How Two Nonprofits Grew Their Impact in 10 Weeks 

By: Melissa Charles 

The Riley Institute Summer Experience (RISE) connects Furman students with Upstate organizations working on Greenville’s most pressing challenges. For 10 weeks each summer, RISE interns work full time with host organizations, building professional skills while expanding their host’s capacity for community impact.  

Thanks to the high-quality work, fresh perspectives, and innovative insights these Furman students bring to their internships, the results go far beyond a summer project. Greater Good Greenville and Greenville Together are proof of what happens when the work outlasts the internship. 

Greater Good Greenville 

Katy Smith, executive director of Greater Good Greenville, is entering her second year of participating in the RISE internship program, where she continues to engage interns to support seasonal projects.  

Greater Good Greenville is a nonprofit resource hub that cultivates the next generation of employees or volunteer leaders for nonprofits and philanthropic funders. Last year, Greater Good Greenville hosted three RISE interns who showed up with their own passions and produced work the organization still relies on today. 

“The RISE interns helped us with projects that are fundamental to our annual work plan and to our mission,” said Smith. 

Nathan Johnson ’27 focused on resource development and fundraising. He updated data from their philanthropic landscape study and surfaced new findings on the rise of donor-advised fund giving in Greenville County. 

Harper Lumpkin ’27 concentrated on justice and its role in urban design and city planning. Her project examined single-family home ownership in Greenville’s District 25 and tracked how ownership has shifted from individual residents to corporate ownership. This data is still actively used by Greater Good Greenville and partners today. 

Betsy Rogers ’26 pursued communications. Her work showcased nonprofit and philanthropic partners, connecting her to GirlUp GVL, where she later interned and now works full-time. The videos she created of community partners continued to be used months after she left. “We’re so proud of the three students we had last year that are all going to go on in some way to be connected to the work that they began at Greater Good Greenville,” said Smith.  

This summer, Greater Good Greenville built on last year’s momentum with two new interns. Kylie Friedman ’28 has been helping tell the stories of local nonprofits in support of GiveGreenville.org. Ben Thompson ’27 has been updating the philanthropic landscape study and assessing how coalitions and networks drive change, locally and nationally, with findings presented to the advocacy roundtable at summer’s end. 

“Whether it’s a research report that helps people view things differently, an event that people experience, or the Give Greenville platform, there’s just more work than we can do,” said Smith. “The RISE interns help make it possible.” 

Greenville Together 

Cody Carver, director of Greenville Together—a collaborative effort designed to address homelessness and housing instability across Greenville County—is also in his second year of hosting a RISE intern. When Greenville Together hosted their first RISE intern last summer, the organization had just launched. With limited staff, they needed an intern to help get things off the ground. What they gained exceeded every expectation. 

“The experience that we had last year with our RISE intern was nothing short of fantastic,” said Carver. “The intern was so competent and confident and just fit in so great with our organization.”  

Intern Gabrielle Harvey ’27 took on the organization’s entire marketing and communications effort. Beyond day-to-day tasks like social media, Gabby developed long-term strategies that later helped produce high-quality impact stories and videos and a full brand refresh. 

“We are still seeing the results and the impact of that intern being housed at Greenville Together, even to this day,” said Carver.  

The numbers back up Carver’s assertion. When Gabby took over their social media channels, Greenville Together had around 300 followers. Now, that number has grown to over 1,500. 

“I was truly blown away that a college sophomore student was able to come in and write a very sophisticated and well-thought-out communications and marketing strategic plan on behalf of a multi-million-dollar initiative,” said Carver.  

The internship revealed a real organizational need. Watching Gabby’s impact over three months made it clear that Greenville Together needed a dedicated marketing and communications specialist on staff to ensure the community remains informed and engaged.  

The experience was strong enough to bring Greenville Together back for a second year as a RISE host organization.  

Part of the success of the program has to do with The Riley Institute’s close mentorship of the RISE interns. By carefully matching host organizations with interns that fit their needs and guiding weekly sessions so students can process their work alongside peers, The Riley Institute is providing a robust support system for its RISE participants and building a trusting relationship with host organizations.  

“The Riley Institute’s program structure just really ensures that everyone is set up for success and takes a lot of the burden off of the host side in terms of ensuring that everything is in place for the intern to be successful,” said Carver. 

A Two-Way Investment 

Both Smith and Carver see the internship as a two-way investment. The organizations get meaningful help moving their missions forward. The students get real exposure to complex community challenges and space to discover how their own interests can drive change. That dynamic is built into how both leaders approach the work. They lean into each student’s interests, walk them through professional situations, and treat the experience as intentional mentorship. 

“If you’re ready to put in meaningful investment in the students, your results for your organization will be astonishing,” said Smith. “The RISE interns are passionate, smart and hardworking.” 

For Carver, that investment looks like giving students direct exposure to one of Greenville’s most visible community challenges. 

“This is an opportunity for us to invest in the next generation of leaders,” said Carver. 

Greenville’s nonprofit community is doing hard work with lean teams. RISE interns show up ready to help expand and amplify these community efforts. For Greater Good Greenville and Greenville Together, the return on investment has been clear. The work these interns do far outlasts the summer, and so does the impact.