Nonprofits, students benefit from Flyer Consulting

By: Allyson Mitchell – Staff Writer

Students at the University of Dayton are gaining real-word marketing and business planning experience while making an impact on local businesses through Flyer Consulting.

“Flyer Consulting does business development strategies for nonprofit organizations in the Dayton area,” said Mark Zimmerman, a senior entrepreneurship major and one of six consultants for Flyer Consulting. “These things can consist of marketing strategies, social media implementations, financial analyses, operational efficiencies and anything like building a business plan for a company.”

Flyer Consulting started in 2008 as a division of Flyer Enterprises before breaking away in 2011 to become its own entity, Zimmerman said. Flyer Consulting hired a new advisor, Brother Victor Forlani, and began to work out of the Center for the Integration of Faith and Work at UD, Zimmerman explained.

“Brother Victor gives us guidance and connections in the Dayton community,” Zimmerman said. “He really helps us with connections with professors in the university who need help or if we need help partnering with certain nonprofits in the Dayton area, he’s really well-connected.”

Nonprofit organizations come to Flyer Consulting when they have problems with their business, said Zimmerman said .
“Say a company is struggling with marketing their business to the Dayton area,” Zimmerman said. “They’ll come to us and ask what kind of marketing strategies they can implement to reach a broader target market.”

Some local businesses Flyer Consulting has helped include Five Rivers Metro Parks, Chaminade-Julienne High School and Homefull, according to Flyer Consulting’s Facebook page.

“Last semester we worked with Homefull, a nonprofit in Dayton that helps homeless people get jobs and get on their feet. We helped them with a digital marketing and social media implementation so they could interact with the community more and get their awareness out,” Zimmerman said.

Digital marketing is the best way to help most businesses, Zimmerman said.

“Digital marketing is where everyone’s going right now. A lot of the nonprofit workers are all volunteers, and they don’t know much about social media, so that’s where we really help them by developing their social media sites,” he said.

Positions in Flyer Consulting are available to upperclassmen who are driven, professional and creative with good verbal skills, according to Flyer Consulting’s Facebook page. Flyer Consulting consists mostly of business majors, but digital design majors have worked with Flyer Consulting in the past, Zimmerman said. Flyer Consulting would like to double its workforce and is a good place to gain valuable experience, Zimmerman added.

“The best part about Flyer Consulting is the real life experience I’m gaining,” Zimmerman said. “I get to meet with real clients and implement real business strategies. This is the stuff I’ll be doing when I’m in the actual work force and it’s experience I’m gaining now, at school.”

To learn more about Flyer Consulting, go to Flyer Consulting’s Facebook page or email flyerconsulting@gmail.com.