Charity Fundraising Project:A Team-Based Project for Developing Problem-Structuring Skills

Abstract

Increasingly, graduates of business schools will face business and organizational situations with a high degree of complexity and ambiguity. In this context, teaching and learning strategies need to develop students’ abilities in problem structuring and complex problem solving. This article describes a team-based project set to teams of four or five students, who are required to design and deliver a fundraising event for their chosen charity. The goal of the fundraising activity is to raise as much money as they can in a 24-hour period. Using ideas from problem-based learning (PBL), students learn frameworks and tools to increase their confidence in these situations. This article describes this activity and will be of interest to teachers of final-year undergraduate and master’s programs looking for a fun and inspiring activity to do with students.Increasingly, graduates of business schools will face business and organizational situations with a high degree of complexity and ambiguity. In this context, teaching and learning strategies need to develop students’ abilities in problem structuring and complex problem solving. This article describes a team-based project set to teams of four or five students, who are required to design and deliver a fundraising event for their chosen charity. The goal of the fundraising activity is to raise as much money as they can in a 24-hour period. Using ideas from problem-based learning (PBL), students learn frameworks and tools to increase their confidence in these situations. This article describes this activity and will be of interest to teachers of final-year undergraduate and master’s programs looking for a fun and inspiring activity to do with students.