ABOUT

Concept:

This was one of my tasks during my month-long social media internship with Social Impact Lab, a University of Southampton team that teaches student social entrepreneurship skills through challenge-based education. One of their biggest offers is the flagship programme Spark India, during which a competitively selected group of students get to travel to Mumbai, India, and work with local social ventures on a variety of projects designed to improve the lives of local people: gender equality, improving access to internet and education, preventing sexual harassment and more, all the while receiving intensive mentoring. Through these challenges they learn the necessary skills to become world-class social entrepreneurs.

While the programme was previously funded by the University, that year SIL were told to find other sources of funding. Therefore, a sponsorship prospectus was needed to showcase the uniqueness and value of the programme and help bring it to life once again.

Execution:

I was given a barebones prospectus made by my supervisor in MS Word, which was used previously without success. This was my first time doing using graphic design software and writing anything to do with sponsorship. So the first thing I did was research good practice and examples of sponsorship prospectuses by other charitable ventures. I wrote down my thoughts as I went along. I then combined this new knowledge with my personal impression of the original prospectus and compiled a critique of everything I would like to improve about it. My main conclusions were: stronger visual impression, less text and more visuals, more information about our venture partners and students' concrete achievements, more emphasis on "what's in it for the sponsor", less academic language, make sure to proofread everything.

Secondly, it was my responsibility to find suitable software on a tight budget that I could learn quickly - I only had a couple of weeks to do the project. After doing some research, I settled on Canva, a free online tool. I browsed the provided templates and chose one, then edited it to use Social Impact Lab's branding (colour palette, typefaces, logo, etc.), picked additional typefaces and colours that looked appealing to me and added little details like the "spark" motif to solidify the impression. I also combed through SIL's Flickr account as well as free stock image sites to find pictures that would help me beautify the prospectus.

My work included rewriting the content of the prospectus. I made a plan which rearranged the initial sections and added some entirely new ones, such as a page on "Why sponsor Spark India?", spreads with information on our venture partners (SafeCity, Dharavi Diary) and personal testimonies from the Spark India fellows and the venture partners they worked with.

I worked closely with the rest of the team throughout. We had regular team meetings during which I would update them on my progress, ask questions, receive feedback and exchange ideas.

Result:

The SIL team was very impressed with my sponsorship prospectus. And, most importantly, it was used successfully to secure funding for Spark India 2019. I am very proud of what I have achieved with limited resources, in a short time frame and without any previous experience. It helped me develop graphic design, copywriting, research and time management skills that I use to this day.

The prospectus can be viewed and downloaded from my portfolio, which is linked in my profile.