EVERY PAW COUNTS:
A Virtual Fundraising Campaign Supporting PAWS Chicago

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1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

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Every Paw Counts was a virtual fundraising and awareness campaign developed as part of a Project Management course to support PAWS Chicago. The goal of the project was to create meaningful community impact by raising donations, increasing awareness about shelter animals, encouraging pet adoption, and engaging audiences through digital outreach.

The campaign was primarily conducted through Instagram and included social media content creation, donor recognition initiatives, influencer outreach, café outreach, and paid advertising. Campaign activities included reels, stories, awareness posts, donation reminders, and audience engagement efforts designed to maximize participation.

In addition to online outreach, the team visited PAWS Chicago to better understand the organization’s mission and gather original content for campaign materials. The organization also provided approved content and partnership materials that supported campaign communication efforts.

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2. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARITY

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PAWS Chicago is a nonprofit no-kill animal welfare organization dedicated to reducing homelessness among pets and improving animal welfare through adoption, rescue, medical care, and community outreach.

The organization was selected because its mission aligned with the project’s objective of creating measurable social impact while supporting animal welfare. PAWS Chicago’s work provided an opportunity to apply project management principles in a real-world setting while contributing to a meaningful community cause.

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3. FACTUAL ANALYSIS OF SUCCESS IN TERMS OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES

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The project established objectives related to fundraising performance, audience engagement, social media awareness, and community participation.

Project Objective: Raise Funds
Target: $600–$650
Result: $613 achieved

Project Objective: Increase Donor Participation
Target: 50–60 donors
Result: 31 donors

Project Objective: Increase Awareness
Target: 5,000–6,000 audience reach
Result: 23,484 accounts reached

Additional Results:
• More than 27,000 campaign views
• 1,283 likes
• 62 shares
• 485 donation link clicks
• Engagement across multiple countries
• Donations received in USD, INR, GBP, and AED

Overall, the campaign achieved its primary fundraising objective and significantly exceeded awareness expectations. Although donor participation remained below the original target, campaign performance demonstrated that virtual fundraising strategies can successfully generate engagement and measurable impact.

The campaign also created interest in pet adoption. However, interested individuals were located outside the United States and therefore were unable to complete the adoption process.

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4. LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT MANAGING PROJECTS

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Lesson 1 – Communication Is Essential

Consistent communication among stakeholders, supporters, and team members improved coordination and helped maintain project momentum.

Lesson 2 – Flexibility Improves Outcomes

Unexpected circumstances required adjustments throughout the campaign, reinforcing the importance of adaptability and problem-solving during project execution.

Lesson 3 – Data Supports Better Decisions

Campaign analytics provided valuable insights that helped improve outreach efforts and maximize audience engagement.

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5. ADVICE FOR FUTURE TEAMS

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Start planning and outreach earlier than expected to allow additional time for approvals and partnerships.

Secure stakeholder support before launching the campaign to increase visibility and reduce delays.

Use multiple communication channels instead of relying on one platform.

Track campaign performance regularly and use analytics to guide decisions.

Recognize supporters throughout the campaign because appreciation and engagement can encourage additional participation.

Prepare contingency plans for unexpected stakeholder limitations and project risks.

6. PROJECT PHOTOS

“Roll for a Cause. Strike for Change.”

Team 4  |  MGT 598 — Project Management

KGSB |  DePaul University  |  Spring 2026

 

 

1. Brief Description of the Project

We had organized a charity fundraising bowling event called “Roll for a Cause. Strike for Change.” as part of our project management course at DePaul University. The event was held on Monday, June 1, 2026, at Kings Dining & Entertainment, 1500 N Clybourn Avenue, Chicago, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

The event was meant  to raise funds and awareness for Misericordia Heart of Mercy, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps individuals born with any kind of  disabilities by birth, they provide care homes and food.All  Attendees paid a $20 entry fee for students and professionals other than DePaul and 12$ for groups and DePaul students, that covered bowling and shoe rental. There were multiple ways to generate revenue streams to minimize risk, it was generated through ticket sales, raffle ticket sales ($5 per entry, open to non-attendees as well) and online donations directly to the Misericordia Foundation.

Our team had 5 members with divided and different responsibilities including Hamza Mudassar as the project manager, Nohail Tariq handling finance, Harsh Maniar dealing operations, Siraj Saifi working in communications, and Faris in marketing under the supervision of Professor Lori Cook. Each member was assigned roles according to their strengths and each member was trained to replace each other in case needed. Project start date was April 14, 2026 and was completed on June 11, 2026.

