Session Overview
Hi! We are a 501(c)(3) fiscally sponsored nonprofit organization called Medical Students Association and our mission to assist the lives of hospitalized patients through our three main programs: Be a Buddy, Any Buddy Can Dance, and Care Kits. Our main purpose for this call is to get advice regarding volunteer recruitment, raising funds, and growing our social media presence. Regarding volunteers, our Be a Buddy and Any Buddy Can Dance programs are entirely volunteer-run in that volunteers join zoom calls every week and interact with patients (talking and providing emotional support in Be a Buddy and teaching patients how to dance in Any Buddy Can Dance). Despite the initial great demand for the programs, we have been struggling to get dedicated volunteers for these programs, especially for Any Buddy Can Dance. For our Care Kits initiative, we make kits with medical and recreational items and deliver these kits to facilities across the Bay Area (looking to expand nationally). For this, we wanted to get advice on how to approach sponsors, search/apply to grants, effectively crowdfund, etc to raise sufficient funds. Lastly, we believe having a stronger social media and online presence as a whole would assist in these two problems so we wanted to receive advice regarding this. We currently only have an Instagram account (@medicalstudentsassociation) and LinkedIn. We also have a wixsite (https://medstudentsa.wixsite.com/website-msa) at the moment.
Nonprofit Overview
Medical Students Association is 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that strives to enhance the lives of hospitalized patients who suffer from a wide range of chronic neurological/respiratory disorders.