My Invaluable Internship with United Way
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United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County

My Invaluable Internship with United Way

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By: Miriam Kleynerman, 2014 Resource Development Intern

Last summer, I applied to United Way’s internship program not really knowing too much about the organization. As a Political Science Major at New York University, all I knew was I wanted to get experience working at a nonprofit. By the time the summer ended, my experience was a million times more rewarding than the hours I would have spent re-folding baby onesies at GAP.

The first day at the internship I was very nervous. At 19, this was my first introduction into the “real working world.” I was immediately greeted by the wonderful Annie Hernandez, who gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to three other interns I’d be working with that summer.

Alayna, Anna, Aeesha and I were a power team. We all had our separate talents, interests, and goals for the summer and Kathy Miller, our manager, made sure we were all worked on projects that were both stimulating and challenging.

I think what differentiates being an intern at United Way from a lot of other places is the lack of busy work. We are there to solidify skills we have, learn new things and truly explore how a nonprofit is run.

I was especially interested in working to prepare for United Way’s fall campaign. I drafted in-kind donation solicitation letters and contacted local businesses for raffle prizes. The biggest project I worked on was the creation of four separate campaign videos. A few of them were general overviews of charities funded by United Way and the rest were resources for workplace giving campaigns (“How To,” “Tough Asks” etc.) Working on these videos gave me a chance to be creative and work on my long-term project management skills.

My overall experience at United Way was far beyond what I expected for my first internship experience and I would highly recommend anyone interested in the nonprofit field to apply. Taking an internship at United Way is not a chance to pour coffee or make copies, but an opportunity to be part of a great team, have your voice heard and make a difference in our community.