SponsorChange: Alleviating The Strain of Student Debt

The Program

So far, the organization has matched 14 volunteers with nonprofit organizations.  Together these individuals have completed a total of 400 service hours, earning nearly $8,000 in loan payments.  Seventeen organizations in the Pittsburgh area have signed onto the program including Toys for Tots, Habitat for Humanity and InRoads.

One thing SponsorChange.org prides itself on is offering more than the typical volunteer opportunity.  “I just got a request for a choreographer and a drum teacher.  Things like that are very unique.  You  wouldn’t necessarily think that you could volunteer and do something like that.  We match people’s existing passions with the organizations’ needs.  A lot of young professionals are civic-minded. This is a really cool way to give back and benefit from something they you would do anyway,” explained Agyeman, who has been involved with volunteer organizations for most of his life.

Another believer in community service is Sheena Hancock, a 28-year-old administrator at the University of Pittsburgh.  “I got an email about SponsorChange.org last year and decided to be a part of the program,”

she said. “When I was growing up my family did not have a lot of money and there were times when I was dependent upon donations for basic things like clothes and food.  My parents always made a point to tell me where things came from and to be grateful and to give back whenever I could.  I’ve been volunteering my whole life.”

Hancock volunteered at the Wilkinsburg Boys and Girls Club from September to December 2009 for three hours each week.  Her work as a life skills coach was so valuable that the staff asked her to stay on beyond the end of the project.  Hancock already had a full-time job, but instead of turning down the opportunity, she convinced her sorors from Sigma Gamma Rho to volunteer  on a regular basis.

Though still involved with SponsorChange.org and very grateful for the money put toward her debt, Hancock does not plan to return to her initial relationship with the organization.  “I believe in sharing the wealth. I already got my portion. It would be unfair to hog it all,” said Hancock who is working on her second bachelor’s degree with plans for a master’s degree.  “You want somebody to be able to experience the same thing you did.  Whenever Raymar or Shawn call me to do something, I’m here, but I would not go back to volunteering for the student loan payments.”

According to Hampshire, the average student loan debt of their participants is $35,000.  That debt is chipped away by sponsors who donate money that is then distributed according to the number of volunteer completed.  Each hour is worth between $10 and $20, depending on the scope of the project.  Sponsors — there have been 10 so far — range from Hampshire family members to organizational sponsors.  “The Sprout Fund has been our largest sponsor so far.  They gave us $3,000.  The Sprout Fund gives money to small, riskier projects to get them off the ground,” explained Hampshire.

The sponsors get to watch their money at work via a weekly blog.  Volunteers are required to create a blog post for each day that they volunteer.  For most participants, this is two days a week.  The blog posts are typically short—perhaps two or three paragraphs — and include photographs from that day’s activities.

The Future

Right now, SponsorChange.org only operates in Pittsburgh, but Hampshire hopes to change that.  “I definitely want to see us expand. Ultimately, this will be a sustainable career for me.  If we can secure $200,000 in funding this year, we’ll be expanding to the next city within two years.  We are actively seeking more sponsors,” explained Hampshire who is a Lima, Ohio native and someone who believes Pittsburgh is vastly underrated.

With a healthy mix of academic learning and professional experience, along with the expertise of an impressive six-member advisory board, SponsorChange.org is long on plans, analysis and projections.  In five years, they hope to have 27,727 volunteers and 83,000 individual sponsors.

As for his own student loans, Hampshire has plans for them too,   “I haven’t used the program for my own benefit yet. Eventually, I’d like to do that.”