May Extra Blog Post

Done with senior project!!!!!

Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

1. Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or senior project? Why?

• From my Block Presentation I am most proud of the fact that I was able to make time. Aside from that I was very proud that I gave a lot of examples/pictures in my power point to help the students understand. I was also proud that the students were able to use their phones during my activity, as it probably stood out to them. Also I really liked giving the little goodie bags with Scooby Doo Graham crackers (kind of irrelevant but I thought they were cute!).
• From my overall senior project I am very proud that I came into senior year not knowing what I would focus on and yet I picked a topic I really came to enjoy. Most people dislike there topic, but im proud to tell people what I focused on for 9 months. 

2. Questions to Consider
A. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?

• P

B. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project?

• P

3. What worked for you in your senior project?

• For me, having time to do research checks in class was very helpful. It was time given to develop answers and although it seemed like a drag at the time, looking back it really helped me out for senior project. Another thing was advisory meetings. These blocks really helped in giving tips on your senior presentation as the teacher would tell you what they were looking for.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine to go back in time, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

• To improve my senior project I would have finished my independent component 1 hours much sooner. I had to turn then in a week later so I was not able to get a P but instead I got an AP.

5. (Finding Value) How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.

• Senior project has been very helpful because it forced me to get out of my comfort zone. When I was first looking for a pkace to mentor at, I didn't even like the idea of calling an organization to see if they had available volunteer opportunities. From early on I had to call multiple organizations and explain the situation I was in. I had to get over my fear of talking to people I didn't know. This was especially seen throughout my whole mentorship experience.  I have met a variety of people and it has helped develop a memorable senior year filled with new experiences I wouldnt have thought to do otherwise.

Blog 21: Mentorship

Literal

• On right side of blog
• Priceless Pet Rescue, Chino Hills
• Lisa Anderson-(951)532-2241

Interpretive

• The most important thing that I have gained from this is the experience itself. I was able to volunteer my time with dogs rescued from high kill shelters or surrenders. I was able to meet many new people I would have never met regularly. I was able to help a photographer take photos of some of the dogs. Most importantly I was able to be part of the Fundraising Committee for Priceless Pets Rescue. In these meetings I was able to see all the effort, planning, and communication it took to raise funds for the organization. It was also really cool to see Priceless Pets Rescue do some of the tips that I had been researching on. 

Applied

• What I have done has helped me answer my EQ because I became much more involved with the organization. I have had first hand experiences volunteering at fundraising events and joining the fundraising committee is one of my answers. Without actually volunteering at Priceless Pets Rescue, everything would be completely different and the EQ would have no meaning to me. 

April Extra Blog Post

April

One of Aprils main event was the Easter Eggcitment. This even was located in front of the Walmart in Chino Hills. The fundraiser was realyed to Easter as we had an easter egg basket with slips of paper on each one. One slip of paper said "basket" and the other said "toy". (NOTE: this event was mainly for little kids) each egg was $1 and depending on which egg they chose determined what prize they'd get. The baskets were homeade and were rather inexpensive as well as the toys

Blog 20: Exit Interview

• (1) What is your essential question and answers?  What is your best answer and why?

Eq: What is the best way to raise funds for a nonprofit animal rescue?

Answer 1. By having an up to date and eye-catching website to raise online donations

Answer 2. By having a variety of social media accounts to allow people to follow your organization.

Answer 3. By following up with your fundraising committee to discuss previous or future events to come in monthly meetings. 

BEST ANSWER?  By having a variety of social media accounts to allow people to follow your organization.

WHY? When interviewing my mentor Lisa Anderson,  whom is a Supervisor at Priceless Pets Rescue, is part of the Fundraising Committee, and volunteers at least twice a week at Priceless Pets Rescue with the dogs mentioned that the biggest factor contributing on how to get people to attend your events is through out their Social Media Account. Its the cheapest and quickest way to get the word out about the organization to people. She also stated that they use this method for everything. For example, Priceless Pets Rescue raised $1,600 through a restaurant fundraiser in one night by putting it all over there Facebook and Instagram.

• (2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I first came across this answer through my foundational pieces. They would mention how a huge majority of nonprofit organizations that were successful had social networks. Apart from that, I noticed that all the "big" nonprofits such as Red Cross and YMCA have social media sites. 

• (3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The one problem I faced was on how to complete my 2nd semester Independent Component 30 hours because I was not sure how or on what I could focus on. I resolved this by finding out that Priceless Pets Rescue had a Fundraising Committee and joining it. This extremely helped me because I was putting my EQ into action. This committee focused on raising funds for the organization which is what my EQ is trying to find. 

