Impact Interns

The program is designed to provide emerging social sector leaders with meaningful opportunities to gain professional experience, develop skills, build a professional network, and learn more about working in the nonprofit and social impact sphere. All while providing impactful host organizations with impressive and skilled interns.

Interns will join a cohort of like-minded peers and participate in additional professional development workshops and opportunities throughout their internship. 

Interns have successfully led and contributed to projects related, but not limited, to:

• Communications and marketing
• Evaluation and impact measurement
• Fundraising and development
• Grants administration
• Grant reviews and due diligence
• Portfolio analysis
• Research and report writing
• Special events

We are dedicated to providing paid internship opportunities to passionate students looking for meaningful professional experiences.

This program is a great fit for you if you:

• Are a current undergraduate or graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park
• Are a motivated student looking to gain experience in the nonprofit or social impact sector
• Are looking for a paid internship
• Can work remotely 20-40 hours a week from the first week of June to mid-August
• Can prioritize their work as an intern over the summer
• Would like to grow important skills including issue expertise, fundraising, grant making, operations, communications, and more
• Are eager to expand your professional networks
• Are interested in joining a cohort and participating in professional development workshops and sessions with Do Good staff

This professional development and leadership pipeline links passionate students like yourself to project- and social impact-based internship opportunities with alumni and partners of the Do Good Institute. The Do Good Institute also offers additional professional development opportunities and support to Impact Interns throughout their experience. This support can help students with their individual career goals. One Summer 2022 Impact Intern said that they enjoyed the "Impact Interns community and that the Institute provides so many resources for [students] to grow over the summer.”

Past students have enjoyed putting their skills to work in the social impact sector and making a difference as a summer intern. A Summer 2022 intern said that their "favorite part of the Impact Interns program is getting to apply the skills I have learned through my coursework and research to the needs of impactful nonprofit organizations that help people directly.”

Information Sessions

Learn more about the program, get tips on your application, and ask your questions at one of our information sessions. All sessions will start with information about how the program works and then we reserve time to go over resume and cover letter tips. Sessions take place in March each year. You can RSVP for any one of the following sessions using this form. Once you complete your RSVP, you should receive a Zoom link to confirm your attendance. Here are all of the scheduled information sessions for Summer 2023: 

• Thursday, March 9 at 11:00-11:30am 
• Monday, March 13 at 2:00-2:30pm 
• Thursday, March 16 at 11:30am-12:00pm 
• Tuesday, March 28 at 2:00-2:30pm 

Process  

If you would like to be considered for an internship, application forms must be submitted by Sunday, April 2 at 11:59 pm. Applications may require materials, such as a cover letter, resume, and/or writing samples. Please see individual position descriptions to identify what additional materials are requested.

Please do not reach out directly to host organizations. All applications must go through the application portal.

Only current University of Maryland, College Park students are invited to apply for these positions. Unfortunately, we are not accepting applications from recent graduates or students graduating in May 2023. You may apply to more than one position.

By filling out an organization's application form, you are placing yourself in a pool of applicants to potentially be paired with an organization. The strongest 3-5 candidates for each position will be shared with the host organizations to interview. Please note that you may be advanced with up to three organizations. Filling out an application form does not guarantee your placement. If you are selected as a top candidate to interview for a position, you will be notified by April 19. Internships will generally be conducted between June and August.  

Process Steps

Step 1: Look over all of our Summer 2023 positions and see what roles are interesting to you. Visit our application portal to submit your materials by Sunday, April 2 at 11:59pm. The materials required for each organization are listed in the position descriptions. 

Step 2: The Do Good Institute will reach out to you by April 19th to let you know whether or not you have been matched with an organization for further review.   

Step 3: From there, the organizations will reach out to candidates they are interested in, interview them, and extend an offer to the student they think is the best fit for the position. 

Step 4: Exact internship dates vary for each position, but most internships run from June to August. You will also be a member of our cohort of other Impact Interns and participate in professional development programming during the summer.   

More questions? Check out our FAQ or email impactinterns@umd.edu. 

With evolving social distancing recommendations, we anticipate internships will be offered both virtually and in-person. It is expected that the nature of the internship (in-person vs. remote) will be determined by each host by the time placements are made.

This program is a great fit for your organization if you: 

• Have a significant project, campaign, or idea that an intern could support
• Can take on an intern for approximately 10-12 weeks from June to mid-August 
• Are interested in connecting to talented and passionate students 
• Are able to manage an intern and provide a robust learning experience
• Are able to provide either partial or full salary support to an intern 

The Do Good Institute can offer your organization custom support packages (dependent on organizational need) including: 

• Financial support for student salary
• Initial resume review and pairing of students to partner organizations
• Additional professional development support to students
• Operational guidance 

Each host organization is required to provide students with at least 200 hours of work over the course of their summer internship. All students must be paid at least $16.50 an hour, either by stipend or by hourly wage.​ ​As such, ​the ​total cost ​of hosting an Impact Intern ​is $3,300. Host organizations may apply to receive funding to support their interns' salary. The Do Good Institute may grant up to $2,200 to​ ​subsidize​ an Impact Intern's salary.​ Do Good Institute financial support will be issued in the form of a grant to the organization, with the requirement that the grant be used solely to pay the Impact Intern’s salary.

