UW’s Ethics Club Accepting Albany County Nonprofit Nominations for SparkTank

Nominations are now being accepted by the University of Wyoming's Ethics Club for SparkTank 2025, a community-engagement initiative from the UW College of Business that provides financial support to local nonprofit organizations.

Apart from the organizations that received SparkTank funding this past year -- Laramie Interfaith, SAFE Project, Stork Support and Tele-Hope -- all Albany County-based nonprofits that focus on essential needs, such as food, shelter, safety and clothing, are encouraged to participate.

The program is an opportunity to nominate a local preferred nonprofit, says Kent Noble, an adviser to the Ethics Club and a Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Faculty Fellow at the UW College of Business.

"The SparkTank initiative allows our community to spotlight deserving local nonprofits," Noble says. "We encourage nominations for any Albany County nonprofit committed to providing essential needs. Self-nominations also are welcomed."

Nominees must submit a video -- three minutes or less -- to Noble at [email protected] no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13. The video should be posted on YouTube or Vimeo, and it must provide a brief overview of the organization, its mission and how funding will benefit Albany County residents.

Other criteria include a commitment to ethical principles, such as integrity, trust, accountability, transparency, fairness, respect, rule of law and viability, and the nonprofit's willingness to participate in the Better Business Bureau's Charity Accreditation Review Program within the next year. Accreditation assistance is available from the Better Business Bureau.

If selected as a finalist, the nonprofit must be willing to participate in a practice pitch approximately one week before the SparkTank competition. UW's Ethics Club chapter members will announce the SparkTank 2025 finalists no later than Friday, Dec. 13.

"Subsequently, Ethics Club members will conduct further due diligence through site visits and will hold an on-campus question-and-answer session with the finalists before the competition," Noble says.

The finalists will compete in a "Shark Tank"-style competition Thursday, April 24, at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, with each receiving a share of the money raised by Ethics Club and "Sales Seminar" students.

"Since its inception in 2018, UW's Ethics Club has invested a total of $578,000 in the local nonprofit sector, resulting in more than $2.2 million of total economic impact and 22 new jobs in Albany County," Noble says.

For more information about SparkTank 2024, email Noble at [email protected].

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