Boston University students who founded Caritas Collective are looking to turn classroom lessons into positive-sum interactions for management students and nonprofit organizations.
Caritas, founded in late 2008, offers pro bono consulting services to area nonprofits and has already linked up with three local groups. Many of those working with the nonprofits are BU students, who are applying skills learned in the lecture hall to real-world nonprofit management.
‘We respect the positive impact nonprofits make on the community and want to help further their missions through a combination of high-level strategy projects and implementation planning,’ Caritas Vice President Chris Oquist said.
Two consulting teams of three students each and one consulting team of four students are working for the company. Although all the team members are BU students, Caritas developers said they hope to expand and work with other colleges.
Founders began developing their idea in October 2008 and started working directly with nonprofits in January of this year. The first nonprofit Caritas worked with was Seven Stones International, an organization that promotes religious tolerance in the Ukraine.
Oquist, a Berklee College of Music alumnus, said Caritas helps charitable organizations expand or rethink fundraising strategies, determine appropriate entry strategies into new markets, design outreach programs and increase awareness for the organization.
Caritas accepts undergraduate and graduate students, and looks at the students’ experience and interests when matching them with a nonprofit, Oquist said.
‘We’ve always been a student-powered organization,’ Oquist said. ‘Students run all of our consulting projects, although we get input from professors, consultants and other professionals.’
Caritas President and co-founder Stephanie Antoniou said students working at Caritas must be self-starters.
‘Our teams conduct a lot of original research and put their own frameworks together to recommend courses of action to nonprofits,’ Antoniou, a School of Management senior, said.
Students work with their assigned nonprofit for one semester, or three to four months, depending on the start date. Throughout the engagement, students conduct an industry analysis, research the scope of problems the nonprofit is facing and propose solutions, Oquist said.
‘At the end of an engagement, students will have developed an ability to manage client expectations, a rational and logical approach to defining and solving problems, as well as clear and concise writing skills,’ Oquist said.
Oquist said the partnerships between students and nonprofits benefit all parties.
‘Students will become more comfortable with working on teams and learn how to structure convincing presentations,’ Oquist said. ‘They are also building their professional network while still in school, and gaining valuable real-world experience.’
SMG sophomore Natasha Mehta, a Caritas intern, said she got the chance to experience the real world challenges by helping clients keep their companies afloat.
‘The program was very informative,’ Mehta said. It was great for me since I am thinking about working for a consulting firm after I graduate from BU.’
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