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SALT LAKE CITY -- You could almost call it speed dating for business ideas. In one room, 70 nonprofit organization leaders picked the brains of 70 entrepreneurs, and vice versa.
Community Foundation of Utah Executive Director Fraser Nelson said, "They'll be given five minutes to meet with their mentor and they'll present a problem, like, ‘I'm not really sure how to make sure we're reaching the right kind of people,' or, ‘How do we market our services?'"
"Entrepreneurs and business folks have so much to add around their thinking and their intellectual capacity," Nelson added.
She said many nonprofit leaders come from a different mindset than people in the business world.
"Nonprofits, a lot of us, myself included, come from a position of service [and] of giving things away," she said.
Plus, Nelson said many nonprofit leaders think of small businesses or large companies as potential sponsors instead of possible mentors.
"Nonprofits need all of the donations that they can possibly get and entrepreneurs are certainly a big part of the giving that happens in this community. But, there's much more that we can tap into besides their wallets," she explained.
After the speed mentoring session, nonprofit representatives were able to talk longer with possible mentors during lunch.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
