Eller College students have raised $180,000 for Make-A-Wish Arizona
When Professor Nathan Podsakoff was looking for a nonprofit organization to support with his class, he selected Make-A-Wish because of its direct impact on people in Southern Arizona.
“We try to serve people in our community and wanted to focus on local residents," said Nathan Podsakoff, professor for the Eller College at The University of Arizona. "This final project tasked student teams to ethically and effectively raise donations for Make-A-Wish Arizona through their networks and creative fundraising."
Podsakoff’s first class in 2016 was comprised of 10 undergraduate students and raised nearly $1,000 for Make-A-Wish Arizona.
Since then, he has utilized his MBA class and their connections to exponentially increase their impact – raising nearly $182,000 over the past six years to grant 18 wishes for children with critical illnesses in Southern Arizona!
“I never predicted we would be where we are today, but I want to emphasize that this success is because of the students’ collaboration,” Podsakoff continued. “I provide the guidelines, but they are the ones who dedicate themselves and work extremely hard.”
For the project, students are divided into teams and asked to come up with different fundraising activities, like hosting raffles, tabling at events and partnering with local businesses.
This year, the MBA graduate class beat all past records – raising more than $45,000 through their ingenuity and commitment.
“We worked with a local restaurant that allowed our team to place table toppers with a QR code to donate for 11 days, ending with World Wish Day when they donated 20% of sales,” said MBA student Danya Gallardo Espinoza.
“One of our team members in law enforcement also used his connections to collect donations and tell the story of how Make-A-Wish started in Phoenix with Chris’ wish to be a police officer in 1980,” she continued. “Both of these fundraising approaches brought in half of our team’s donations.”
Podsakoff believes it’s these personal connections and wish alumni who occasionally share their stories with his class that really resonate with students and allow them to relate to the organization’s mission.
In fact, the team that raised the most money this year structured their fundraising around wish kid Trinity’s story.
“My friend’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer at 11 years old and her wish ended up being a cruise on the Disney Dream,” said MBA student Eric Dang.
“She said that her wish was ‘a light at the end of treatment and something for me to look forward to that gave me hope’ and I think sharing Trinity's story gave a face to what Make-A-Wish does for children.”
Now that another semester has come to an end, Professor Podsakoff says he is very proud of his students and the way they always seem to find a deeper meaning behind this class project.
I’m surprised by how many people are connected to Make-A-Wish. Whether they are recipients or friends or family, I have at least one student whose been impacted in almost every class.
Professor Nathan Podsakoff,
The University of Arizona
"A wish does so many things – providing hope for families and motivation for a child to continue and achieve outcomes they need for their treatments during really dark times," he continued. "The more wish kids I meet, each new story is every bit as impactful."