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MBA INSIDER: SAMPLE APPLICATION ESSAYS University of Michigan: Essay 1 QUESTION: What has been your most significant professional achievement? What has been your toughest professional challenge and how did you address it?
In the past seven months I have been with the [deleted] Women's Foundation, I have redefined the Foundation's financial analysis and reporting systems, providing the groundwork for an integrated database system for future solicitation and marketing purposes. Integrated systems are uncommon at most non-profit organizations. Donor, grantmaking, and financial information are usually independently maintained. Therefore, each transaction must be reentered in separate databases to capture the donor, grantmaking, and financial aspects. The software the Foundation had adopted was capable of reducing this rework, such that the modification of any given record also affected the other areas of the database. However, customizing and implementing its functionality was a difficult management and technological project and has been my toughest professional challenge thus far.
This project posed both management and technical challenges. To define the reporting requirements, it was imperative to understand the expectations of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Director, in addition to collaborating with the Foundation's CPA who provided audit services and consulting with the software vendor to determine the capacities and limitations of the system. Frequently, information and feedback from these sources would appear to be contradictory, and in order to resolve the discrepancies, open and continual communications were essential. As well as executing the programming and coding myself, I worked with staff members to operationally incorporate the solutions, and a group of graduate accounting students were also available to provide additional support for me. The ability to define the needs of the organization, providing the basis for financial controls that were previously lacking, and knowledge of the software programming allowed me to successfully execute this project. Completing this project on a timely basis was urgent. The [deleted] Women's Foundation had recently begun a five-year endowment campaign, and the need for a completely functional database with easily accessible information and reporting was essential. I began researching the capabilities of the software while concurrently learning about the Foundation. Co-workers provided me with invaluable information regarding the framework of various historical transactions, as well as with feedback on whether the proposed changes to the database would meet the needs of the Foundation. Additionally, throughout the course of this project, the Executive Director was thoroughly supportive by supplying contacts at other non-profit organizations so I could survey their software and operations. While I was confident that the project would be completed satisfactorily, I was prepared with a clear plan on how to modify and address the issues concerning the database. As the Foundation proceeds with its endowment campaign, I believe that I've made a significant impact on the future of the organization by positioning it so that information can be gathered and tracked more efficiently, thus enabling the Foundation to manage its resources more effectively for ongoing and future marketing purposes. I also have the gratification of knowing that I am fortunate to possess the skills that can help an organization with a mission as worthy as the [deleted] Women's Foundation. 
BW MALL
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