2. Brief Description of the Charity

Misericordia Heart of Mercy is a 501(c)(3) is a Chicago based nonprofit organization founded in 1921. Address: 6300 N. Ridge Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660. Their objectives and mission  is to provide residential care, housing, educational programs and community support for individuals born with any kind of disabilities.

Misericordia serves more than 600 individuals through a different range of programs, from independent apartments to anytime skilled nursing care. This organization is well-recognized in the Chicago nonprofit community and has constantly maintained strong performance on Charity Navigator. During the time of this project, Misericordia had a long waiting list (up to 10 years) for its programs, which was a key point for the team’s fundraising effort.

Contact :  donors@misericordia.com |  (773) 273-4160 |   www.misericordia.com

3. Factual Analysis of Success in Terms of Project Objectives

The project established four calculated success metrics at the outcomes. The table below compares the planned targets estimation against actual outcomes achieved on June 1, 2026.

Success Metric	Worst Case	Most Likely	Best Case	Actual Result
Net Funds Raised for Misericordia	$300	$600	$900+	$420+ (confirmed)
Physical Attendees at Event	30 people	40 people	50+ people	~17 attendees
Social Media Reach (views/impressions)	500	1,000	2,500+	12,000+ views
On-Time Delivery within Budget	Minor overrun <$25	On time, within $450	Under budget	On time, $0 expenses

Analysis

Funds Raised: We are able to raise $270 directly from bowling and raffle ticket sales on the event, which was transferred directly to Misericordia. Additionally, more than $150 in direct online donations were made to Misericordia directly through the QR code from our advertising and awareness campaign. Several online donations were not been able to be tracked because Misericordia receives hundreds of donations on a daily basis. While the trackable donations did not achieve our best case scenario of $600, we are hopeful that the online donations were more than this. The online donors that we could confirm includes Professor Lori Cook who donated $50 along with several classmates and friends who contributed through the online QR code directly to the charity.

Attendance: Approximately 17 participants attended in person, which was less than the 30-person worst-case target. The lower-than-expected turnout was primarily driven by the event being held during a finals week-end-of-term period and the time on marketing with a student team.

Social Media Reach: This was the project’s most unique success. The combined social media promotion across LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Instagram reached over 12,000 views which was well exceeding the 2,500+ best-case target by nearly five times. This level of awareness for Misericordia and its mission was a significant achievement.

Budget Performance: The venue was provided at no cost by Kings Dining & Entertainment following the discount negotiated with Rob Mastro. DePaul University provided poster printing at no cost. Raffle prizes were collected through in-kind donations (an Echo Dot Alexa speaker sponsored by DePaul University). As a result, the team’s actual cash expenses were $0.00, meaning the entire $450 budget estimate was effective.

4. Lessons Learned About Managing Projects

Lesson 1: Flexibility in Venue and Vendor Negotiations is Critical

The team’s initial venue selection was Lucky Strike bowling in downtown Chicago, which was ultimately not that flexible and the gave the pricing structure of $20–$50 per person, which would have left no funding for charitable funds. The decision to not go with lucky strike bowling  and pursue Kings Dining & Entertainment proved a great impact. Rob Mastro at Kings was willing to host the event at no charge, which completely transformed the financial objectives  of the event.

The key takeaway is that vendor negotiations should never be treated as binary (accept or reject). The team’s counter-proposal strategy of offering lane-based pricing, emphasizing the charitable nature of the event, mentioning the sales tax exemption, and proposing flexible dates created room for a deal that benefited all parties. Future project teams should develop a clear negotiation strategy for vendors early and always have at least one backup option in play simultaneously.

Lesson 2: Marketing Effort Does Not Automatically Convert to Attendance

Our  team achieved a great response from social media reach (12,000+ views) but relatively differerent in-person attendance (17 people). This break highlighted an important project management principle: outputs and outcomes doesn’t have the same results. High promotions on social media are an output; ticket conversions are the outcome that matters for an event’s financial objectives.

Looking back team would have benefited from a more targeted strategy — such as direct personal invitation or a verbal communication, a limited-time early registration discount, or a ‘bring a friend’ idea tied to the raffle. The communication plan was structured in a way, but the ideas for converting awareness into attendance needed more indepth strategy and ideas.

