Students' Projects given Chance to Shine

Think social responsibility and you don’t normally think of banks. Discovering social enterprise, learning business skills, pitching for sponsorship and inspiring volunteering were just some of the themes explored in the Imperial College Finance Society (ICFS) led Corporate Citizenship conference on Wednesday. A pilot event for the society and run in collaboration with Imperial Hub & The Student Led Projects symposium, the conference brought together senior business leaders from investment banks, start up social entrepreneurs and student projects – with a series of speeches, workshops and a sponsorship pitching session with £750 up for grabs.

Sponsorship isn’t as simple as writing a document, emailing a firm and getting money for projects and societies. Students nationwide learned about the unique approaches and strategies used by ICFS in developing and maintaining extraordinarily close partnerships with over 33 firms – the key themes being professionalism without elitism, a small exec committee with tight sponsorship control, accountability and of course informality – when in doubt, make a cool YouTube video! Projects had the chance to hear from ICFS sponsors such as Nomura on why they support the society and the key takeaway message: If you want funding for a student-project – don’t act like a student but act like a corporate!

With keynote presentations from Nomura and Ernst & Young, students witnessed first-hand the kind of CSR projects such firms fund – from the Rainbow Trust to EY’s extensive portfolio of social enterprises. The Rainbow Trust mentioned how they were successful in becoming the charity partner for Nomura and raising £500,000 in just a year – just through employee engagement and matched giving (where the firm matches any donation made by an employee to a charity). Following this, students had the exclusive chance to listen to the UK Head of Corporate Citizenship at Ernst & Young – who highlighted key projects in entrepreneurship, education & environment totalling £5.1 million of UK sponsorship in the past year.

The highlight of the speeches was undoubtedly John Grisby, a social entrepreneur who co-founded DNA Performance – an organisation aimed at finding and educating the next generation of business leaders for CSR style projects. In John’s landmark speech – he touched on the issue of “self-awareness” – you might think you’re a pro – but your sponsors may not! Reviewing, reflecting and adapting your team to drive sustained performance is key to securing long-term investment and sponsorship. It’s as much about emotional intelligence as it is about having competitive and unique technical skills.

Sound words of advice indeed. Following the presentations, projects had the chance to network and prepare for their sponsorship pitches in workshops run by Stuart Arnott (Mindings) and Rhiannon Horsley (from our very own Imperial Hub) on writing business plans in a 9-fold concept as well as the critical attributes of emotion, conveying a story, succinctness and passion in pitches for sponsorship. With over 10 projects vying for £750 worth of sponsorship – these workshops gave them valuable feedback on their business plans and existing proposals – preparing them for the main event: The Sponsorship Pitching competition.

With £750 of ICFS Sponsorship up for grabs in a competition with 10 strong student-led projects from Imperial College, Loughborough University, UCL & Liverpool University – the high stakes pitching challenge was the highlight of the day. Judged by business representatives from Inside Buzz, John Grisby, Stuart Arnott and RhiannonHorsley, projects had just three minutes to covey their ideas, hopes, dreams and ambitions to our panel – with immediate feedback. From societies to social enterprises, each pitch was unique and it was up to the judges to answer the critical question: Who should we invest in Who has what it takes to stand up and do a pitch?

The Imperial College El Salvador project (working on critical construction projects overseas) left the judges impressed with their quick-fire ability to turn an engineering project into a viable social enterprise proposition – walking away with the top prize of £500. The Kenyan Orphan project – supporting health, welfare and education in Kenya – similarly impressed with their personal and passionate pitch; winning £250 of sponsorship. Many congratulations not only to the winning projects but to all 10 who pitched on the day – they all received valuable feedback from sponsorship pitching veterans and no doubt this will help in the future!

Sponsorship isn’t as simple as writing a document, emailing a firm and getting money for projects and societies

Student Hubs’ CEO Adam O’Boyle closed the conference with an eye-opening speech into the foundation and impact of Student Hubs – the umbrella organisation behind Imperial Hub this year. With numerous ways to get involved whatever your volunteering aspirations – projects learned how they could take it to the next level with the opportunities from Imperial Hub. It was a fantastic end to a highly successful pilot event for the ICFS; the first event of this kind organised by any finance society in the country!

Educational. Inspirational. Motivational. Thanks to a fantastic effort by ICFS, Imperial Hub and the Student Led Projects Symposium – that’s exactly what students felt of this pilot conference – see you next year where we’ll go bigger and better!