What is Flyer Consulting? (Explained by a Basketball Fan)

   With the start of the New Year, our Flyer Consulting team has returned to Dayton, Ohio this week to begin their spring semester at the University of Dayton after a busy winter break. With the beginning of the semester, I have the privilege of writing what will be the first of many Flyer Consulting blog posts.
   While you’ll be hearing from many of our 20-student consultant team, I’d like to focus the first couple of my posts on explaining in a bit more detail what Flyer Consulting is and how we serve nonprofit organizations across the country. 

 ​   I'm a pretty big fan of basketball - and being a student at the University of Dayton only makes be a bigger fan. Lately the Flyers have seen a lot success, seeing the men's team to the Elite Eight in 2014 and looking strong for this March and the women's team to the Elite Eight in 2015.   
   In the spirit of basketball and successful teams, I'd like to spend this blog post how Flyer Consulting (FC) is organized from the perspective of a basketball fan. 

The Players

   FC consists of 20 all-star consultants (think the 1992 USA Men's Olympic Basketball Dream Team) who have diverse skills, perspectives and experiences. Just as there are point guards, shooting forwards and centers in basketball, FC is full of marketing, finance, accounting and other majors. And with any team, there are both experienced and newer members. In Flyer Consulting experienced members are Executive Consultants, newer members are Associate Consultants and the student leaders are known as the Executive Board. All three of these groups consist of the students who work on projects for our nonprofit clients (AKA our Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy).

Flyer Consulting Line-Up
Executive Board
- Team captains
- Supports and assists other team members
​- Sets goals and priorities for the team
- Example: 1980s Magic Johnson

Executive Consultants 
- Experienced veterans
- Multiple championship rings
- Leads by example
- Knows how to achieve goals
- Researches and learns what they need to be successful
- Example: 1990s Michael Jordan

Associate Consultants
- New superstar players
- Most up-to-date skills
- Eager to apply their knowledge within meaningful situations
- Example: Early 2010s Stephen Curry

The Game

   With the players of our superstar team in mind, what is FC's goal? Winning an NBA Championship? Getting MVP awards? Building a dynasty to rival that of the 1950s-1960s Boston Celtics? Our team at FC likes to dream bigger. Every semester our team assists nonprofits across the country with any business-related issues that they may be having. Fundraising? Marketing? Finance? IT? Our dream team can assist in those areas and beyond. What is our championship trophy or MVP award? Knowing that nonprofit organizations are able to operate better and focus on advancing their mission. In other words, even though our team is made up of Magic Johnson's, Michael Jordan's and Stephen Curry's, when we win and meet our goals, successful nonprofit organizations are the real MVP.