What The Media Shows

            In class on Tuesday, we spent some time examining the importance of the awards ceremony we held on Thursday.

            The conversation centered on what parties will benefit from it, and the purpose of holding the ceremony in general. Initial sentiments, at least from my group but also that seemed to be shared by the rest of the class, were that it provided a sort of closure and celebration both for our efforts and for the organizations. It seemed that just giving the money away without a sort of celebration of it would undermine the semester’s worth of work we’d done. We also addressed the benefits of publicity for the organizations, the benefits of publicity for the University, and the benefits of coverage for the media.

            I spend a lot of my time working on Pipe Dream, and am frequently figuring out what to cover for our newspaper. Generally, we want to weigh importance with interest. Stories that are covered are both relevant, but also ones that will be relevant to students. When I look at Pipe Dream, I personally see a product that packages primarily the interesting aspects of a Binghamton student experience.

            So, on the one hand, we act in self-interest. The media looks for stories that will improve its popularity. But on the other hand, we also operate with an understanding of our clientele. The media, in looking for stories that will improve its popularity, again keeps its consumers in mind.

            Many people criticize publicity in philanthropic efforts, and I this while not misguided, arguments frequently miss the point. In this article, (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/) Forbes tackles the issue of whether or not charity is just a publicity stunt. But I think that regardless of whether it is or isn’t, there is a larger benefit to the publicity in general.

            Popularity of media and publicity’s success depends on public interest. Something cannot garner attention if people are not inclined to read it in the first place. I think that the presence of media at events like these makes a statement about the surrounding community, or at least the outlet’s viewers/readership. Since a media source is a business, they do aim to be successful and popular with what they do. That means our content not only has to interest them personally, but the people that they provide a service for.

Post-Class Philanthropy

Before joining this class, the amount of philanthropy I did was limited to what was required of my high school. As we learned from last week's post about community service requirements, this was not the most engaging and thought provoking way to approach giving. What made this class's philanthropy different from that of high school, was that it was more than just allocating our time and money to a cause. If this were the case, we could have easily picked an organization in January, given it our grants, sat idle until May and hope for the best. Instead, we were challenged to make a calculated and thoughtful decision as to which organization deserved our grant. This class challenged us to find a need in our local community, identify organizations that would serve that need, and through the decision making process, learn different approaches to philanthropy on how we could best allocate our grants. I appreciate that this class not only gave me the opportunity to be involved with Broome County, but also gave me the opportunity to further learn about philanthropy. We learned about how non-profits are structured, different ways to approach philanthropy, and resources to evaluate the effectiveness of organizations. These lessons have allowed us to come to a decision that I am positive will impact the community and help it grow.

The challenge now is how we will approach our own philanthropy post-class. It is different to have someone require you to be philanthropic and give you the resources to do so. After class, there will be no allocated time periods, money given to you, or sponsor-backed twitter contests encouraging you to give. You have to take your own initiative and budget your own time and money to do so. In a way, philanthropy in the future won't be as convenient. Will this discourage your giving? I hope it doesn't. If there is anything that will encourage us, it is our first lesson from class: anyone can be a philanthropist. You don't have to have Bill Gate's net worth (which I recently learned is a whopping $79.2billion) or have your own foundation like Elon Musk. We have read about philanthropists in all economic backgrounds and ages from A Path Appears to prove that this is not the case.  If anything, we have a leg up because the lessons we learned from class have set a solid foundation to guide our personal philanthropy for a lifetime.
I suggest that over the summer, we take the free time that we have to find organizations we are passionate about and want to support. Whether this is volunteering once a week or donating a portion of money from our summer jobs, we should put in our best effort to keep this momentum of giving going. Personally, I am excited and looking forward toward to volunteering for Hosteling International, a nonprofit that fosters connecting people to one another through travel. This organization is a perfect fit because it combines my interests of community and travel. They offer travelers affordable housing and facilitate interactions between them and the local community through guided tours, discussions, and discovering something new about the neighborhood. Their goals are to break down stereotypes and "use the power of travel to foster a deeper understanding of people, places, and the world around". Find something you are passionate about and run with it, let's not remain idle in our giving.

Questions:
1) Do you plan to continue giving after class?
2) Do you have any organizations at home that you are passionate about and can find yourself supporting in the future?
3) Do you have any reservations about being philanthropic in the future?

