Getting Started
Welcome to the course guide for LDR 6110 with Professor Robbie! Use the links included in this guide to help you begin your research for this course. It is important to use reliable, authoritative resources when researching. The resources provided here are carefully selected to provide a strong foundation for more powerful reports.
If you need additional guidance in locating resources, please feel free to contact me for an appointment.
About the project
CoLAB Sponsor is a not-for-profit organization in Watertown, Massachusetts, connecting high school students with life science companies. The organization was recently incorporated and is in the early development stage. With the mission of inspiring high school student interest in STEM careers and facilitating career development engagements that build students’ abilities to navigate their futures. Sponsor programs currently feature career exploration lectures, field trips, an after-school CoLAB Club, and mentoring engagements.
While the organization has been in operation since 2019, it was only just incorporated as a 501c3 in April 2023 and is now looking to increase its outreach and impact. In order to scale their activities, enhance the quality of their work, and evolve into a truly sustainable business model, the sponsor requires financial support.
The organization is seeking assistance with the development of a funding strategy and related materials in order to maintain and grow their reach to students and life science organizations.
Goals and Deliverables
1: Funding Proposal:
1. Research, develop, and create a funding proposal that can support any or all of the CoLAB programs. CoLAB’s priority is securing funding from:
- the Watertown Community Foundation, and
- the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
2. Create a funding proposal to support a part-time science position at Watertown High School (WHS) (approximately $80,000 per year) as part of the Watertown Public Schools (WPS) budget effective 2026.
- This proposal requires a vote by the Watertown School Committee, so remember to focus on “buy-in” and demonstrate with your research why the School Committee should vote yes.
2) Corporate Funding and/or Grand Opportunities
Drawing upon an understanding of CoLAB, students will:
- Intentionally research, analyze, and recommend several possible corporate funding and/or grant opportunities that align with CoLAB’s mission.
- Please include contact information, timelines, and the team's rationale on why each corporation/nonprofit listed may be a good fit for CoLAB.
- A chart could be helpful to complete this part of the project.
- Select one grant/opportunity from your recommended list and complete the preliminary application steps.
- You will NOT be submitting the grant/opportunity; rather, you will prepare the preliminary steps to help CoLAB move the process forward.
Key Resources (Databases)
The databases listed below are core databases for general business, consumer information, and marketing databases.
- Business Source Ultimate (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowScholarly, peer-reviewed articles and professional association news and information, the majority in full text. Some video.
- Grants to Individuals (Candid) This link opens in a new windowA funding research tool for finding foundations that provide financial support for individual grantseekers.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowBrings together data and graphs on every imaginable topic from business to government, surveys, sports, and scientific topics. Charts and data exports available.
- Emerging Markets Information Service (EMIS) This link opens in a new windowNews, market research reports, and company and financial data from more than 80 emerging markets.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowOne of the most trusted sources for scholarly books and historical journal backfiles. Beginning in 2023, JSTOR also includes ArtStor images of art and primary source artifacts.
Research Tips
To get started, below is a list of helpful search strategies, tips, and best practices to get you started. Try these keywords as suggestions (use your own for a more specific results page for your report)
- Nonprofits AND funding
- nonprofit AND youth services AND STEM programming
- youth services AND business models AND best practices AND funding proposal
- "funding plan" AND non profit
- marketing AND nonprofit AND STEM programming
- fund* AND "youth services"
- "case stud*" AND fund* AND STEM
- "case stud*" AND fund* AND education AND job skills
- Research TutorialsReview the fundamentals of using library databases to plan and execute a topic search.
General Non-Profit Information
- Qualtrics Guide to Market ResearchArticle from Qualtrics on conducting business research and communicating it to your team and clients
- Charity NavigatorCharity Navigator evaluates and compares nonprofit charities for potential donors. Ratings include financial health, accountability and transparency. In addition to rating information sign up for a free login account to access past ratings, IRS information, including current and past IRS 990 forms and links to news articles about the charity.
- GuidestarGuideStar's database contains data on more than 900,000 public charities, approximately 118,000 private foundations, and nearly half a million other exempt organizations in the United States. Federal 990 forms can be accessed through Guidestar, and grant activity of both grantmakers and grantees is accessible through the Grant Explorer data set.
- Better Business BureauRates and grades charity organizations based on performance, a history of complaints against the organization and other criteria.