LAMP students help non-profit through Virtu Project

IU senior Abbey Stemler traveled to Ecaudor during the summer of 2006 as an intern with the Timmy Foundation, an Indianapolis-based non-profit organization. Once her internship was over, Stemler hoped to continue to support Timmy. The result? The Virtu Project, designed by Stemler and other students in IU’s Liberal Arts and Management program.\nThe Virtu Project, which debuted Nov. 16, is a social entrepreneurship initiative that uses pledges from donors to a mock investment portfolio. The money raised is then given to the Indianapolis-based Timmy Foundation.\n“The project challenges almost every skill that a LAMP student works on developing, such as communication, writing, financial savvy, balance, negotiation and business know-how,” said Stemler, one of the project’s co-founders. \nAdam Clevenger, associate director for development for the Timmy Foundation, said the foundation has been in a partnership with IU for over five years. The foundation, which works to provide education and health care for children in financially needy regions of Central and South America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, has offered internship opportunities to students. \nStemler said the project took two years and lots of meetings to build momentum and clearly define goals and strategies. \nMelissa Bailey, LAMP student advisory board member, said that Stemler, senior Vic Simianu and herself took a LAMP sophomore seminar together, which analyzed the effects of globalization and capitalism on American society as well as the rest of the world. \n“We were interested in how business can benefit others, and thus grow a desire to combine our business skills with our ideals,” Bailey said. \nStemler said the project involves three teams, all of whom work closely with one another. The fund development team focuses on procuring donations for the mock portfolio, while the investment team manages the mock portfolio and hopefully earns a significant return, she said. The accountability team keeps track of all pledges as well as reports for donors, and its members write follow-up letters once it is time for the donors to fulfill their pledges. \nClevenger said the students will be asking donors to pledge a certain amount of money. Virtu Project members will then invest this money into a mock stock market that was developed with faculty. The mock market will run as a normal stock market. If there is a profit at the end of the year, students will ask the donors to make a donation based on the net earnings of the initial amount.\n“If a donor pledges $10,000 and at the end of the year if there is a profit, they will be asked to donate $1,000 to the Timmy Foundation,” Clevenger said. \nBailey said her work on the Virtu Project has allowed her to further her interest in communications and event planning. Bailey organized the inaugural gala for the project. \n“Virtu is a business; we must understand how to work and communicate with others, clearly articulate our aim with Virtu to donors and develop and monitor a mock portfolio,” Bailey said. “The project allows us to use what we have been studying before we graduate and have our first job.”\nStemler added that the Timmy Foundation is a remarkable organization and its approach parallels precisely with that of Virtu. Students get hands-on learning opportunities, such as traveling abroad with medical professionals to set up short-term service trips. \nClevenger said that this project is a learning experience for students without the risks of the real stock market. \n“Students get the opportunity to invest while supporting the Timmy Foundation,” Clevenger said.\n Stemler described the project as a conduit for learning and instrument for change.\n“The project provides students with an educational opportunity that classrooms cannot,” she said. “The end result of the project will help many more people than just those who learned something.”