If you want to learn more about Hosteling International check out this website:
https://www.hiusa.org/about-us

The uncontrollable influences

I remember my tenth grade English teacher telling me that the most important part of the essay is the conclusion.  She described it as the one thing that would stick in the reader's mind.
For years, I have told people that my favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities. Yet, just recently, I remembered despising reading the entire book but absolutely loving the ending. In my assessment, I almost completely forgot the rest of the book.
Now, I ask, is it a coincidence that we chose to give to the two last organizations we visited?
Were they actually the best fits? Or rather, did we see five great organizations and these two were freshest in our minds?
Is it a coincidence that the organization with the least support was Catholic Charities? It was the organization that we not only saw first, but was the only organization we saw before Spring break.  Was Catholic Charities that much worse than everything else, or did we just have the worst memories of it?  Now, I personally do think it was the worst pitch we saw, but maybe my memory is biased too.
Do you all think that the order in which we visited organizations affected our decisions?
We gave to Lourdes.  The Lourdes group in class was the only group we saw present that openly and unanimously opined for their charity to receive the donation.  While other groups pointed out discrepancies in their organization's programs and RFPs, the Lourdes group made a point to directly say that they all support giving to Lourdes.
Passion and confidence are contagious. Hearing the group speak so glowingly about Lourdes couldn't have not influenced the class.  When the people that are supposed to know the charity best can say nothing but positive things, it leads the class to think that the organization is nothing but positive.  Did it sway the class for Lourdes that each of the groups members voted to give to it and vocalized their vote?  On the flip side, did it affect the class vote that members of Catholic Charities group openly expressed doubt and uncertainly about their organization?  Did it affect the class vote that the YMCA group appeared ambivalent and noted negatives about the site visit? The way anything is presented is important.  Look to the world of advertising and how consumers are influenced.  No company suggests to the public that its product may not bet he best.  No customer would buy a product that openly expresses its flaws in an ad.  I ask you all, do you feel that the Lourdes' group passion and support of the charity influenced the vote?  Did the Lourdes group truly try to give our class an all-encompassing understanding of the charity, or did they treat their presentation as an opportunity to persuade?
I'm not saying that the Lourdes group violated any unspoken rules or intentionally influenced anyone.  Good for them that they loved the organization they were assigned to so much.  All I ask is if you think it is possible that their passion influenced the vote.
Were there other unaddressed items that could have swayed the vote?  I open the floor.

Community Service Requirements

A friend’s little sister was talking about high school graduation the other day, and was complaining about having to finish her community service requirement so that she could get her degree. Her school required that she complete 80 hours of community service (and provide documentable proof of them) throughout her four years of high school.

Personally, I remember having a similar requirement in middle school, and I was asked to complete 20 hours of community service a year. My parents always made sure that I made volunteering a part of my extracurricular activities from a young age, so the requirement didn’t really faze me at the time. But every year, my friends would rush around at the last minute, looking for a way to reach their quota.

Hearing my friend’s sister made me think about whether or not it is effective to require community service hours in schools. When I think about it in passing, it seems like an effective way to teach students about the importance of giving back while also enforcing hands-on learning. The added benefit is that each year, hundreds of students are going out in their communities and helping. But there are some questionable issues that have been addressed, such as the effects on service rates after graduation and the morality behind forcing community service.

The New York Times published an article over 20 years ago on high schools the then increasing rates of community service requirements (http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/nyregion/high-schools-mandating-community-service-for-graduation.html?pagewanted=all). The article addressed the various ways in which this was becoming a trend, from graduation requirements to course-specific requirements to incentives for those with the most hours at the end of a school year. Some schools said that requirements were working, and kids were meeting the needed hours without much complaint. Other schools scoffed at the idea, focusing on how they fostered a spirit of giving back instead of forcing students to oblige.

One major concern was how students finally completed their hours. While some got involved in programs and, little by little, worked their way toward the requirement, others waiting until the last minute and then rushed to complete service. This meant that it wasn’t so much of a learning and engaging experience, and more of a way to accomplish as much as possible. Students were no longer mindful about the giving experience, but instead looked at it as yet another high school task.

A study published by the Economics of Education Review examined Maryland, which was the first state to set a community service requirement for all public school graduates. The study found that students who were forced to fill community service hours actually ended up volunteering less later on after graduation. The sense of requirement and burden that came from high school deterred many students from engaging later on.

Now, this is not to say that nothing positive came from high school requirements. Articles such as this one from the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/high-school-seniors-in-mad-scramble-to-finish-community-service/2015/04/05/35aa73b8-d943-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html) cited negatives from requirements, but also had anecdotes of students who only discovered a passion for giving because of the requirement they had to fulfill. But the idea poses an interesting question of whether or not giving should be required, and if someone should be forced to do “the right thing.”

Do you think high schools should require students to complete community service hours for graduation? Why or why not? What benefits do you see to a requirement, and what shortcomings?

