Believe in Students is the nation’s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on supporting college students’ basic living expenses. We develop and support innovative, sustainable, and effective solutions that can scale to meet the widespread demands. We help facilitate the education of #RealCollege students by providing support for the things they need outside of school, and advocate for and uplift the stories of students outside of the traditional student. The VISTA project will be geared toward developing reports and processes to improve aspects of our communications and secure funding to support more students.
Service Activities
The VISTA will be developing processes in the areas of communications, fundraising, and administration to assist Believe in Students in addressing the basic needs of #RealCollege students. The VISTA member will: 1) Establish the systems for monitoring and amplifying our social media accounts. 2) Create and document our donor reporting system , 3) Assist in the renovation and maintenance of the company website. 4) Update gift and data entry processes in donor management system.
Community Need Addressed
We know that higher education is the most proven pathway to a stable middle class life. With the Future Ready Iowa initiative, Iowa has heavily invested in a more educated populace, aiming for 70 percent of Iowans to have some form of postsecondary education by 2025. However, even with this goal, the outcome can be threatened when students can pay their tuition, but yet are worried about what they’ll eat, where they’ll sleep, who will take care of their children, or how they’ll get to class. Nearly 3 in 5 college students experience basic needs insecurity according to this study from The Hope Center: https://hope4college.com/rc2021-bni-during-the-ongoing-pandemic/ According to the National College Attainment Network, the state of Iowa has very few truly affordable colleges. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.ncan.org/resource/resmgr/policyadvocacy/stateprofiles21/iowa.pdf The VISTA will be developing processes in the areas of communications and fundraising to assist Believe in Students in addressing these needs in Iowa and across the country.
Position Outcomes
The VISTA will assist Believe in Students in serving low-income and non-traditional college students to gain resources to help them meet their basic needs. The VISTA will help develop fundraising, communications, and operations processes and reports. This work will help us provide emergency aid and other resources to students, and establish systems and processes to engage and grow our supporters on an ongoing basis once the VISTA project is completed.
Benefits
Childcare assistance if eligible, Education award upon successful completion of service, Health coverage, Living allowance, Non-competitive eligibility (federal jobs), Relocation allowance (if applicable), Stipend, Student loan forbearance, Training
Competencies You Will Develop
Communication
Demonstrate sensitivity and empathy, Lead group discussion, Listen to and consider others' viewpoints, Maintain open lines of communication with others, Speak clearly, in precise language and in a logical, organized and coherent manner, Turn taking, Write cleary and effectively
Creativity & Problem Solving
Able to identify and define the problem, Capable of generating possible solutions, Communicate the problem to appropriate personnel, Improvise, Provide relevant expertise, Select and implement well-considered solution
Teamwork
Derive consensus, Develop constructive working relationships and maintain them over time, Establish a high degree of trust and credibility with others, Interact professionally and respectfully with supervisors and co-workers, Stay positive and outcome oriented, Use appropriate strategies and solutions for dealing with conflicts and differences to maintain a smooth workflow
Decisions
Accepts responsibility, Anticipate the consequences of decisions, Identify and prioritize the key issues involved to facilitate the decision making process, Involve people appropriately in decisions that may impact them, Quickly respond with a back-up plan if a decision goes amiss
Tools
Carefully consider which tools or technological solutions are appropriate for a given job, Consistently choose the best tool or technological solution for the problem at hand, Operate tools and equipment in accordance with established operating procedures, safety standards, and ethical guidelines, Seek opportunities to improve knowledge of tools and technologies that may assist in streamlining work and improving productivity
Planning
Able to prioritize various competing tasks, Create environment of contribution, Create plan of action, schedule tasks so that work is completed on time, Demonstrate the effective allocation of time and resources efficiently, Drive decision making, Effectively delegate tasks, Facilitate group planning, Set goals
Service
Be pleasant, courteous, professional and respectful when dealing with internal and external customers or clients, Evaluate customer or client satisfaction, Honor the privilege of being able to work with and for those being served, Provide personalized, prompt, and efficient service to meet the requirements, requests and needs of customers, Recognize the importance of maintaining privacy and confidentiality of those being served, Understand and anticipate the needs of others, Understand the importance of one's role in the functioning of the organization, Understand the significance of maintaining a healthful and safe environment