Newswise — First-year students from the Babson College Class of 2018 raised more than $18,000 for local social service agencies through the college’s award-winning Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course that requires all first-year undergraduate students to start and run a business, and donate profits to charity.

Classes of up to 40 students formed teams of 15, and Babson loaned up to $3,000 as startup money for each business. FME students were entirely responsible for coming up with the business ideas, the business plans, and were encouraged to think about how their businesses would meet a human need.

Student teams then partnered with local social service agencies to donate 80 hours of community service per team, while learning the value and importance of corporate social responsibility. At the end of the academic year, the 33 FME businesses combined donated more than $18,000 in profits to charity. Selected recipients included Cradles to Crayons, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, Boys and Girls Club, Greater Boston Food Bank, Community Servings, and Friends of the Homeless (South Shore). Since the program began in 1999, more than $450,000 has been donated to local charities.

Hear from the student entrepreneurs of HoldOn, a Class of 2018 FME business https://vimeo.com/136454166

About Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME)

Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME), a course required for all first-year students, has students work in teams to invent, develop, launch, manage, and liquidate a business. Since 1999, all profits generated by FME businesses are donated to local community service agencies. For information visit http://bit.ly/1EvyO3y

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds ®. The top-rankedCollege for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action ® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT
Register for reporter access to contact details