CBS Alumni Club of Boston Gives Back - Spring 2009
On behalf of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston, I would like to thank and recognize the following volunteers for participating in the second pro bono project of the CBS Boston Gives Back initiative this past spring:
Victor Chin, Class of 1994
John F. Hartley Jr. (Rusty), Class of 1992
Lei-Choon Ong, Class of 1997
Yvonne Tai, Class of 2004
The Client: The client was the Kwong Kow Chinese School on 87 Tyler Street in Boston (KKCS). KKCS was established in 1916 for the purpose of helping immigrant families to obtain their education while maintaining their Chinese language and heritage. Its mission is to disseminate Chinese language and culture to Chinese and non-Chinese learners through formal and informal learning opportunities. Its main programs are after-school programs, weekend Chinese programs, English/Math tutoring, Summer School, Martial Arts and Chinese Painting for children. Approximately 850 children are served each year.
The Project: The KKCS board was looking for opportunities to generate revenue from renting its building space to the Boston community when not occupied by its programs in order to supplement its tuition income. The board was also looking to identify best practices and potential pitfalls as well as other creative ways to monetize their real estate assets. "I thoroughly enjoyed working with the team and look forward to doing it again. It was especially gratifying for me in that it enabled me to work with the Chinese-Asian international community, an area which continues to hold my interest and fascination," John F. Hartley Jr. (Rusty) said of the program.
Based on a typical billable hours measurement, each team member spent approximately 50-100 hours on this project. Our CBS pro-bono consultants presented their findings twice to the board and management of KKCS. The project involved identifying potential revenue streams to supplement KKCS income, conducting real estate rental market research in order to understand the competition and market rates, and identifying actual potential tenants.
The team segmented the rental market into 7 potential revenue sources and interviewed approximately 80 organizations over the course of 3 months including several follow up calls per organization. The team narrowed the search to focus on the most likely candidates and completed the project by leaving behind a database of potential clients, best practices needed for a successful rental strategy, and a marketing plan.
Please find attached a letter of appreciation from KKCS’s Vice Chair of the Board, Theresa Tsoi.
Sincerely,
Lei-Choon Ong '97
VP of Philanthropy, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston
