Granting Wishes as an Entrepreneur

President and CEO of Make-A-Wish Minnesota, Mia Hoagberg, explains that business owners and entrepreneurs should be involved in non-profit work in a way that makes sense to them, their business, and that aligns with their skills and passions.

If you listen, you will learn:

• Transferable skills from traditional business to non-profit
• What ways entrepreneurs/business owners can get involved and make a difference
• How you can leverage your relationships and skills in a non-profit
• Mission of Make-A-Wish Foundation and different types of wishes
• Three misconceptions of Make-A-Wish Foundation

Transferable Skills from Traditional to Non-Profit

Mia didn’t start off her career in the non-profit world. After working in Marketing and Advertising for 13 years and staying home with her kids for 6 years while earning a Masters, she had a change of heart. Mia decided to become involved in fundraising and philanthropy work.

Mia talks in the podcast about what skills were transferable from her traditional work to non-profit work. The most transferable skill she took from one career to the next is relationship building. Fundraising is all about creating relationships with different people. She took her skills of working with clients and vendors in advertising and puts them to good use in her current role.

She also explains how people can use the skills they have in business to help Make-A-Wish or any non-profit they want to be involved with. 

Be Involved in a Meaningful Way

There are many ways business owners and entrepreneurs can get involved in non-profits. The most important thing, as Mia explains, is for people to get involved in a way that is meaningful to them or in a way that brings joy back to the work that they already do.

She gives an example of a wish that an architecture firm helped with in Minneapolis. A little girl wanted a playset in her backyard and the architects put a plan together for the layout of the backyard and playset to support the wish. Individual people or a company must look at what their goals, objectives, and skills are and tie it in with the work they do with Make-A-Wish to make it meaningful for them.

Entrepreneurs and business owners are usually all about relationships, networking, and connections. Even if a person has exited their business, they still have these contacts and skills that may go unused. These are key skills in fundraising and can be used to help grant someone’s life-changing wish. If you help in a way that aligns with your skills, goals, and passions, the work and impact will be greater.

All About the Wishes

“We are all structured around making sure that a child’s one life-changing wish happens and putting everything into place to make sure that happens behind the scenes.” – Mia Hoagberg

Wishes drive everything that Make-A-Wish Minnesota does. They have a budget and work with individuals, schools, corporations, and foundations to raise money, get in-kind donations, and volunteers. They work with other chapters across the country to determine best practices, partner with local sports teams to make wishes happen, and are always looking for more people or organizations to donate things to keep costs down.

There are so many ways individuals and organizations can become involved in Make-A-Wish. It is all about granting life-changing wishes for those that need them.

Check out the podcast episode for more information and see below for a list of upcoming events:

Make-A-Wish MN EVENTS: http://mn.wish.org/news-and-events/calendar-of-events 

• May 20th: Wish Ball 2017, Hilton Minneapolis
• August 5th: Walk for Wishes Twin Cities, Minnehaha Regional Park
• September 14th: Golf for Wishes, Keller Golf Course, Maplewood
• October 1st: Walk for Wishes, Duluth
• November 2nd: Wine, Women and Wishes

Contact Information and Bio for Mia Hoagberg:

Email: [email protected]
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mia-hoagberg-76bb806/
Company Website: http://mn.wish.org/
Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makeawishmn/
Company Twitter: @MakeAWishMN
Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeawishmn/?hl=en

Mia Hoagberg is the President and CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation Minnesota. She worked in the for-profit world in marketing and advertising for 13 years before staying home with her children for 6 years. Mia received her Master’s Degree at the same time she was home with her children. While finishing her degree, Mia went through an exploration process deciding what she wanted to do when returning to work and settled on wanting to make a difference through fundraising at a non-profit. She worked in two different healthcare philanthropy departments before coming to Make-A-Wish Minnesota in 2014.

Duties: Manages internal and external relationships to grant the wish of every eligible child in Minnesota.

Education: B.A., St. Olaf College. M.A., University of St. Mary’s, Minneapolis.

Hobbies: Walking the Minneapolis lakes, biking the Minnesota trails, and travel.

Some of Mia’s favorites from growing up:
Game: Cribbage
Class in school: Algebra
Movie/Show: The Brady Bunch