Sustainicum Collection

Consus The aim of the project is to establish a regional science-society network for sustainability innovations in Albania and Kosovo in order to strengthen the connection and collaboration of institutions in the field of higher education, research and practice.

English Shqip

Resource facts

Work in pairs
Group work
Less than 5 students
up to 1 semester
English, Shqip

Resource Description

PDF

Resource_Description_269.pdf

Instruction file

PDF

UC_Fundraising_Instructions.pdf

Handouts

Fundraising for Survival: A journey to helping Kosovar national teams compete globally(Resource ID: 269)

In the midst of the recent recognition of the Kosovar sports federation by the international community and especially the Olympic Committee, it is essential that the community in Kosovo supports sports activity in order to prepare individuals/teams to compete in the international competition. Therefore, the aim of this Teaching Resource is to teach students how to write a project proposal for a fundraising event. Because of the fact that Kosovo faces many basic life challenges, sports do not seem to be on top of the agenda, thus, it is incumbent upon individuals and the community to raise funds in order to help sports in Kosovo. Therefore, this assignments aims at developing a sense of community service among students and encourage them to establish cooperation between many stakeholders.

Since the end of the conflict in 1999 and the separation from Serbia, national sport teams from Kosovo were not able to compete at an international level. This has become a challenge for many sport federations in Kosovo, as the inability to compete internationally has reduced the competition and decreased the level of quality in every aspect. Recently, the international sports community has been more forthcoming and has recognised many sport federations, including recognition from the Olympic Committee. However, according to sport analysts who have followed the progress closely, Kosovar teams are in a transitional stage, thus, inexperienced and not capable of competing internationally. According to Tomor Grabovci of Radio Dukagjini, Kosovar teams are not at the same level as those of the region because owners of sport clubs have short-term strategies and are only focused on the professional level, rather than investing in amateur and junior level squads. Furthermore, Grabovci stresses the need for collectively contributing to raising funds for developing young players that could improve the performance of national clubs to compete internationally.

The aim of this teaching material is to develop a project for fundraising in order to help these clubs develop players that are capable of helping their respective teams (and national teams) compete on an international level. This assignment will also be the main assessment criteria for the Project Management course. This assignment aims at providing students with knowledge regarding project management, organizational and behavioural aspects of managing a project, as well as familiarizing students with components of writing/implementing a project, such as: planning, budgeting, scheduling, resource allocation, monitoring, etc. Through this assignment, students will be able to address the role of the project manager in an organization and ways of structuring organization (project) for achieving the objectives. Furthermore, through this project students will understand more about the scope and complexity of modern projects and learn how to apply different tools and techniques for project management.

This assignment will be divided into four stages:

1^st Stage: Conceptualization

During this stage, students will be divided into groups (separation into groups will be a choice of students), and together will decide on the team they will chose to support via a fundraising. During this stage, students will provide a one-page summary on why they have chosen to support the organization (sport club) and who are the main stakeholders that they plan to involve. (This stage will last 2 weeks)

2^nd Stage: Problem Study

After they have settled on a sports club, students will conduct research about the organization. They will learn about the ticket sales, current sponsors, formers sponsors, community engagements, number of local businesses, basic necessities of the sports club, etc. Furthermore, students will schedule at least 2 meetings with the management of the sports club to learn about their main challenges and gather information about the staff and their involvement with the organization. Lastly, students will decide on duties for each group member. (This stage will last 4 weeks)

3^rd Stage: Planning and Budgeting

During this stage students will list the activities that will take place in order to raise €10,000 to support the club. Students are able to use Universum College facilities to organize events, however, should not include operational costs in their budget. During this stage, students must clearly state the name of each activity and the time it will occur. Students are encouraged to use specific scheduling techniques such as PERT or CPM to determine the longevity of the project. (This stage will last 4 weeks)

4^th Stage: Implementing, Monitoring and Aftermath

Students along with representatives from the chosen sport clubs, community and local officials should partake in the events they have planned. Once the activities are completed, students will measure the success/failure of the project. In addition to turning in the project proposal, students will also write a self-assessment report about the success and failures of their work. In addition, they will conduct a peer evaluation which will be provided by the professor.

Students do not have a limit on the amount of money they would need to raise. However, students should set a goal (i.e. €500) in order to motivate them to focus on their assinments. The success/failure of the teaching resource will be measured by the amount of people involved and the quality of implementing the fundraising event.

Integration of Social Stakeholders

There are many stakeholders who are integrated in this teaching resource. The most prominent are local businesses who could sponsor teams and use this as a visibility for their organization. In this case, students will visit these local businesses to pitch the possibility of supporting a local team. ‘Mom and Pop’ stores are also dire to this project. In this teaching resource, students are asked to cooperate with the local government and local community to assist with raising the necessary funds. In the end, students will also work closely with the sports team to learn about their needs in order to address them better

Strength

–Active learning experience for students
–Great link between theory (in class) and practice (group work)
–Through field work students will have the opportunity to network with businesses and possibly secure employability
–This teaching resource is very well structured and requires periodic monitoring, thus decreasing the chance of failure by students.

Weakness

–Students with lower grades tend to have a difficult time completing these assignments.
–Sport clubs may be reluctant to trust the initiative from young students
–Students are required to travel, and this means increasing their expenses which the university does not cover.

Learning Outcomes

–This project will help students learn to define a project through its lifecycle.
–Students will be able to identify and explain different managing practices that may result in project failure.
–Students will be able to critically analyse challenges that appear while writing/implementing the project and identify the necessary tools for eliminating these challenges.
–Students will obtain organizing, writing, micro-managing skills.

Relevance for Sustainability

–This assignment encourages a genuine relationship between individuals, where the community is involved to support their local teams
–Sports and especially individual sportsman who have gained popularity in European leagues have done a great job of representing Kosovo not as a country of violence, but rather as a place where sport is striving despite many difficulties
–Improving Kosovo’s damaged reputation through building teams that could compete internationally

Related Teaching Resources

–This course is offered during the 3rd year of studies, therefore, it is strategically placed in a way that students already familiarize themselves with courses such as: Management, Finance, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, etc. –Regarding the direct knowledge needed, students will receive the information in class prior to deciding on the team they wish to choose.

Preparation Efforts

Low

Preparation Efforts Description

–Students need to be present in each of the lectures mentioned in the proceeding section. Students must meet 20 minutes prior to each lecture to discuss the next steps. In addition students must read the chapters foreseen by the course syllabus. –This assignment is divided into 6 separate meetings (4 + 2 + 2 + 2 +2 +2). This teaching resource is a semester-long project that lasts 12 weeks in total. The independent work required by students is not calculated.

Access

Free

Assessment

40% of the toal grade.

Sources and Links

http://www.mkrs-ks.org/?page=1,8

http://www.noc-kosovo.org/

Suzana Panariti, Menaxhimi i Projektit, Tiranë.

Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, Project Managemengt: A Managerial Approach, John Ëilez & Sons.

Joseph Ë.Weiss and Robert K. Ëysocki 5- Phase projet Management

Funded by

This teaching resource, realised within the project ConSus, has been funded with the support of the TEMPUS of the European Union. The contents reflect the views of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.