenue picture is, and how dependent it is on a few decision-makers.)
f. Where is your leadership team strong, and where does it need development?
g. What is the hardest decision the organization has had to make recently, and how did you evaluate the tradeoffs involved?
h. What do you, personally, spend most of your time on?
Project Option 6:
This project may be completed on anything you deem appropriate, however, you must get prior authorization to complete it. Failure to do so will result in a 0.