How an International Student Community Uses Matchmaking Software To Promote Networking and Mentorship Programs

Diversity is the idea that each person is unique and that each of our individual differences serves a social function. Diversity has, regrettably, not always been valued. But as a society, we are beginning to understand how important it is to unite people of all races, ethnicities, religions, and gender to form a cohesive group and community. And doing so offers communities and groups a lot of benefits.

Just like PRISM - a well-established international non-profit organization built in 1980, specialized in welcoming students from all around the world, including post-graduate students including their families. They are a multicultural group of people from all over the world who enjoy learning from each other, servicing the needs of foreign students, and visiting scholars in Pittsburgh aiming to make their stay unforgettable.

Spearheaded by Scott Boyd in 2002 as the organizational director, PRISM is deeply committed to welcoming and engaging individuals such as students, scholars, interns, and post-doctoral employees from all around the world who are staying in Pittsburgh to help ease the burden of being away from home and provide them with several opportunities to build relationships and learn more about faith.

What is the Importance of Mentoring for Young People?

According to Youth.Gov, mentoring young people helps them improve their academic achievement, attendance, and attitude. Mentoring has also been linked in studies to improvements in social-emotional development, shifts in teenage perceptions of parental relationships, and increased chances of moving to higher education.

PRISM offers several programs for everyone, including the Friendship Partners and Mentorship Program. The Friendship Partners allows one to meet a local Pittsburgher in a one-on-one setting, allowing them to choose their preferred connection style, and get matched to a PRISM Volunteer via the SmartMatch platform. A scholar fills out their submission form with their information and their match preferences, which will be used for matching using the SmartMatchApp’s intelligent algorithm to find the best match for them.

PRISM's Mentorship Program, on the other hand, pairs scholars or interns with a mentor as they progress through an 8-session curriculum that will undoubtedly help them now and in the future. Genuine Mentorship, according to PRISM, targets the full growth of a person, not simply job growth. This results in a well-rounded approach to dealing with all of life's challenges.

How does Matchmaking help PRISM Deploy Effective Mentorship?

Consistency is essential in managing a successful and well-rounded mentorship within a community, according to David Lambacher, PRISM's Community Manager and Theological Mentor. With constant communication at both the macro and micro levels, one must be aware of their own mission and vision, as well as ensure that their purpose is always clear and concise to all.

Spreading awareness at the macro level can be accomplished through email campaigns, while spreading awareness at the micro level can be accomplished through in-person, or person-to-person communication, among your connections.

PRISM understands that international students, scholars, or interns coming from multiple nations come into the US with so much ambition and excitement in pursuing their studies. The eagerness is just so overwhelming at times but in a good way. However, all the adrenaline also comes with a lot of pressure, mostly coming from their own families. Imagine leaving your own family behind for an entire school year at such a young age for studies. Being far away from your loved ones can do so much at such a young age without the proper guidance and company. That's where PRISM comes in -- providing a safe space and a place of hospitality for these students, making sure they are well-guided and taken care of.

How PRISM Achieved A Successful Mentoring Community Through the SmartMatchApp Matchmaking platform?

PRISM's goal, according to an interview with David Lambacher, is to connect international academics with local Pittsburgh volunteers. They've been looking for a digital database to connect Pittsburgh residents with international students. After much research and even signing up with a previous CRM software, they still feel there is a lack of customization, such as with the terminologies and interface. They eventually backed out and went back to the drawing board, and went out on the hunt for the CRM software they could best use for matching mentors with these young mentees. With more research and what seemed like endless shopping, PRISM discovered SmartMatchApp online, booked a demo, signed up for a trial, and has been ecstatic to learn about SmartMatchApp customization ever since.

David was also keen to share some of their favorite SmartMatchApp features that helped change the game for their mentorship program. One of them is system customization to meet the needs of each company. They are amazed at how they can keep everything customized and organized within their own CRM based on how they use it to match mentors with young mentees. In accordance with their 8-session curriculum, they get to keep their own unique field names and match preferences. Welp! That is one of our most prominent features. Seriously, people!

Another WOW feature that PRISM found in SmartMatchApp is the ability to categorize and quickly identify volunteer mentors versus young mentees. The designation can be easily identified with a single glance thanks to Lists and Types, as well as the customizable color-coded icons that you can assign to each list. David recalls this feature to save time and manpower, allowing them to focus on more productive tasks.

Finally, but certainly not least, PRISM boasts about the unique and intelligent matching algorithm provided by their SmartMatchApp CRM. They used to spend countless hours making one match, validating the match compatibility of a mentor to a mentee, and still doubting the effectiveness of the match made. They began making matches in minutes after switching to SmartMatchApp! All thanks to our incredibly intelligent matchmaking algorithm. That is an unrivaled feature that we are extremely proud of!

It is critical for PRISM to communicate its mission, vision, and purpose to volunteer mentors and young academics from various countries with inter-cultural differences. In today's digital world of increasing complexity – simplicity, words, humanity, and being concise are all important.

We’ve already said this in the past, but we won’t get tired of saying and showing it. While PRISM looks after people's well-being through mentorship and hospitality, SmartMatchApp looks after and supports the causes of our clients. (**sniffs** You’re crying, not us!)