got an IDEA
but no resources?
here's how to make your
deamMAllTY.
ur
LIKE MOST COLLEGE STUDENTS, ,
old Stephen Sobhani, a senior at Georgetown University,
will graduate with a few extracurricular activities on his
resume. Last year, for example, he volunteered at a local
hospital; cofounded a nonprofit organization called “It’s
for the Kids” that benefits children with HIV and AIDS;
co-organized and participated in a cross-country bike
trip to raise awareness and money for his organization;
and read everything the IRS has published about tax
exempt status. How did he do it? With determination
and some basic entrepreneurial skills that he learned, he
says, by default.
Call Sobhani an entrepreneur, though, and he’ll laugh.
“Anyone can do this,” he says, and he’s right. You don’t
have to be an entrepreneur to fund your projects—you
just have to think like one. Still, Sobhani and the non
profit’s cofounders, Thor Cheston, 21, and Danielle
Hurley, 22, picked up some valuable—and marketable—
entrepreneurial skills during their year of philanthropy.
Whether you want to travel, raise money for a worthy
cause, or pursue an artistic endeavor, you too can be a
projectpreneur. We talked with some resourceful twen
tysomethings who explain how.
find inspiration
After volunteering at a holiday party for children with
HIV and AIDS, Sobhani and his friends were inspired to
get more involved with the cause. “When we walked out
we thought, ‘We volunteered for three hours today—
there’s no excuse for us not to do more,’” he says. The
trouble was, they had no idea how to proceed. Several
months later someone suggested raising money through
a cross-country bike ride, and the idea was the catalyst for
Sobhani and his friends to dive in and start fund-raising.
Sobhani’s first step was research. He began by visiting
the library to search for articles about AIDS and HIV.
Next, Sobhani and his friends started their outreach cam
paign by writing letters to people mentioned in the arti
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