Lesson 3: Scope and Timeline Realism Matters More Than Ambition

The original fundraising targets ($500–$900 net) were set as a best case scenario of revenue generating for a student team with a six-week time and no fixed marketing budget. While the team performed above expectations in several areas including the awareness campaign where it was required (zero budget, 12,000+ reach), the attendance and revenue targets required recall once the event was underway. Setting objectives that account for the constraints of a student team, limited time, no paid advertising, would have helped to produce targets that were more achievable and less chances to miss.

5. Advice for Future Teams Doing Similar Projects

• Start the venue negotiations at least six weeks prior the event. Venue negotiations take multiple rounds and require time managementif your first plan doesn’t work out.
• Personally invite people via verbal communication — don’t rely only on social media posts. A direct text or WhatsApp message to 20 friends will help you to convert at a far higher rate than a post seen by 1,000 strangers.
• Secure your charity partner’s written approval like communication via emails or in person meeting before any public promotion. The team was careful about this, and it avoided legal and reputational risk. Don’t skip this step under time pressure because you need to have this talk before any kind of promotion.
• Negotiate in prior forin-kind venue and prize support from day one. The single biggest factor and important one  in this project’s financial success was the free venue from Kings.
• Use the method where ‘Can’t attend? Still enter the raffle for $5’from the very beginning of your marketing campaign and promotion. This was decided  late in this project but proved to be one of the most effective way to generate more revenue.
• Build a post-event communication plan. Thank-you messages to Kings, Misericordia, attendees, and donors should be drafted in advance and sent within the dates of the event held. Relationships built during a project are assets for future perspective.
• Make sure you have an eye on online donation tracking to set up so you can confirm contributions. A unique method ofcampaign code or dedicated donation link would solve this.

 

 

6. Photos Related to the Project

 

DePaul Rock Charity Showcase

1.) Brief description of the project

Our group organized a show to raise money for The People’s School of Music Chicago. Hosted in the DePaul Student Center, there were two performances, a solo artist named Jane Lieberman, followed by a band called WISKO. Apart from the main performance, we also hosted a promotional bake sale to raise money and get the word out for the upcoming show.

2) Brief description of the charity

The People’s School of Music Chicago is the largest completely free music school serving Chicago metropolitan area children. They set high expectations for all students, delivering a rigorous curriculum that demands musical excellence and personal commitment. Teaching 21 different instruments, 30+ ensembles of diverse music genres, and 10+ performance opportunities per student a year, the school was a perfect charity for a musically inspired project.

3) Factual analysis of success in terms of project objectives

We reached our minimum goal of $500, and ended up raising a total of $806!!!

4) Lessons learned about managing projects

1. Before you can begin promoting an event, you must try your best to have details set in stone. We had a strong feeling we were going to secure a bar in Wrigleyville to host our event. We waited two-three weeks for confirmation, until we were told they’d be unable to host us in the week we needed to have the show. That meant two-three weeks of not putting out flyers, word-of-mouth, and not posting stories on social media to promote the event.
2. When it comes to providing links for attendees, it’s important to discuss with your team which are most necessary. To have a separate link for donations, RSVPs, tickets, and a social media page can be too much. We decided on a combination link for Donation and Tickets as well as one for RSVPS. While that seemed like a solid minimalistic approach, in hindsight, having just two links for Donations and tickets would have been the better choice.
3. When it comes to leading a team, often the most important thing you can do is help the team members do their best. That doesn’t mean just giving them the tools to build the house along with some blueprints but welcoming ideas and fostering the communication between members that allows them to do so. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have had Hannah’s idea for the promotional bake sale, or Cally’s idea for a photoshoot of the performing band.

5) Advice for future teams doing similar projects

1. Solidify details about your logistics as soon as possible. When producing a Gantt Chart or WBS, it may be beneficial to consider venue logistics an activity that precedes other important activities, especially related to marketing and advertising.
2. Create a foundation for strong communication within your team, it is invaluable for a successful project.
3. Remember to have fun and enjoy the process, it’s a great thing to raise money for charity, but it’s a privilege to get to enjoy the process.

6) Photos

 

 

 

Brief Description of the Project
For this project, our team decided to host two fundraising events. The first event was a movie night held at DePaul University, and the second was a fundraising partnership with the restaurant Wake’ N Bacon.
The purpose of the project was to increase awareness of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and its mission while also raising funds to support the organization. During the movie night, we showed the movie Rio at the Student Center. Attendees received snacks with admission, and the purchase of an entrance ticket also included a small plush toy.
For the Wake’ N Bacon event, group members visited the restaurant different time from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The purpose of this event was to extend the fundraiser beyond the university community and encourage members of the public to support WWF while enjoying a meal or snack.

