Our platform will primarily support the ventures of people who partake in charitable activities often, such as members of community service groups and organizations. Our greater purpose, however, is to make participating in these activities more accessible and integrated into people’s daily lives. We have identified three target participants of our contextual inquiry:

Churchgoers at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church

A demographic we plan on interviewing is churchgoers, specifically those at St. Raphael’s. A recent study shows that of all individual charity donors, religious groups make up the highest percentage. Mass ceremonies are held on Sunday mornings, during which baskets are passed around in which people place their donations to local charities that the church supports. After the mass ceremony ends, we plan on asking churchgoers about what they were thinking about when they made a donation. In addition, we plan to speak to the pastor himself, and find a time to interview him about his experience connecting charitable organizations to St. Raphael’s church. By understanding his experience and decision-making, our group can perhaps get a macroscopic perspective of how charitable decisions are made.

Representative from Center for Learning in Action (CLIA)

CLIA’s mission is to provide experiential learning opportunities for Williams students to engage with and give back to the greater community. We will conduct a contextual inquiry with the Director of CLIA to gain some insight on how CLIA coordinates service activities, seeks out information on charities, and stays updated with them. We would also like her input on what a platform like ours can offer her organization, specifically what she feels CLIA would need help with the most and any difficulties they usually face in coordinating community service efforts. We have received her approval to conduct a contextual inquiry next week in her office on campus. We hope that this will help us gain some insight on her past and present experiences with coordinating charitable ventures through CLIA and the usual processes involved. We will also observe her day-to-day work with charitable organizations and explain our rationale behind doing so. For example, if she’s currently coordinating a charitable event coming up, we would ask her to begin doing her work and observe and inquire about her decisions. We also plan on asking her some questions such as “How has your experience as CLIA’s director been like?” and “How do you go about finding and reaching out to charities?” in addition to her demonstrating the relevant procedures for us in her office.

A Williams student involved in community service-oriented student groups

Williams hosts a variety of student groups that participate in and organize community service and/or charity activities. We have identified the Kinetic and Effective Altruism groups in particular as potential sources of targets for inquiry. We expect to find and acquire a suitable student subject to study by scouting out group meetings (Sunday morning and Friday night, respectively) for a sample willing to be interviewed. We will conduct a contextual inquiry during one of their general meetings, which will focus on observations on member participation, topics discussed and concerns raised. We may hold questions until appropriate breaks or after the meeting to avoid disruptive interruptions. Questions to be asked include:

  • What are your goals when participating in this organization?
  • What qualities do you pay attention to when deciding which charitable causes to support?
  • How do you go about finding and reaching out to charities?