First, start with a completely different idea: “As part of our student cluster, we decided to donate to a charity. I picked a charity called DonorsChoose, where you can make small donations to U.S. schools.”
Think globally: “One-third of our CBS class is not from the U.S. We asked ourselves, ‘What about the people in Africa?’ We should also help them. So our cluster loaned money to Kiva (a site that takes donations to finance entreprenuers in developing countries).”
Bring in the experts: “We started talking about charitable giving to some expert alumni, and they really challenged us to think bigger. We decided to create something sustainable — something that would help developing countries while not distorting the principles of microfinance.”
Watch it take off: “From the first idea, this has gone through a huge transformation. We published an article in the Bottom Line, and that helped us recruit 15 more students. We also got our first donor — a pro bono lawyer — and eventually a write up in Business Week.
“We’re overwhelmed by the professors and alumni who have helped Microlumbia. It’s a fantastic thing to do at Columbia and a great example of what you can do only at business school.”
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