Brief Description of the Charity
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is a global nonprofit organization founded in 1961 and located around the world the WWF is dedicated to protecting wildlife, conserving natural habitats, and addressing environmental challenges around the world. The organization works to promote sustainability, reduce threats to endangered species, and create solutions that benefit both people and nature.

Factual Analysis of Success in Terms of Project Objectives
In total, $50 was spent on chips, drinks, and small plush toys for the movie night event. Overall, the project raised $113, exceeding our original fundraising goal of $100. A total of seven tickets were sold for the movie night, and three donations were made directly through our WWF fundraising page.
Overall, the project was successful in meeting its objectives. The movie night provided an opportunity to educate students about wildlife conservation while creating an enjoyable and engaging experience. Although attendance was lower than originally anticipated, the event generated interest in WWF’s mission and encouraged participation through the inclusion of snacks and small prizes.
The Wake’ N Bacon fundraiser allowed our team to reach individuals outside of the university community and expand awareness of WWF beyond campus. Despite several challenges throughout the planning process, both events contributed to raising awareness of WWF and generating financial support for the organization. Most importantly, the project achieved and exceeded its fundraising goal.

Lessons Learned About Managing Projects
• Early planning is critical, especially when it comes to risk management. Teams should begin researching potential event locations and fundraising opportunities as early as possible. Reserving locations, communicating with third-party organizations, and obtaining approvals often take longer than expected. For our project, communication with DePaul regarding room reservations took more time than anticipated. Starting these tasks earlier would have reduced stress and provided more flexibility when unexpected challenges arose.
• Teams should not rely on available slack time unless absolutely necessary. If a project begins to experience significant issues early in the planning process, it may be better to revise the plan or start over with a more realistic approach before too much time has been invested.
• Clear communication improves decision-making and overall project performance. While our team communicated regularly, much of the work was completed close to assignment deadlines. This created unnecessary pressure and led to situations where some team members were unsure of their responsibilities or unaware of the progress being made by others. Future project managers should establish clear deadlines well before official due dates and ensure that each team member understands their assigned tasks. Breaking large assignments into smaller milestones can help keep everyone accountable and on schedule.

Advice for Future Teams Doing Similar Projects
• Meet in person whenever possible. Face-to-face meetings make it easier to discuss project goals, assign responsibilities, and address concerns. If meeting in person is not possible, schedule regular virtual meetings and maintain consistent communication through group chats or email.
• Take time during the first few weeks of class to get to know potential teammates. Try to build a team with a variety of skills, strengths, and work styles. A successful project depends not only on completing the required tasks but also on having team members who are reliable, communicate effectively, and contribute consistently throughout the semester.
• Begin promoting your event as early as possible. The success of a fundraising event often depends on attendance and awareness. If you plan to advertise around campus, make sure all promotional materials include the correct logos, event details, dates, times, and locations. Being proactive with marketing can significantly increase participation and fundraising results.
• Clearly define team roles from the beginning of the project. Assign responsibilities based on each member’s strengths and establish deadlines for every task. This will reduce confusion and help ensure that all aspects of the project are completed on time.
• Always have a backup plan. Venue issues, scheduling conflicts, low attendance, or communication delays can occur unexpectedly. Developing contingency plans early can help minimize the impact of these challenges and keep the project on track.

Photos Related to the Project

 

AI Disclosure Statement
Artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) was used to assist with proofreading, grammar correction, organization, and revision of written content for this report. All project planning, fundraising activities, analysis, conclusions, and final decisions were completed by the project team. 

Brief description of the project: 

The purpose of this project was to organize and execute a fundraising event that would support the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event focused on raising money and awareness through a community-based fitness challenge at the Ray and Meyer Fitness Center at DePaul University. This challenge would have people jump vertically and see how high they could jump, and it was a small-dollar entry for jumps, which would be donated to St Jude.

Brief Description of the charity: 

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a children’s treatment and research hospital that is dedicated to finding cures and preventing diseases in children, primarily pediatric cancers and blood disorders. One of the great things about St. Jude is that families never receive a bill from St Jude for treatment. 

Factual Analysis of success in terms of project objectives:

We set out to raise a goal of $250, and we ended up raising nearly double that, finishing off at $420. So, financially, we crushed our goal. We also achieved a lot of the goals that we set out to do, which was to secure a location for our event to take place, which ended up being the fitness center. We also created flyers and utilized various platforms online to promote our fundraiser, which is how we landed the majority of our donations. And then just keeping track of everything making sure we all stayed on top of things we were responsible for, which we did a good job for the most part.

