Written by Bond University journalism student, Tatiana Carter
Last week, 19 Bond University students partnered with a global charity that helps children and families find cancer support.
In a new partnership with Bond University, Camp Quality took part in an eight-week Employability Lab that looked at ways to increase donations from millennials to their not-for-profit organization.
Five teams worked on solutions to help boost fundraising among millennials; pitching social media campaigns, online retailer collaborations, and fundraising events to support the charity.
20-year-old Bachelor of Psychology student Cecilia Marques worked on a team that pitched a social media campaign titled #campforcampquality, encouraging families to use the hashtag and share their stories online.
“I’ve never worked in marketing before, this was my first experience with anything like this,” said Marques, who moved from Doha to Australia to pursue a career in psychology.
“I joined the employability lab because I was curious about other ways I could benefit my future, I wanted to see the other opportunities available outside of my field.”
Students were placed into teams from a diverse a mix of degrees and nationalities. Instead of requiring students to be in the final year of their degree, the Employability Lab was available to students in their first semester.
Bachelor of Laws student Emily Young enjoyed working with people from different backgrounds, using their individual experiences to create a fundraising event for Camp Quality.
“When looking at my group, we had a whole range of degrees, genders, and people from different parts of the world,” she said.
The various backgrounds gave Young, 21, insight into now not-for-profit organizations work.
“In the future, I would definitely want to work for a not-for-profit organization,” said Young.
“Although the lab isn’t related to my degree, I thought it would be great to experience something new. This has definitely given me insight into these types of organizations and the business side of things.”
Camp Quality CEO Kylea Tink was impressed with the initiative from Bond students, especially their ability to create fundraising solutions within eight short weeks.
“I thought today’s presentations were incredibly impressive. I think what was so impressive is that each team took a different approach, there was hardly any duplication,” said Ms Tink, who selected Bond University for its “robust” initiatives.
With the number of Australians being diagnosed with cancer increasing, Ms Tink says that the student partnership has come at a “great time.”
After being in the works for nearly 10 years, event organizers are happy to see the event finally come to fruition. Kirsty Mitchell, Director of the Bond Career Development Centre put the Employability Lab into action in early March this year.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am, this has been a baby of mine for years. We’ve had so many other projects happening at once that we’ve never really been able to invest in it and give it the time,” said Ms Mitchell.
In the future, the Bond Career Development Centre is looking to partner its students with more not-for-profits and private industries through the Employability Lab.