With the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, we anticipate Summer 2023 opportunities will be conducted both in-person and virtually. It is expected that the nature of the internship (in-person vs. remote) will be determined by each host by the time position descriptions are drafted.

Information Sessions

If your organization has a project or internship opportunity that may be a good fit for a graduate or undergraduate student this upcoming summer, we encourage you to come to one of our informational sessions to learn more about this summer’s program. You can sign up for an upcoming 30-minute session through this form. During the information session, we leave time for questions after a 15 minute presentation. We are hosting information sessions on the following dates (all times in EST): 

• Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 10:00-10:30am 
• Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 11:00-11:30am 
• Friday, December 9, 2022 at 2:00-2:30pm 
• Monday, December 12, 2022 at 3:00-3:30pm 
• Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 12:00-12:30pm 
• Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 2:00-2:30pm 
• Monday, January 9, 2023 at 10:00-10:30am  
• Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 1:00-1:30pm

Process

Step 1: Organizations interested in hiring an intern should attend an information session hosted by the Do Good Institute to learn more about the program. Info sessions will be hosted throughout December and January each year. If you are unable to make an info session and have never hosted an Impact Intern before, you must set up a phone call with a program staff member before submitting an application to host an intern. To coordinate, please email impactinterns@umd.edu.

Step 2: Fill out the application form and grant request (if applying for funds). Decisions will be made by mid February and position descriptions finalized in March. 

Step 3: Students will apply to be a part of the program during March. Job descriptions will be available on the Do Good Institute website.

Step 4: By mid-April, the Do Good Institute will conduct an initial review of applicant resumes and provide around three to five possible candidate matches to the organizations to interview. Organizations should promptly interview candidates once they receive pairings. 

Step 5: Organizations review candidate materials and work directly with students to schedule interviews. Members make an offer directly to the student and arrange hours and pay. It is required that all students are paid at least $16.50 an hour. Organizations should also take into account minimum wage laws, where applicable. The hiring process should be complete by late May.

For more information on organization expectations see our 2023 expectations document here.

Since 2011, Impact Interns - previously Philanthropy Fellows - has provided over 130 students with paid and robust internship experiences with more than 50 organizations over the last 10 years.

Previous Philanthropy Fellows have worked at the following organizations: 

• AARP Foundation
• Arabella Advisors
• Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE)
• Capital One
• CareFirst
• DC Mayor’s Office of Partnerships and Grant Services
• Deloitte
• Grantmakers in Health 
• Greater Washington Community Foundation
• Healthcare Initiative Foundation
• Kaiser Permanente
• Meyer Foundation
• Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth & Families
• Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation
• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
• The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
• Washington Area Women's Foundation

Since its inception, Impact Interns have worked with the following nonprofit organizations: 

• A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation 
• American Rivers 
• Arts for the Aging, Inc. 
• Aumazo 
• Ballet After Dark
• Bee Informed Partnership
• Bethesda Green 
• Black Outside, Inc. 
• Bright Beginnings Incorporated
• Calvert Impact Capital
• CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Prince George’s County
• Coalition for Smarter Growth
• Community Advocates For Family and Youth (CAFY)
• Community Youth Advance
• Congressional Hunger Center
• Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George's County, Inc.
• D.C. Policy Center  
• Democracy Initiative 
• Dent Education
• District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH) 
• Economic Growth Business Incubator 
• EducARTE
• Empowerment Center 
• E.P.I.C. Homeschool Network
• Fair Chance
• Friends of White Oak, Inc.
• Game Genius, Inc
• Giving Square 
• Global Impact 
• Greater Washington Community Foundation
• Heart of America 
• Housing Initiative Partnership, Inc. 
• Howard County Autism Society 
• I Will Survive, Inc. 
• Joe's Movement Emporium
• Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
• Network for Victims Recovery DC
• Next Gen Giving Circle
• Noble Uprising Inc.
• Nonprofit Village
• Population Services International (PSI) 
• Purpose Possible, Mid-Atlantic Office
• ROOTS Africa
• Smith Center for Healing and the Arts 
• Stella’s Girls 
• Taking Effective Action, Inc. 
• TCP Academy 
• The Be. Org
• The Civic Circle
• The Giving Square 
• The Phillips Collection 
• The Ulman Foundation
• The Young Black & Giving Back Institute 
• There Goes My Hero
• Urban Teachers 
• Van der Becq Holdings, LLC
• Vietnam Veterans of America
• Vikara Village