Lessons Learned: 

We had two big lessons that we learned, one of them was implementing some type of prize of some kind. We had discussions as a group about having a raffle of some kind that people could enter if they chose to attend our event to win a prize, which we were thinking would be Cubs tickets. Unfortunately, that decision was made a little too late, and we believed that if we had some type of prize, even if it was not the Cubs tickets, some sort of raffle prize would have likely gotten more jumpers, and led to us raising a lot more money. And the other thing that we learned was probably to delegate the right work to the right people.

Advice for teams doing similar projects: 

The best advice that we would give to teams doing similar projects is to get a prize. It will generate your team a lot more donations. And then coming up with a plan as quick as possible, so you can start getting things in line, and that way you can also be prepared if you need to pivot.

Pictures: 

 

 

Brief Description of the Project

Our team organized an event surrounding gaming. The event was an NBA2K charity tournament at the DePaul E Sports Center so part of our class as the event was designed to provide students with an enjoyable competitive gaming experience that mixes in video games as well as sports to create an atmosphere of excitement and a little bit of rowdiness As we would help raise funds for the charity we picked out which ended up being Good Sports. The participants competed in an 8 player tournament bracket in which players would have a chance of winning a prize as well as we had a raffle in which if you run the raffle you can get a prize as well.

The project ended up requiring a lot of planning and fast coordination as we had got our reservation set up right away with the ESports Center And they had given us about a week and a half to set it up properly which required us to act right away. We had to make sure that we could get our charity partner fast, create any promotional materials, as well as figuring out how we will work on the registration and payment side. Throughout this project we were able to apply the key concepts we learned in class such as scheduling and risk management in order to ensure that this event would be a success.

Brief Description of the Charity

Our team ended up selecting Good Sports as our charity partner as they are a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping children gain access to sports and any sort of physical activity as they help provide them with equipment and resources and all 50 states in the country. We chose good sports because we believe sports can have a positive impact on children’s lives by teaching them lessons about teamwork, confidence, and even personal growth. The mission of good sports aligned well with our projects since we were also dealing with sports as our event is also centered around competition and community engagement at the end of the day.

Factual Analysis of Success in Terms of Project Objectives  

The beginning of the project we established 3 things that we would factor in as being our factors of success which are the amount of money we raised, how many people ended up coming, and satisfaction score based on the survey we had people take at the end of the event. Before the event we had set out our estimates for what we expected and one of them ended up being met, which was the satisfaction score. We had 6 out of 8 players rating the tournament a 10/10. However, at the same time we did fall a little bit short in the accumulation of donations because we thought that we could raise $300, but we were able to raise $207 which is moderately lower than our expectations. Furthermore, we also fell short on the number of people we expected would come to the event. We had predicted that 15 would be the worst possible scenario and we expected to get 30 people but unfortunately, we ended up getting 7 people, but we consider that a success as well because we had to organize the event earlier than we had expected to be held. It was because the venue was not available on the date when we wanted to hold the event in the first place. We were only given only a week and therefore we did not have enough time to market the event as we wanted to. Overall we would say the project was successful because the event was completed as planned as well as the participants had a great time there. We used the tools we learned in class like the work breakdown structure and the risk management plan to help us stay organized and on top as we have to always constantly stay fast so that we could make this event happen. The funds we received were 100% donated straight to the charity as this really did a good job of getting awareness about their mission among the students who went as it provided a really fun and competitive atmosphere. Even though we had some challenges pertaining to the amount of time we can actually promote the event and recruiting people to come, we were able to adapt on the fly and as a result we would consider this project a success.

Lessons Learned About Managing Projects

They’re about 3 lessons that we took away from this that we felt were really important and stuck out. For the first lesson the obvious one would be that communication is very critical as we learned early on that having a group of five you got to have constant communication to make sure that everybody is in agreement and on top of things as when you have multiple people working on multiple things it can be easy to lose track of something or get lost on one thing rather than dedicating your time to multiple things. We had regularly scheduled meetings every week with constant messaging and our WhatsApp group chat as we were able to clearly assign responsibilities throughout the project and ensure that everyone was able to understand all the expectations and the deadlines we had. Second lesson that we learned from this was that risk planning saves a lot of time and even a lot of stress as we had informally talked about the most devastating outcomes to this event and how we can avoid them and by having some sort of contingency plan for those was really key to making it work out. Some of the things we deemed to be a potential big issue would be equipment issues or having some sort of payment problems with our QR code that we ended up using. The third lesson we learned was that early promotion would improve participation as unfortunately for us when we had talked to the esports center they had given us a reservation right away as they had already booked for other tournaments during the month and we had to act fast and we were able to only do marketing for about a week or less which we felt was not good enough as it’s hard for a student to change plans right away as compared to if we had the events say 3 weeks out then a student could make plans around that event. So we would just recommend that make sure your marketing is the first thing you can do and beginning as soon as possible as it will be pretty essential for maximizing the amount of people you can get to come to your event.

