Social Impact Project for Fundraising Strategy Development Support

How This Works

As part of the TRANSFORM Support Hub, you will learn how to advance your career while getting hands on experience on projects like this one.

Project Description and Impact

To build the talent pool of world-class African data and analytics professionals, Blossom Academy provides a skills-based curriculum designed in collaboration with industry partners that is reflective of real-world experience. Throughout its 12-week no-cost Fellowship programs, Fellows build analytics tools and solutions to address the challenges of organizations in their region, receive coaching in critical soft skills, and one-on-one career mentorship from the academy’s alumni community. Following the training phase, 100% of successful graduates are connected to 24-week internships and continue to receive guidance from the academy’s in-house data professionals. The majority of the 9-month Fellowship is delivered virtually, which enables Blossom Academy to leverage technology for quick, accurate Fellow assessments.

We're currently grappling with a crucial challenge: finding the right equilibrium between profitability and impact. This dilemma stems from the imperative of achieving financial sustainability without compromising the positive change we create. On one side, we recognize that pursuing profitability is essential for securing long-term growth and sustainability. Conversely, we know that delivering real long-lasting impact to our specific beneficiaries is best achieved through low or zero-cost means. In response to this challenge, Blossom is poised to on-board diverse funding partners to assist in addressing our core issue of youth unemployment.

Learning Opportunity

By working with us, the experteer will learn from our experiences testing varied business models and the reasons associated to why we faced roadblocks. We initially considered charging beneficiaries for our training but realized their limited spending power would be a hindrance. We explored models like corporate training, income share agreements, and placement fees from local companies. These insights led us to confidently adopt our current model of raising grant funding as the most effective approach to tackling youth unemployment.