My Internship Experience

Hello, my name is Cahal Donoghue. I’m a senior with a passion for creative advertising and working in fields that have a positive impact on the community. I’ve completed my internship at a non-profit organization called King’s Introduction to Leadership, a West-Philadelphia based non-profit organization that focuses on developing inner-city children into leaders and teaching them necessary life skills. This experience taught me how to work in a management setting and the inner workings of a newly started non-profit organization. I really enjoyed working in a non-profit, because I felt like my work was directly benefiting children in Philadelphia. I learned how funds are sourced, how to apply for and write grants, as well as how to promote the non-profit’s brand awareness on social media and through peers in the non-profit sector.  

I’m particularly drawn to the social media marketing aspect of the company and marketing a non-profit organization towards its designated demographic. Non-profit content is quite different than other marketing content because it focuses on building brand awareness and public knowledge instead of trying to generate leads.  

Some positive aspects of the organization are its mission and how the organization is designed to help children learn the proper leadership and life skills to excel in a difficult world and environment. This was my first time working in a non-profit organization and I was fascinated with how passionate and driven people were and how quickly other organizations and community leaders would help us because we were directly working to help benefit the communities, especially communities in West Philly. Other positive aspects I discovered were working directly with kids and gaining some experience being a youth leader and teacher.  

Yes, I met a couple different community leaders, religious figures, and other non-profit organization founders, who taught me important lessons and inspired me with their passion and drive surrounding their mission and their determination to help grow their communities.  

It was different from what I originally expected it to be because I ended up experiencing and trying out many more roles. Originally, I thought I would just be focusing on doing social media marketing, which did end up being a major part of my role, I was also given the opportunity to teach, write grants, and attend non-profit meetings and seminars. I was never told I had to do any of these things since it didn’t fit my original role description, but I was offered to branch out a bit and learn more about the non-profit sector, which ended up being an experience I really enjoyed and through which I gained more knowledge than I previously thought I would.  

I would tell others looking for an internship that they should find something that gives them relevant experience in the field they are pursuing and focus on growing their connections in the field. Also finding an organization or company that you like or have a passion for can help you glean more information, knowledge, and insight from the experience.  

Some specific things I have learned from this experience are:  

• How to market a non-profit  
• Content creation and curation surrounding a non-profit organization  
• Grant writing and application  
• Project management  
• Reaching out to school officials and marketing programs  
• Learning how to connect and network with local non-profit leaders and peers.  

I really enjoyed this internship and I would recommended all advertising students to check out the non-profit sector because it can offer rewarding and fulfilling roles.