Project Run With It Competition
If you have questions or want to discuss this competition, please post them on the BAP Forums under Competitions
“Project Run With It”
Sponsored by Moss Adams LLP
Purpose/Mission
To further the service Beta Alpha Psi provides to the community and to provide members/candidates with an opportunity to engage in a real-world consulting project.
“Project Run With It” involves up to 60 BAP chapter student representatives working together during the annual meeting to develop solutions to real life business problems of actual not-for-profit (NFP) agencies. The students, working in teams of four, will have the equivalent of approximately one day to develop a formal presentation showcasing their solution to the business issues presented by the NFPs in their “request for proposal” for consulting services. Prior to the meeting, the NFP agencies provide background information and during the meeting are available to answer the participating students’ questions.
How to nominate a chapter member/Requirements of nominees
Each chapter may nominate up to two chapter members (one majoring in Accounting and one majoring in either Finance or Information Systems). Students with declared double majors may use either major for purposes of nomination.
2011 Case Studies will be posted by January 1st 2011
Download 2011 PRWI Nomination Form (MS Word 2007 version .docx)
Nominations are due May 1st.
Students interested in the competition are required to complete the following two steps:
- Interview a decision maker (senior staff member or board member) or an outside business information professional (auditor, tax accountant, business consultant, attorney) of a local NFP. The interview should concentrate on how volunteer services are utilized or could be utilized for financial, marketing, or fundraising consulting services, specifically in light of any challenges the NFP is facing in the current economic downturn.
- Briefly summarize the interview and how a BAP chapter could assist the NFP with volunteer consulting services. Submissions must include member’s/candidate’s name, chapter name and number, the name of the NFP, the interviewee’s information (name/title/affiliation with NFP), date/time and length of interview, and the summary of the interview.
Case Studies for 2010
In the event that more than 60 students apply for the competition, the selection criterion will be as follows:
- Service to BAP
- Grade point average
- Major (ideally we would like to have 50% accounting, 25% finance, and 25% IS majors)
- Summary memo of interview described above
- Affirmative statement by the student of his/her ability to attend the annual meeting
Students will be notified by the faculty coordinator of PRWI as to whether or not they were selected no later than May 15th.
Competition Details
The participating NFPs will be announced at all the regional meetings and will be posted on the BAP website. Once the participating students are identified and notified of their participation, specific financial information for the NFPs will be provided to the students.
Note: Students will not be provided their assigned NFPs until arriving at the annual meeting. Each participant should familiarize him/herself with all three of the participating NFPs prior to the meeting. This pre-work should take NO MORE THAN about one hour per NFP.
The schedule for PRWI participants generally follows this format:
- Wednesday – 6p to 9p – General meeting with the NFP representatives. At this time, team assignments will be announced (five teams per NFP) and participants begin to work with their team members.
- Thursday – Participants work on their projects prior to community service day (CSD). After the CSD, participants will have until 10p to complete their PowerPoint® presentation for delivery to the PRWI coordinators.
- Friday – Presentations will be delivered to the judging panels concurrently in three separate rooms starting immediately after the conclusion of the international chapter meeting.
- The “case studies” are each written as a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the five competing teams for each NFP will present their proposal much like a consulting firm would (i.e., teams will “pitch” their proposal).
- Saturday – Winning teams will be announced at the awards presentation. All PRWI participants are invited, but not required, to stay and meet with judges, including the NFP representatives, for feedback on presentations and recommendations.
The Judges, General Judging Criteria, and General Guidelines
A first-place team will be selected for each NFP by a panel of judges. The judging panels will consist of a representative from the team’s NFP, an academic representative, and a Moss Adams partner or senior manager.
Presentations will be judged on the following general criteria:
- Relevance to the NFP and their ability to implement the “solution” in the most cost effective way.
- Research related to specific issue being addressed.
- Professionalism of presentation.
Presentations guidelines are:
- Maximum time for team presentations is 10 minutes
- Additional time will be provided for follow up Q&A
- Business professional attire is requested, however business casual is acceptable
The Prizes
Each chapter represented on the first place teams will receive a plaque (which will bear the name of the participating student and chapter) and a $1,000 cash award.
Rewards and Benefits
Students, participating NFPs, faculty advisors, and observers at prior years’ competitions considered PRWI to be intellectually challenging, personally fulfilling, worth the time investment, and resume enhancing. If these benefits sound interesting, Beta Alpha Psi and Moss Adams LLP invite your chapter to nominate up to two students to participate in the PRWI competition.
PRWI 2009 Review