Advice for Future Teams

Some advice for any future teams that are reading this didn’t want to have an idea of what they are getting into would be to make sure that you are always staying on top of things and are organized as those are really important when trying to build out an event when you have people that are all trying to be on the same idea. Building awareness to an event takes time and making sure that you have early marketing can make a big change in the amount of participants you have. And finally just making sure that every person on the team establishes clear roles and responsibilities at the very beginning of the project so that everyone is able to understand their tasks as well as the deadlines that are expected as if you’re doing a project with somebody that could be slacking or not doing things on time then that can derail the project so also include accountability on top of that and who’s going to help who if somebody is lacking behind.

 

 

 

1. Brief description of the project

We hosted a pop-up thrift shop at Pilot Project in Logan Square to raise money for the Salvation Army. We gathered, sorted, and sold clothing and accessories and all funds from the event were donated as well as the left-over clothes that we had after the event. We had tons of people come through with the local flea market as well as a super cool venue, which we were lucky enough to get for free, and raised and donated just over $1,000 dollars to The Salvation Army as well as two car loads of clothes!

2. Brief description of the charity

The Salvation Army is a Christian-based nonprofit organization that provides assistance to people and communities through programs including food assistance, disaster relief, housing support, rehabilitation services, youth programs and thrift stores. Founded in 1865, the organization aims to help those in need through community outreach and donations and social services to create long-lasting support and a positive impact.

3. Factual analysis of success in terms of project objectives

Objectives:

• Generate revenue through clothing sales and donations
• Minimize expenses while maximizing overall impact
• Create additional value through leftover clothing donations

Result:

• Generated just over $1,000 in donations and clothing sales
• Gave away 2 car loads worth of clothing
• Got a venue for free and brought in a lot of people

4. Two or three lessons learned about managing projects

One lesson we learned throughout this project was how important it is to be adaptable. Even though we had a solid plan going into the event, there were still unexpected things that came up along the way. For example, we received way more clothing donations than we originally anticipated, so we had to quickly work together to organize and sort everything. We also found out that the Logan Square flea market was happening at the same time as our event. At first we saw it as a challenge, but it actually helped bring more foot traffic into the area and gave us the opportunity to connect with more people. Overall, this project showed us how important communication, teamwork, and a positive mindset are when managing a project.

5. Advice for future teams doing similar projects

Our advice would be to solidify a plan early on and make sure you are prioritizing your actions the right way. For example, our group knew that getting clothes and having a venue would be the two most vital things we needed, so we banded together and worked on those deliverables right away. If you focus your energy on the wrong things, then there is a bigger chance that something may go wrong.

We would also advise meeting with your team once a week. This is something that helped us tremendously because we were able to talk through where we were at with our deliverables, what else needs to be done, and just have an open space to bond and get to know your group mates. We used Teams and we would highly recommend since you can set up meetings, create an agenda, and can keep all your documentation in once accessible spot that everyone can access.

6. Photos related to the project. Examples could be event photos, website, team members, etc.

Website @ www.TheSpringExchange.com

Instagram @ The Spring Exchange

Facebook @ The Spring Exchange

TikTok @ The Spring Exchange

Email @ thespringexchange@gmail.com

Description of the Project:

For our project, we partnered with PAWS Animal Shelter to organize a pet-themed fundraising happy hour called “Yappy Hour.” The event was hosted at Parlay Lincoln Park. This was an ideal venue because of its pet-friendly and four-season patio.

To encourage donations, we raffled five different prizes during the event. Our goal was to create an enjoyable event where people could socialize and give back to a good cause. 

The project exceeded all expectations and was a huge success. Our original fundraising goal was $500, but through raffle participation and donations, we raised $1,097 for PAWS Animal Shelter, doubling our initial goal. 

