Business students assist local nonprofit with digital marketing strategies
Maria Enriquez never imagined that a class project would leave such a lasting impact on her academic and personal journey.
A senior at the University of Houston-Victoria pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship, Enriquez and her all-female team emerged as the winning group this spring in a digital marketing project aimed at boosting engagement for the Salvation Army Victoria’s social media.
“The project was an amazing experience; when we got into our assigned teams, we immediately jumped on a Teams meeting, and we just got along so well,” the El Campo native said. “That was the thing that really helped with the project, my teammates were just amazing.”
The project was part of the UHV College of Business’ Digital Marketing course, MKTG4316. For the course, students partnered with local nonprofit organizations in the area to revamp their digital marketing strategies, with the Salvation Army Victoria being the latest beneficiary.
Last semester, the course was comprised of about 30 students, said Jun Yang, UHV professor of marketing in the College of Business. The students were divided into five teams. The objective of the project was three-fold: conduct a comparison study to analyze the social media pages from three other nonprofit organizations, develop a mock Facebook page for the Salvation Army Victoria, and lastly to provide recommendations for the Salvation Army based on the team’s analysis.
“For students, it’s not just textbooks; it’s more about how to take what you learned and apply it to real life,” Yang said. “For local community members, organizations or nonprofits, if they have requests to collaborate with the College of Business, please reach out to the Advancement department or the College of Business. We want to help our local community.”
Collaborations with local organizations is not new for the College of Business, which has previously worked with organizations such as Faith Academy, the Children's Discovery Museum of the Golden Crescent, National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors, Fort Bend County Library, Victoria Ballet and more.
Salvation Army Victoria picked the winning team and invited the team to their advisory board meeting, which was held on Wednesday, July 23.
During the course of the project, Enriquez and her team conducted comparative research involving other nonprofits like the American Red Cross Coastal Bend Chapter and the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent to identify strategies that could benefit the Salvation Army Victoria.
When the group received news that they were the winning team, they all got together to celebrate, not only on their victory, but also on the milestone of graduation on the horizon for some of the members, Enriquez said.
A highlight of the project was attending the Salvation Army board meeting, where Enriquez and her teammates, accompanied by Professors Yang and Xavier Garza-Gomez, interim dean of the College of Business, were welcomed by the Salvation Army leadership team, she said.
“The key essence of the meeting was talking about the flooding that happened in Kerrville, and you could just feel the emotions that they had and their call for help,” Enriquez said. “They were meant to do this; they were all so welcoming.”
Kenny Jones, captain and commanding officer of Salvation Army Victoria, said this collaboration with the university’s business students resulted not only in fresh ideas, but more importantly a strengthened community bond.
“The students were very excited about the project, and I was also excited to work with them due to their interest in our program and what we do,” Jones said. “Our people were very happy to welcome them at our board meeting to give them a glimpse into what we do here at the Salvation Army.”
The recent collaboration marked the first time the Salvation Army Victoria and the College of Business students have worked together, though previous partnerships with the university have existed in other areas, Jones said. Looking ahead to the future, Jones said he is optimistic about future collaborations with the university.
“Being that this is the first time we’ve collaborated on this type of project, I’d love to do it more in the future,” he said. “I was very impressed.”
As Enriquez looks ahead to her graduation in spring 2026, her long-term goals are to continue building the business she started with her father and dive deeper into the world of data analytics, she said.
Her interest in business began early, which was shaped by her father. While she was in high school, Enriquez began working alongside her father who works as a truck driver. Eventually the idea came that Enriquez would handle the logistical side, which included talking to landscapers and farm owners, while her father handled the truck driving aspect.
“It felt like a light was taking over and business just became a part of me,” Enriquez said. “Most of my family are business owners, so it felt like a calling.”
The early experience not only gave Enriquez practical skills but also instilled in her a love for numbers and organizations. While her class project brought her team recognition, it also reinforced her desire to use her skills to serve others in her community, she said.
“Just seeing the amount of work that these organizations put into trying to help their community, it really inspired me,” she said. “It inspired me to go out there and volunteer more and see what the community needs, even here in El Campo.”
Garza-Gomez highlights the valuable connections being formed between marketing students and small businesses in Victoria through recent student projects. Building on this momentum, the College is eager to expand its engagement with the local business community. Through the College of Business and its Nonprofit Center, we offer opportunities for student-led projects and complimentary consulting services by our faculty—not only in Marketing, but also in Human Resources, Management, Finance, and Accounting, he said in an email.
For more information, please contact Garza-Gomez, interim dean of the College of Business at GarzaX@uhv.edu, or Rhiannon Smith, assistant dean at smithr@uhv.edu.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.