University of La Verne’s Business Students Raise $27,000 for Regional Charities

Nine student teams from the University of La Verne raised more than $27,000 in the fall semester through startup businesses they created as part of the Integrated Business Program.

The program gives undergraduate business students hands-on experience operating a real business before graduation, with profits going to a charity of their choosing. The final checks were presented to representatives from each of nine charities at a ceremony in the university’s Abraham Campus Center on Dec. 14.

“The charity component was built into the Integrated Business Program because we wanted our students to learn the value of giving,” said Abe Helou, dean of the College of Business and Public Management. “Partnering with a charity allowed them to promote their sales and get involved with the community at a deep level.”

The College of Business and Public Management launched the Integrated Business Program in fall 2011. Undergraduate students take several courses together that teach the fundamentals of running a business: finance, management, and marketing. They create their startup in a fourth course—the practicum.

The students separate into teams, select a product and charity, and create a business plan. The teams then pitch their business to a Wells Fargo bank representative to secure a $2,500 business loan. The competition intensifies as the teams market and sell their products over the next 10 weeks. At the end of the semester, the teams repay the loans and the profits go to the charities.

“One of my favorite parts of the program is when the students present the checks to the charity,” Helou said. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate this accomplishment and hard work.”

The nine teams in the fall 2017 semester sold products ranging from key chain organizers to food storage containers to foldable sunglasses. Charge the World, which sold magnetic phone chargers, raised the most money for charity this semester, with $4,087 going to Ophelia’s Jump, a nonprofit theatre company in Upland.

Charge the World partnered with Ophelia’s Jump after watching its production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” according to Chief Executive Officer Manuel Del Toro. He said the team wanted to work with a smaller local charity, where the money would make a big impact.

“We used it as a motivator to sell, telling customers that everything was going to charity and explaining the cause,” Del Toro said. “People were able to relate to performing arts because who doesn’t love the arts?”

The money raised by Charge the World will allow Ophelia’s Jump to provide workshops, classes, and paid internships for high school and college students, said Randy Lopez, the chief marketing officer for the theater company. The money will also help the six-year-old nonprofit open its own studio theatre, which will be celebrated at a grand opening in January. The Charge the World students plans to attend.

In seven years of the Integrated Business Program, student teams have donated more than $155,000 to local nonprofits.

At the Dec. 14 presentation, University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman said the Integrated Business Program was a point of pride when she and Helou toured universities in Asia.

“Leaders at every university we visited said they have never heard of anything like our integrated business curriculum,” Lieberman told the audience. “They never heard of programs that are so distinctive and relevant, while developing skills that you can use for the rest of your lives.”

The other student businesses formed in the fall 2017 semester were:

• Reminder Finder, which raised $3,915 for the Alzheimer’s Association by selling cell phone locators.
• Keyp It Simple, which raised $3,734 for Casa Colina Outdoor Adventures by selling key chain organizers.
• A.D. Shades, which raised $3,434 for American Cancer Society by selling foldable sunglasses.
• Food Fighters, which raised $3,049 for Feeding America by selling food storage containers.
• Recharging Hope, which raised $2,558 for Moffat Athletic Charity by selling retractable cell phone chargers.
• Charge Loudly, which raised $2,445 for City of Hope by selling cell phone chargers with built-in speakers.
• FanTastic, which raised $2,121 for Be Perfect Foundation by selling cell phone-powered fans and gel shoe inserts.
• Snooze ’N’ Cruise, which raised $1,938 for My Friend’s Place by selling seatbelt pillows.