 

Description of the charity:

PAWS Chicago

Their mission is to build No Kill communities – starting with a No Kill Chicago – they respect and value the life of every cat and dog. PAWS works hard to rescue and care for dogs and cats all around Chicago. PAWS will use proceeds raised at our event to help fund the lifesavings program for homeless, sick, or injured animals.  

 

Factual analysis of success in terms of project objectives:

Event attendance: 55 attendees.

Funds raised: $1,097

Number of raffle prizes secured: 5

Sponsorships/donations received: 6 (Parlay, Culvers, Tricoci, Pampered Chef, Scooters Coffee, Cubs)

 

Lessons Learned:

Throughout this project, our team gained experience and learned several lessons about managing a project and all the little details that go into planning. One of the biggest lessons was communication and how it is important on projects. As a team, we needed to work collaboratively and keep each other informed about tasks and progress. To achieve this, we sent weekly updates stating what had been accomplished in the prior week and our goals for the following week. The regular check-ins helped keep everyone informed and accountable. Allowing us to stay focused and on track. 

Another key lesson was the importance of risk management. Despite careful planning, we encountered a few minor issues during the event. Since we had identified potential risks during preparation and developed plans, we were able to address issues quickly and address the issues effectively. 

Advice for future teams:

Future teams should start their planning as soon as they can. Confirming the venue should be your first step. This was the very first thing we did when we started planning. Knowing that we had a venue by the end of week one made everything else seem a little less stressful. We were fortunate to leverage our connections to secure our venue at no cost, so future teams should also consider using their networks whenever possible.

From the start, tasks should be equally distributed. Knowing exactly what you have to do from the start will help make everything run smoothly. Consistently updating your team is also very helpful.

When seeking sponsors or donors, it is important to begin outreach as early as possible. Our team discovered that several donors required requests to be submitted at least six weeks in advance. Starting the sponsorship and donation process early can increase the number of contributions received and help with the overall success of the event.

 

 

 

Sip Social Overview

The charity we partnered with is Ignite. Ignite is a Chicago non-profit based in Bronzeville that supports homeless youth ages 10-26. They provide housing, case management, mental health support, outreach, basic needs support, education and employment resources, and community-based services to help young people move towards a home, stability, and a future. 

Our event was called “Sip Social” hosted at Kibbitznest in Lincoln Park. This darty-fundraiser was an opportunity for people to unplug, hang out, and enjoy a Saturday morning while supporting Ignite. It featured coffee, cocktails, mocktails, and a live DJ set. At the front of the venue was a resource table with infographics about Ignite and ways to get involved. There was also a brief keynote mid-event to educate guests. Our turnout was amazing because of our omni-channel marketing approach and collaboration with Kibbitznest!

Funds were raised in several ways: 

• 35% of drink sales at the event were donated 
• QR codes and text-to-donate links at the event 
• Online page for donations from people who couldn’t attend the event 

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Success Metrics 

Based on our goals, we met or exceeded our expectations. 

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Lessons and Advice 

Be persistent and personal in your outreach! People are busy and can forget to RSVP or donate. We had a thorough social media marketing plan which we later supplemented with personal, individual outreach, which was highly effective. We also learned to meet in-person with your venue if possible. We met 3 times with them before the event to agree on logistics and figure out the setup and flow of the event. This made the day-of less stressful as we knew where everything needed to go—ultimately, we didn’t run into any issues. 

Our advice for future teams is to create a thorough breakdown of the project at the beginning. This will be extremely helpful to keep you on track, mark your progress, and divvy up work. As you get busy with executing the project, you’ll be thankful you spent upfront time on this! 

Event Link | Donation Link

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Project Description:

For our project, we held a tabling/donation event on Thursday, May 21st 2026 in front of the St. Vincent’s Circle in the quad on the Lincoln Park campus where we sold snacks and drinks for the American Cancer Society. During the event itself, we set up a table with a tablecloth to properly display all of the snacks and drinks for sale, in addition to printing out large QR codes to make the donation link accessible and donating itself easy. The snacks were sold for $1.50 each, the medium drinks for $2, and the large ones for $3.

To attract attention from passerbys, we played music and partnered with a local sorority to create a crowd around the table. In addition, we encouraged these passerbys to donate by purchasing a snack or a drink, including any friends of ours who happened to be coming by. We also set up flyers around the table and elsewhere on the quad to catch the attention of anyone else walking through. Not only did we focus on raising money, but also educating the people we talked to of the ACS and its cause, and encouraged them to learn more about it even if they didn’t make a purchase or donation.

