In the past few weeks I discovered GiveGab, which is a social network for volunteers, and created an account on it for Unearth the World. We are the only organization on the site that currently offers people the option to volunteer abroad. It was a big step because GiveGab is a growing social site that has many college partners, such as MSU, which will tremendously increase our exposure to students. Yet I wanted to take it further and solidify another network at Michigan. I had talked to Kathryn earlier for feedback and she had stated everything I have done has been great, especially my work on the country guides for our volunteers, but my ability to find a U.S. partner for people to volunteer in was still something I needed to work on. I never expected how difficult it would be to find a U.S. partner but after weeks of research I was able to find a home building project in New Orleans and two Indian reservations in Appalachia and Montana. Kathryn and Mike both liked these organizations and were thrilled I had found them, but my mind was still aiming at how I could get more Michigan students to go volunteer abroad.
It was then that I decided that I would visit the Ginsberg Center in Ann Arbor. Through them, I was able to discuss all that Unearth the World had to offer along with its mission of service learning and they were thrilled about it and wanted to include us on their site. I was hoping to get Unearth the World on the Alternative Spring Break list and I was given a contact to be able to discuss this with as well as advice that I make a club at UM so that we would have "partner status" with the Ginsberg Center, further solidifying our goals. Thus I met up with Mike and Kathryn and told them all I had planned the club would look like. They loved all my ideas and assisted me on drafting an email that I sent out to many of my UM contacts and friends asking them to join or forward to people they thought might be interested. I received many emails back from interested friends and others asking me about the executive board positions I had created, the meetings, what it would entail and etc. I had created an organization that was turning into something big and something I hoped to make successful at UM. I enjoyed emailing people about it, telling them my plans for the club and asking about their experiences. I noticed how interested all these people were in volunteering abroad and I saw opportunities of receiving advice on how to fundraise and make international travel more affordable for students. There were some challenges of writing the constitution and seeing if membership fees were something I should consider and other ways to draw people to the organization, yet overall I did a great job responding to friends and reaching out to people. I am now set to get a table at Festifall, have a mass meeting and be president of this club so I can make great decisions with my fellow executive board and find ways for service minded students to volunteer abroad more reasonably. I faced the challenges of never having created an organization before and I will face more to come of running it, but I was able to use the resources around me and talk to students on what they want out of a club and form the organization based on inspiration.
I learned the importance of networking and how far you can go creating your own organization that meets the needs and wants of students. If you think about the student, you can gain a great deal of support and grow as an organization. Hopefully this will all work out in the semester when I run the club along with my executive team, but as of now I wouldn't change anything of how I've come across these sources and I hope to continue to connect with student whether its at Michigan through my club, through GiveGab and other universities or if one day my club gains other chapters at other universities. At this moment the future holds a lot of promise!
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