A student-led organization like the Ben Stelter School Fundraiser (BSSF) becomes Canada’s largest student-led fundraiser by going beyond participation as individual roles become a real team.
When a student team grows from 19 to 54 in under an year, leaders miss a silent challenge. Members can fall into a panic of uncertainty without any support systems: confusion about their expectations, their role in the broader mission, or who to ask for help.
Students feel lost or useless in their own team, which Mya Mangan, the new Director of People and Engagement at the BSSF, explains the results of.
“When students don’t understand their role in the organization and how it connects with everyone else’s work, it can lead to a decline in motivation and engagement as people can lose track of the overall mission and what all our work is for […] it can demotivate them into feeling like their work doesn’t matter, which is the farthest thing from the truth.”
One of the clearest parts of Mangan’s job is making an initiative of 54 individuals engage with each other through clarity and confidence as she leads the People team.
Their idea is simple: collaboration becomes much harder when people don’t feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, or even working with the people around them.
When the People department found this, they made a blueprint for departments to connect outside of their work. With $35 given per person, teams took part in activities such as pottery workshops, escape rooms, and other shared experiences. And every three weeks, team members also meet in person to share their team’s progress while taking part in planned collaborative team activities.
Amadeo Reid, Chief of Staff at the BSSF, saw the difference that changed the way he worked with his team.
“After the first team meeting, I found that it was so much easier to work with people because I found I trusted them more after seeing them in person […] Building trust and creating a team bond is just as important as working together.”
But the problem feels very different for many new hires. They are set behind everyone else as they enter a system where goals, ideas, connections, and workflows are already established. In an environment like this, new members may not even understand their broader function in the fundraiser and fall behind.
Mangan and her team believes that any new member needs clear instructions and guidance to integrate into the organization’s existing environment.
It’s the simple reason behind the BSSF’s onboarding course, a self paced introduction to the initiative and its mission. It really helps new members understand the motivating impact that comes with their work, and how it ties with the work of other roles.
Adrian Lau, a new fundraising coordinator at the BSSF, changed the passionate energy he put into his work as a product of the onboarding course.
“The onboarding course not only made me realize how impactful this role is, but it also gave me a deeper insight into BSSF’s background and cause. Understanding the impact of our work motivates me even more to try my best in my role.”
Questions do not stop after onboarding. As projects develop, uncertainty can build up into confusion without the necessary opportunities to ask questions and raise concerns.
Organizations can build on a fragile frame without these opportunities. That is why the student-led initiative is constantly holding one-on-ones between team members and their department’s leader every week for clarifications, alongside team meetings with colleagues.
Efforts like this are more about making individuals into a committed group of people who understand the mission and can work confidently with others to work towards their goals, creating an autonomous organization.
The quiet work of the People team and the willing collaboration of different teams behind the scenes help different roles contribute, collaborate, and lead together. That is how a student organization of disconnected individuals becomes student-led.
Mangan believes that their work to create a stronger internal experience is part of what helps the organization carry out its mission to bring Proton Therapy to Canada.
“When individual roles collaborate together and people are open to lean on each other for help, it allows us to use the many unique skill sets within the team to create advancements for our mission that otherwise would be impossible to make […] it builds trust when people feel that they can rely on their teammates and work with them, which is vital in a team such as ours.”
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