To promote the event, we created flyers and distributed them around the Lincoln Park and loop campuses, as well as creating an Instagram page specific to the event.

 

Chosen Charity:

The charity we chose to work with was the American Cancer Society. The ACS is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of eliminating cancer; they were founded in 1913, by ten physicians and five businessmen in New York City. Their organization focuses on providing treatment and recovery services to patients and survivors, funding cancer treatment research, and on educating people about the risks for cancer and the importance of getting screened early for it. We chose them because we were already in the realm of healthcare-related charities, and the ACS is a very reputable and trusted organization that has a very broad purpose.

 

Analysis of project success:

Our project had two main goals: to raise money, and to raise awareness about the ACS and it’s mission. Our initial goal was $200; we soon amended that as the money raised on the day of the event itself was more than we had anticipated. Our adjusted goal was $500, and we ended up raising $582 through a combination of in-person sales and distributing the QR code to our personal networks (i.e. friends and family). Additionally, through placing flyers that promoted the ACS and by informing those who stopped by our table during the event (even if they didn’t make a purchase) we advocated for the ACS and educated those we spoke to about the organization and its mission to help those tragically afflicted with cancer. 

As it relates to finances, we stayed exactly within the allotted funding provided by our professor, and had everything we needed to be successful on the day of the event. With these metrics in mind, we believe that our project was successful and achieved its stated goals.

 

Lessons learned:

Through organizing and executing our in-person event, our team learned a lot about project management. These include, but are not limited to:

One: Communication is key

During the early stages of our project, our team struggled a bit to make meaningful progress since we were all very busy and had schedules that conflicted massively. We quickly decided that our current model wasn’t working; we switched gears by dedicating more time to the project and identified pockets of time during the week where we could meet and touch base, as well as ending those meetings with dedicated tasks for everyone so that every member knew what was expected of them personally to move the project forward. Essentially, we learned that clear communication and task delegation are vital to making real progress.

Two: Less is more

In part because of the conflict problem, we decided to narrow the scope of our project early on. Initially, we were going to host a rave, then a dance party, then an outdoor dance party to raise money for the ACS; we soon learned that each of these options was unfeasible, and we didn’t want to fall victim to scope creep. So, we decided on a trimmed combination of our initial ideas so that we could still raise money and contribute meaningfully to our chosen charity without going overboard. Some projects can certainly benefit from a large vision; this is not universally true, however. It depends on what goals are present, as well as what constraints. 

Three: Time is of the essence

One final lesson we learned was to not drag our feet on important decisions. We made sure to decide upon our theme and chosen charity within the first two meetings, since much of what comes after hinges on those choices. Next came the challenge of securing a venue; at first, we were looking to partner with the chicago park district to have our event on the beach. Using an external location/venue seemed logical, as many previous groups had done it before. That eventually proved unworkable since the CPD required an exorbitant fee that we simply could not accommodate. Acting quickly, we switched gears and secured an on-campus venue instead, carefully heeding the advice of past teams and making sure to move with haste. If we hadn’t, more unnecessary work would have had to be done, individual activities would have been unclear, and at worst the project itself could have been delayed. Not every event is as straightforward as ours was, and some simply require more planning that is more complicated. That being said, it is crucial to make important, foundational decisions early on and not waste any time. Doing so will ensure the project stays on schedule and doesn’t become a headache for everyone involved.

 

Advice to future teams:

The number one piece of advice we can give to future teams is to consider on-campus venues. We were in a bind after the beach rental fell through, and two groupmate’s connections to people who organized and oversaw campus room rentals allowed us to secure a venue in a timely fashion and without having to navigate too much bureaucracy. Having the event on campus also ensured we’d have a consistent crowd for it.

Another piece of advice is to have clear task delegation. At any stage of the project, the actual work that needs to be done can feel nebulous and unspecific; there isn’t a clear list of instructions to follow unless you make one. Deciding on specific tasks and delegating them to specific members ensures that everyone is responsible for something and that the project moves forward. Without this, certain activities can be forgotten and delays can happen.

We’d also recommend that future teams remember that time is of the essence when making choices. Don’t spend three meetings deciding the theme of the event or who to invite; getting sidetracked can lead to work piling up. Additionally, lack of communication can make it easy to forget about the project and the tasks/assignments associated with it. Checking in frequently via text or DM keeps the project and what needs to be done at the forefront of every member’s mind.

One final thing: proper event marketing needs to be spread out over several weeks. Starting your marketing plan two days before the event is not a good strategy.

 

 

 

The flyer we used to promote the event