[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: I heard about Givology through Idealist. I was looking for a nonprofit organization that dealt with education, and that I could get an internship with. And I saw Givology, and I saw everything that we stood for and it really just inspired me, how international Givology was and how effective our structure was. Then I applied and I got an internship and after that whole process, what I thought was really inspiring was how horizontal the structure is and how you can take initiative. If you have ideas, you can really put it to use because everyone volunteers and they want your opinion, which is sort of unheard of in a lot of places. Givology is groundbreaking with their giving structure and incredibly open to new ideas.
[b]MEGAN FOO: What inspires you about Givology and its mission?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: What inspires me about Givology and our mission is just the fact that education is the root of all change, I feel, and Givology understands that and is willing to change the game of giving and help everyone. They open the door to pretty much any organization they see is legitimate and worthy of assistance.
[b]MEGAN FOO: How did you come up with the concept of our current project - #GIVspiration?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: I was going through the Onboarding process for Givology; that was about two weeks. It was just telling me about taking initiative and coming up with ideas as an intern and so I just started thinking about social media, because I was working more on that with the marketing and social media team. I noticed that our Instagram following wasn’t that big. I love photography, I love design and so I thought that that would be a really good avenue to inspire other youth around the world. Through images and videos, now that Instagram has that, you really see the impact of volunteerism. I sort of just followed Givology’s mission and took a more visual approach to it. With the contest, I thought it would be perfect for the summer; people are travelling and volunteering a lot. So that’s how I came up with this idea! Currently we have grown from 55 followers to over 250 and the project is just at our half way mark. It is all very exciting to be a connection for people to volunteer, inspire their friends through their photos, and change the world.
[b]MEGAN FOO: What are your hopes for the future of Givology?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: I hope that we can keep doing what we’re doing and just expand Givology to more partners and more donors. We are really, really international, I mean you’re in Hong Kong right now and I’m in Philadelphia and I hope that we can just contact more people, impact more lives, and have that exponential empowerment effect. You know, create, teach people to teach people and keep that chain effect going.
[b]MEGAN FOO: Can you tell me about your experience as a development intern?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: I was only a development intern for a month and a half but it was really, really awesome; the team is so great. I was a little nervous in the beginning honestly because it is pretty much all online and through the conference calls. I’ve never done something like this. But it was really inclusive and once I started getting myself into the program in Givology, I wasn’t scared because you have your weekly conference calls, you have the list-serve so you can hear from everyone, and we’ll have this New York meet-up. I really loved it and they listen to you. I could email Joyce Meng, the CEO, and she’ll get back to you that day. So it was a really, really great experience.
[b]MEGAN FOO: What does education mean to you?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: Education to me is everything and I think it’s not just school; it’s not just sitting in the classroom and reading a textbook. It’s taking every opportunity in your life and really growing from it and understanding that this happens, how I can grow in this way, or why I can go a different avenue and learn from that way. I guess education is really about benefiting from every aspect of your life and taking opportunities and then later spreading what you learned into ways to help other people have education.
[b]MEGAN FOO: What would you say is the most challenging aspect of being PR Director?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: I’m sort of still figuring that out but being a PR director, I think that I’m learning how to delegate roles so that we can have a larger impact with a big team. I would say that would be a challenge, but I love our team and Givology as a whole so that helps a lot. But I love making the images, coming up with campaigns, and working with people. It really is helpful everyone’s so supportive in our team. Working with a nonprofit organization is all about self-education so I am constantly researching ways to be more useful and creative in my role as PR Director.
[b]MEGAN FOO: What do you enjoy the most about your volunteering?[/b]
[b]ALLISON ZAUCHA[/b]: What I enjoy the most about volunteering is just having an impact on someone else’s life. That’s one of the reasons I was drawn to Givology, that you can make that impact; even if you aren’t the Head of the organization, you can still have an impact on someone’s life. Even when I was little, I would do volunteer with different groups and I knew that that was what I wanted to do with my life. I think that’s the point of existence, just to make people’s lives better. Through volunteering, you can really change someone’s life, whether by building a home or building their education. It starts small, and it makes an impact, and that has a lasting effect on other people.