UTS Business School students have developed a new corporate engagement strategy for not-for-profit Project Didi.
Project Didi restores hope, dignity, and independence to women and girls in Nepal exposed to trafficking and abuse. They do this through trauma-informed care, family strengthening, reintegration, education, and pathways to employment.
Through the Shopfront Community Coursework Program, 40 students worked to develop a realistic and sustainable strategy for Project Didi to promote their activities to the corporate sector and increase corporate support.
They achieved this through:
- Scaling the e-commerce infrastructure
- Defining the market segmentation
- Developing a partnership framework.
The students offered several recommendations, including implementing a dropshipping operating model – moving Project Did from having a stockpile of products to a system where they will purchase the inventory as needed to fulfill customer orders.
Merry Cloutier, Strategic Funding Adviser for Project Didi, advised students that their work will be summarised and sent to their board for review. Once approved, Project Didi will implement the students’ recommendations. They hope it will lead to more interactions for Project Didi with value-aligned corporates.
“There were some great outcomes. I highly recommend the Shopfront Program as an excellent way for NFPs to tap into the skills required for some of their projects,” Cloutier said.
“I find that working with [Shopfront] tends to challenge my thinking and creates sparks for new ideas, and keeps me up-to-date with trends. It also means that more people and their networks understand your cause and the issues. Specific information on relevant corporates and available technology were beneficial.”
The students found working with a not-for-profit organisation strengthened their will to foster positive outcomes in the community.
“There is so much to do, but actually being involved in a project shows that we all have our part to play, and we can achieve some great work and make a change at our very individual level,” one student said.
Shopfront links the community sector to university expertise through pro bono projects completed by students as part of their studies, supervised by academic experts in their field. We aim to create mutual value, supporting community organisations while engaging students in important social justice issues. Find out more.