• (4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My first significant source would have to be my mentor Lisa Anderson. As I mentioned above she is heavily involved within the organization and she has helped me discover answers to my EQ plus answer any questions I have about the organization or use her opinions to further research possible answers. My  second significant source was a book written by llona Bray J.D. titled "Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work". This was also an important source because not only was it written in 2013, the most recent possible but it breaks down every aspect of Fundraising for a nonprofit.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

Literal

• A. I Daisy Zavala affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
• B. The biggest source that helped me complete my independent component would have to be my mentor Lisa Anderson and the fundraising committee at Priceless Pets Rescue. By joining the fundraising committee I was able to ask questions and listen to the meetings to see how Priceless Pets gains their funds.
• C. Above Mentorship Log
• D. In this Independent Component, I was able to be "behind the scenes" in the organization. I listened to problems facing the organization, future event preparation and ideas, and saw how Priceless Pets runs their meetings. Everyone talks in an order for what they have to say for the month and subcommittees are formed. They discuss how much profit they've made from the past month in either donations, events, or fundraisers. Along with attending these monthly meetings, I also worked on some events such as the Easter Eggcitment event and the Bruxie Restaurant Fundraiser.  

Interpretative

• For every meeting I attended, I have the printed sheet that gets passed out to everyone in the committee and Lisa could confirm that I have attended those meetings for the rest of the events I have pictures that I was actually there and are time stamped as well. 

Applied

• This component has helped me answer my EQ entirely. Without attending those meetings, I would not have came up with my third answer. In fact those monthly meetings are my third answer. It showed me the importance of getting together with your committee to discuss what has been going on within the organization. 

March Extra Blog Post

March

Wow, we are now at the end of March. 2 more months and we start presentations. Graduation is near. On another note, volunteering at Priceless Pets Rescue has been great. I am still part of the Fundraising Committee and I have to say it is really fun. This months major event was the Bruxie Fundraiser. A restaurant in Chino Hills, donated 20% of the profit to the organization. Plus, we had dogs available for adoption at the restaurant since it has a patio as well. Overall a very good event! In the month of March Priceless Pets Rescue had 94 adoptions! 

Blog 18: Third Answer

EQ: What is the best way to raise funds for a nonprofit animal rescue?

    Answer #3: By "following up" with your fundraising committee to discuss your previous event or future         events to come, in monthly meetings.

• Source: Interview #3- Lisa stated in Interview #3, that the fundraising committee will meet up after an event to discuss what went well and what didn't do so well for future reference. Example: After Priceless Pets Rescue put on the Pittie Event, the committee met up to discuss both the positive and negative side to the event. Such as, since the event was outside at a local park there were certain areas that were muddy making the area "unusable" 
• Source: Mentorship- The Fundraising Committee for Priceless Pets Rescue meet every month to discuss future events. This allows them to come up with new ideas and address some of the problems they have come across within the organization. Example: In the most recent meeting, the committee is planning a Easter Event for children. There will be an Easter egg hunt and dogs available for adoption. 
• Source: Colston, Kaitlin "Importance of  a Follow Up Meeting After Your Event"-"By holding an event-wrap up, your team can evaluate where to go for next year and how they can improve the event." Example: Again, the Pittie Fest event is a perfect example.

Blog 17: Fourth Interview

20 Questions:

• 1. How frequently does the Fundraising Committee meet?
• 2. Are there any other times in the month were you meet more frequently?
• 3.How long has the fundraising committee been for?
• 4. Who started the committee?
• 5. How useful are these meetings towards raising funds?
• 6. On average how long do events need to be planned for?
• 7. How important are sub-committees?
• 8. How much preparation do events usually need?
• 9. How do you come up with new fundraising ideas?
• 10. How important are connections? 
• 11.What events and/or fundraising ideas have had the least success?
• 12. Is there any event that you are most proud off?
• 13. How do you determine adoption fees?
• 14. What is the importance of having support of the community?
• 15. What are some events that have been good ideas, but have not been completed?
• 16. What determines whether an event will be proceeded?
• 17. How important are postmortem?
• 18. What has been one mistake from previous experience that you know not to repeat when it comes to events? or in general fundraising
• 19. Who runs the social media accounts for Priceless Pets Rescue?
• 20. Is there ever time where the community is more supportive?

Extra Blog Post- Febuary

Fundraising Committee 

Turns out Priceless Pets Rescue has a fundraising committee. I joined as they welcomed new members. The committee meets once a month at different restaurants to talk about future fundraising events for the organization. There is a $10 fee for every-time we meet, but that is manageable and it goes right back to the organization. I went in February and it was a great first hand experience. They are even letting me come up with ideas for next months (March) meeting. 

Blog 16:Advisory Meeting #2

EQ:"What is the best way to raise funds for a nonprofit animal rescue?"

Answer #2 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*By having an active and variety of social media accounts, for a chance for people to "follow"your organization.
3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• Source:Interview #3-  Lisa stated that the biggest factor to contributing on how to get people to attend events is through social media account. Example: Priceless Pets Rescue raised $1600 in one night, through a food fundraiser by putting it all over their Facebook and Instagram.

• Source: Mentorship- At mentorship, Priceless Pets rescue uses social media account to request donations of items needed for the organization. Example: Often they will request medicine, bleach, towels and blankets and will receive donations the next day.

