BBA students Nyenrode raise money for fundraising project India

Once a year, the BBA students from Nyenrode Business Universiteit Amsterdam visit India and are the guests of the Round Table India members. On May 30 members of the Round Table India were invited to come to Nyenrode in Amsterdam to be present at the final presentations of three student groups. At the end of the event a cheque was handed to the present representatives of the Round Table India.

This year all BBA students together raised an amount of € 85.000,-. The main focus of Project Round Table India / Freedom through Education is to raise funds by BBA students to help build schools in India. Nyenrode Business Universiteit Amsterdam, has been involved in the project for the last 11 years and students have managed to raise € 1.1 million in total.

Visit India

In the past the students were split up in groups visiting various cities in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The study trip to India allows students to the country and see what their efforts can do and mean to someone on the other side of the world. During their visit they are exposed to students, schools and members of the Round Table India and inspiring company visits as inspiration. Students also get the opportunity to visit a Business School in India and get more international learning exposure.

Impact

Tanja Visser, Director Nyenrode Fund, summed up some impressive marks of the project: “It’s important to always know what your impact is. Over the past eleven years 8,3 million children were able to go to school and 2180 schools with more than 8000 classrooms were built because of all the fundraising projects.” Visser ended her speech mentioning the inspiring setting in which students get involved in a project like this: “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”.

Achieving goals

The fundraising efforts of students are linked to the module Project Management. Students are guided in the project management process and in developing a project with reachable goals. In most cases students organize dinners in combination with auctions as these have raised the largest amounts in the past years. They presented their learnings and experiences during the event. They explained that they have experienced their visit to India as enriching and educational. It has given them the opportunity to see first hand what they are capable of achieving if they work together and aim high.