November 8: First attempt

Following up on mine and Gannon’s meal swipe discussion, I set out to approach various companies that may be willing to contribute money to Tostan, sponsor an event, etc. After meeting with Molly and speaking over the phone with Gannon again, however, this seemed a bit ambitious given our own relative lack of direction. I decided, instead, to focus on one company that might have been willing to accompany us in our journey. Gannon had mentioned the Marriott’s work with a variety of local NGOs, so I figured it was worth a shot. I went to the Marriott on Embassy Row and surprisingly found a manager very willing to talk with me. While I didn’t have a set direction, I spoke about possible AU interest in Tostan and fundraising options. I introduced the idea of doing something with meal plans (an idea I’m sticking with because I know how many AU students have tons of extra meal swipes by the end of the semester) and the manager I spoke with seemed to like it. Ultimately, the manager told me that he couldn’t give me a definitive answer as I didn’t have a definitive proposal but told me he would like to keep in touch and be updated on our plan. While we are still--essentially--at square one, the meeting went better than I had expected and at least there’s the possibility of a successful event.
I spoke with Gannon to let him know how it went and he seemed very pleased. My only concern is that the Marriott’s willingness to work with us is heavily dependent on my mention of possible AU interest in Tostan; which is not something we are sure of yet.