Megunticook Rowing Internship

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Abstract

Megunticook Rowing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that began ten years ago. Their mission is to offer rowing programs to everyone of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. They provide sculling and sweep lessons in their singles, doubles, pairs, fours, quads, and eights. The Executive Director, Head Coach, and my advisor is Olympic women’s rowing gold medalist, Anna Goodale. There are also many other people amongst the program with connections to the Head of the Charles Regatta and Hinckley Yachts.

I began my position by learning about then setting up the database platform, Little Green Light. I then imported and organized the gift records of over five hundred constituents from the past ten years. I also used this program to format reports for analysis and designed mailings for acknowledgements and appeals.

In the spring the program hosted an “ergathon” (an ergometer marathon) with the goal to row the length of the coast of Maine. I designed a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for the event using the platform, Classy. This campaign raised the most money the program had ever raised.

One responsibility I began with was coaching the Learn To Row and Intermediate programs with Bates Women’s Rowing Assistant Coach, Carly Abarbanel. I taught adults on the water in singles and in the gym on the ergometer.

Another responsibility I held was keeping a social media presence on the Instagram and Facebook page. I posted stories advertising events and showing off our talented rowers. I worked with professional nautical photographer Alison Langley to shoot promotional images of our rowers. I posted many of these photos on the Instagram and Facebook page. I also used some of the photos to design posters using Photoshop and Canva. These posters were then posted amongst the community within a twenty mile radius.

I would recommend this internship to another CC student. This internship exposed me to so many different potential career paths; the sports industry, public relations & marketing, database management, and fundraising. I learned many valuable lessons on how to interact and communicate with superiors and clientele. This internship was also very flexible with hours and can be completed remotely. I would highly recommend this internship to another CC student.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.