Enable volunteer consultants tackle global issues

Hello!

We have been busy starting another exciting academic year at DSO and our partner universities! This year we plan to accelerate our partner impact through the greater use of empathy-driven design thinking and problem solving and our people impact through increased focus on building an inclusive and values driven community focused on professional development. We are kicking off the year by starting 6 new projects with social impact organizations. We plan to cover these projects in subsequent reports.

In this report, we feature our inaugural design thinking workshop.

Thanks for your support as we aspire to continue and improve our impactful work and community of great people.

Featured Initiative

This October, DSO helped facilitate a successful design thinking workshop at SAP’s Palo Alto campus with the following theme: How might we increase the efficiency and impact of non-profit’s fundraising?

SAP organizes an annual Month of Service every October, where employees sign up for short volunteer projects that benefit their local community. This year one of DSO’s engagement leads, Elizabeth Li, was selected to be a project leader and combined her passions for design thinking and non-profit consulting into a single impactful design thinking workshop. With the help of DSO’s empathy-driven design thinking team, Lizzie designed a workshop that would help non-profits improve their fundraising.

Participants at the workshop included volunteers from SAP, and senior leaders from three non-profits: Gooru, A Touch of Understanding, and Sankara Eye Foundation.

At the end of the full day workshop, each non-profit had developed recommendations they could immediately integrate into their existing fundraising process:

• Gooru focused on building a plan with the goal of making their fundraising less ad hoc and attracting repeat donors
• A Touch of Understanding generated new ideas to diversify their donor base and reduce fundraising costs by reaching key volunteers and program alumni
• Sankara Eye Foundation created a plan to double their funding through the expansion of their operations into new regions

The nonprofits also got an introduction to design thinking tools and methodology that they can use in their day-to-day work.

The overall post-event feedback was very positive, with 100% of survey respondents (both nonprofit guests and SAP volunteers) saying they are likely to attend this event again and recommend it to their peers.

Stay tuned for future DSO design-thinking events!

A Testimonial from A Touch of Understanding

“We have already used the whiteboard brainstorming ideas since returning to our office and it was very beneficial. Building on others’ ideas is very powerful.”

– Leslie DeDora, Executive Director, A Touch of Understanding

Join Us

Join us in tackling the world’s challenges, enabling each other to achieve our professional and personal development goals, and boldly pursuing meaningful social impact outside of our day jobs.

Your impact potential could include:

• Applying the technical expertise from your day job into projects that make a global impact
• Enabling nonprofits and social enterprises to make life-changing experiences and products that improve lives
• Joining a team of like-minded volunteers driven solely by making an impact, and developing professionally  
• Making a difference in university students’ careers, through project guidance and mentorship
• Growing as a leader in the intersection of consulting, technology,  and social impact

If you have any questions about any of the open positions and/or are interested in joining, contact us at inquiries@dsoglobal.org