UT MBA Students Study Daya for their Class Project

HOUSTON: The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin chose the non-profit sector for the 2013 final project for their graduating MBA students. A team of five students – Smita Kumar, Stephane Dissake, Keri Macaluso, Arpan Shah and Benjamin Plouvier – chose Daya as their organization of choice for their study. After a preliminary meeting, these students chose two areas of Daya’s operations to focus on: (1) marketing and (2) fund-raising. Sesh Bala (Daya Board Member), Vyoma Majmudar-Banker (Daya’s Director of Counseling & Client Services) and Dr. Padmini Nathan (Daya President), worked with the UT team, providing them the background, the needed operational and financial information for analysis, long term goals and also current priorities. The team then did their research and analysis, and documented their findings in a written report and a Power Point presentation that they gave to the Business School faculty members at UT-Austin and also to fellow MBA students. The students have all since graduated with their MBA degrees. They also presented their findings to Daya at a meeting of the board members and staff.

The recommendations presented by the UT MBA team, not surprisingly, included use of modern technology in both the marketing areas and the fund-raising areas. Facebook, Twitter, targeted eNewsletters, data mining and revamping the website to highlight the human and emotional side of Daya’s work were among the many recommendations. The new area of ‘crowdfunding’ was also explored as a way to raise funds for specific projects. The recommendations also included increased traditional marketing and fundraising approaches, making it a balanced presentation. The whole process was a fruitful experience for both the MBA students and the Daya board and staff.

Daya intends to follow up on several of the UT MBA study recommendations. Community help is already underway too. A radio station which heard about the UT study has approached Daya offering to help with marketing, helping make the South Asian community aware of Daya and its free services. There was a ’crowdfunding’ seminar organized by TiE Houston Chapter and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce recently. TiE leader Shri Iyer provided a free pass to Daya for the seminar; a Daya staff member attended the seminar.

Daya is a Houston-based 501-C-3 non-profit charitable organization founded in 1996. Daya helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the South Asian communities in the Greater Houston area. Daya provides confidential counseling, case management, financial assistance and transitional housing to its clients. Daya also holds free educational seminars. Daya hotline number is 713-981-7645 and website www.dayahouston.org.