We have received the reports from the student projects we wrote about earlier. In consultation with Prof. Dr. Els Breugelmans of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, we acted as a client as part of her course on Research Methods, for whom different groups of students would answer our research question:
Where and how can we find and motivate people willing to support Maryosa?
On 27 September 2019, Lincolin introduced Maryosa to the students in the form of a guest lecture. Several groups of students addressed our question. In January 2020, we received the results of the two best groups, pre-selected by Prof. Breugelmans. We were also asked to choose a winner.
The decision was not immediately unanimous: both groups produced good and useful work! The group we finally selected as the winner had thought carefully about their sample, used original methods during the interview, and produced a clear report. In the end, however, the decisive factor for us was the fact that their recommendations penetrated deeper into the foundation’s working methods, where more could be put into motion.
The students noted that Maryosa leaves a positive first impression, but that subsequently there is little material for people to delve deeper into our working methods and results. The recommendations therefore mainly focus on communication, and how this can be used to create greater engagement with potential donors. It was also recommended that Maryosa’s corporate identity be redesigned.
On 5 March, Lincolin was again in Leuven, together with Petra, to reward the students with both a cinema voucher and a small gift from Kenya. Afterwards, a dinner was held with Prof. Breugelmans and another client of the students.
We thank all the students for their great and insightful work, which really helped us understand how people look at charities in general, and at us in particular. Next up, the ball is in our court again: We’ll start working on implementing all of their advice!