• Source: Council of Nonprofits- By driving traffic to your social media pages, you build awareness and possible donors to your nonprofit organization. Example: Instagram page.

Concluding Sentence:

Using a social media is a great way to raise awareness of your mission and possible fundraisers that will lead potential donors to donate. 

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.For my 30 hours of Independent Component 2, I will be joining the fundraising Committee at Priceless Pets. They meet the first Monday of every month at different restaurants to discuss both future events and anything related to the funds of the organization. So with this in mind since I am now part of the committee, I will now know when fundraising events will be at during the month so I can volunteer at them. They are even letting me come up with some ideas on what we can do to raise money for next months meeting.
2. The meeting every month, they give an agenda of what they will be talking about and have a calendar of events. I will be posting the information as well as taking pictures of the events and having a signature of hours I have done.
3. This will help me get a further understanding of my topic because it is a first hands on experience of how the money gets to the organization, since it does not just appear there. I will be able to see and work how these events are run and see how much planning one event has. I never realized how much work and thought went into just one event. So based on the successes of these events I will be able to both come u with new answers and get real life examples that support my answers.
4.Done

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Refletion

1. Positive Statement:
From my lesson 2 presentation, I am most proud of my Powerpoint. I was finnally able to put transitions in and make pictures fade in and out as I am speaking. I also liked that I was able to get real examples from different nonprofit organizations to support my answer

2.Self Assessment:
I would give myself a P. I did what was required for a P and I think that is what I deserve.

3.What Worked?
What worked for me in lesson 2, was having the the timer in the back of the room to know how much time I need left.

4.What didn't work?
I would not change anything to my presentation.

5. Answer 2?
For my 2nd answer, I think I will either do having social media sites so people interested in your organization can track your progress or partnering up with other local small businesses to spread information of the organization.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

• Literal

A) I Daisy Zavala, affirm that I have ONLY  18 hours of independent Component which represents I do not have 30 hours of work.
b)Since I choose to do extra hours, there was no book but instead my mentorship of Priceless Pets Rescue.
c) Above mentorship log
d) In these 18 hours, I did a variety of things. I would clean out the dogs kennels (mop, sweep, pick up after them, change there blankets and bedding, change their water, put food), sweep the  floor, wash and dry the dogs water bowls, fold their blankets and towels and store them away, walk dogs to the park, clean the windows, and most importantly play with the dogs.

• Interpretive

I have pictures of times I have gone to volunteer and for the two most recent dates I have signatures of my hours. (NOTE: picture are in spreadsheet under INDEPENDENT COMPONENT 1 LOG)

• Applied

This component helped me understand my topic better because it really made it clear why I was focusing on my topic in the first place. At my mentorship, it is all based under volunteers who dedicate their time to get things done. Just today, I was walking a dog named Dorthy and she was so adorable, it was devastating to know she didn't have a home. She was AMAZING at walking on the leash. Most dogs tug on their leash but she did not. And when I would stop to pet her, she let me and soon after she would stand on her two legs and jump on me so I could pet her while she licked my face. Incidents like this are what really make you remember why you are doing the things you are. This also helped me reinforce why I had chose this topic and allowed me to keep furthering my research.

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

1. What is the best way to raise funds for a no kill animal rescue?

2. What would you define as a no "kill animal rescue"?
3. In your opinion, where do you think the biggest amount of funds come from?
4. How important do you think a Social Media account plays in raising funds towards the animal rescue?
5. What events have been the most successful?
6. What kind of events has Priceless Pets done to raise money?
7. What is one big important thing every event needs?
8. How important are donations compared to other forms of raising money?
9. How do you get people to donate more frequently or to even donate in general?
10. Is there a certain situation where people are more likely to donate? If so when?

Bog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

1. I am doing my mentorship  at Priceless Pets Rescue located in Chino Hills.
2. My contact is Barbara. She is in charge of the fundraising that occurs at Priceless Pets.
3. I have done a total of 10 hours and 5 minutes.
4. In my 10 hours of service I have walked dogs around the park, played with the dogs, cleaned there kennels, changed their water, help organizing all the towels and blankets they have. I have also worked at an event by running two booths. One was "guess the number of bones in the jar" and the other was intended for little kids to play games and get candy from it.

Blog 10-Senior Project: The Holiday

1.) Over winter break, I began researching possible books to use for research. I was able to find a couple which was relieving because I wasn't to sure I'd be able to find some. Aside from books, I started researching articles too related to my modified EQ. I now have articles and/or books ready for research check this Friday.
2.)The most important thing that I learned was to find extra research whether it be articles or books so that you will be prepared for research checks. If you always keep finding new research you will always be ready as well as ahead of the "process".
3.) If I was doing a 10 question interview on answers related to my senior question I would ask my mentor Barbara who is in charge of the fundraising committee at Priceless Pets Rescue. She has a lot of experience which is why I would ask her on what she thinks.