How to Avoid A Bloodbath

For our assignment next Thursday, we were encouraged to ask a student, who took this class previously, to share his or her experience on making the final decision. I decided to get started by asking my friend who recommended me to take the course. Like Professor Campbell told us previously, the structure of their class was slightly different from ours. Instead of focusing on one issue, her class gave many types of organizations the opportunity to apply for a grant regardless of their issue area and those who applied were then placed into an issue specific group. From there, the students had to decide which organization from the issue specific groups which were most suited to receive the grants. Towards the end of her course, her class was faced with the challenge of compromising and finalizing their decision. Due to the class’s natural distinction in opinions, they focused on various issue areas. For example they had Kopernik laboratory for their Arts & Science issue, Rescue Mission for the homeless issue and Mom’s House for the education issue. However, their decision process was slightly overwhelming. Students talked over each other, trying to persuade the other students which organization was more impactful or sustainable. They initially established sustainability as their main criteria for an organization, but later as the process continued, some students would argue on behalf of the organization. This can be very difficult for a class to make a decision if no one is willing to compromise to hear another student’s opinion. While it was a long process, the students found they were all very passionate about the issues at hand and the discussion was important in creating a consensus. I am looking forward to our final decision making process because our past seminars are slowly leading up to this finale. However, I hope this won't turn into a "blood bath" of any kind and everyone can respect each other’s opinion. While my friend was happy about the final outcome of the class, it was difficult for her to not feel biased to her organization and this was a feeling that many in the class felt. It always goes back to how what you value matches what your goals are. There are times where you feel passionately about one topic, but it may not be inline with your goal to make the most sustainable impact. But that is all part of the learning aspect of philanthropy and understanding what it really is and how each individual defines it. By recognizing what motivates a student to give will help us understanding each other’s opinions. If a student is guided by his goal to do the most good he can, then maybe helping the Catholic Charities program might not be the best idea since, there will still be many youth on the wait- list. On another note, after listening to the four groups who presented, it was really surprising to hear each team’s opinion. After each site visit and even while my team was working on our presentation, we discussed our top ranking organizations and many people liked the YMCA but the group that was doing the YMCA did not seem to really support the program as much as the organization. So even though we all presented on an organization twice, which made us feel invested and connected with the organization, we weren’t too bias and were able to look at the proposal and site visit critically to see if they were the target organization we want to help as a class . Some questions to consider: 1. Did any presentations changed your mind on an organization? 2. What do you think is our class’s main factors in deciding an organization - (for example, passion of the leaders, sustainability, potential for growth) 3. What do you think will happen with our decision making process? Will there be a blood-bath? 

Some Final Factors to Consider Before Donating

Hey everyone, our remaining class sessions are dwindling down and the decision is going to be made on Thursday. Some of you already have a specific charity in mind that you'd like to choose, others may be on the fence. I would like to discuss two more factors that could possibly influence your decision. Those two factors being program size and age of the children in the program. We have talked about these considerations in class, but I would like to explore them further as I believe they can have a large impact on the final decision.

First I'm going to talk about program size. On the surface, it would make sense to think that a bigger program is preferable because more kids are being serviced. However I am not sure that this is the case. For me, the trade off of having a larger program is having a less personal program. It really comes down to width versus depth. The programs presented by the YMCA as well as Catholic Charities seem to be wider. They service many more kids than the programs offered by Lourdes, Urban League and Children's Home. Of course it is great that they help children in need, but how intimate can these programs be? Catholic Charities program has an average of six sessions per child, and the YMCA program only meets a couple times a week for a few weeks. While the Catholic Charities meetings are one on one, the length of the program is on the shorter end in my opinion. And the YMCA services so many kids that they are more likely to be seen as a number rather than an individual. I would like to give to a program that helps a smaller amount of kids, but helps more per kid. So Lourdes, Children's Home and Urban League are preferable in this sense. Also, the duration of each of these programs is longer. The Children's Home program would help the beneficiaries 24/7 seeing as we would fund the apartments that they are living in. The Lourdes program is active to six individuals for the summer, and Urban League is run during the summer all day long. It seems that since these programs have less children, more time can be allotted to each child, which is very important.

Another factor I would like everyone to consider is the age of the children in each program. The Children's Home program will affect young adults, Lourdes and Catholic Charities programs are more likely to help middle school and high school aged children, and the YMCA and Urban League programs will benefit younger elementary school aged kids. Their are positive and negative aspects of helping each age group, but I feel that the best result will come from helping the youngest kids. The main reason I think this is because young children are very impressionable. It is very possible that a child in the younger age group will learn something, or gain a role model that can keep them on a straight path and out of trouble. I remember some of the adults and teen helpers from my after school elementary program that taught me about hard work and honesty. If a kid learns about nutrition from the YMCA program, or is doing fun activities at the Urban League instead of on the street because of us, then I think that our donation would have been very valuable. Furthermore, (not wanting to echo my mother) but teens do tend to be more rebellious than younger kids. This should not deter potentially helping these teens, but I'd prefer to work on the more malleable younger minds.

Given these two factors, I am favoring giving to the Urban League. It is helping a manageable amount of young children. I think that our funds could do a lot of good for the program presented by this organization. I am curious to know what you guys think, and what charity is your top one going into this week.

Here are some potential questions you may want to answer.
1. Are there factors that you want to talk about that haven't been too thoroughly discussed in class.
2. Do you agree that my two factors are important? Why or why not.
3. If you agree that my factors are important do you agree with my conclusion? (Ex. you think program size is important but a larger program is preferable.)

Volunteering Abroad is great, or not?

When I was in high school, I was extraordinarily motivated to make a difference in the world, far beyond where I lived. I had a close friend who shared the same enthusiasm. Together, we searched for programs where we could volunteer in another, less developed, country. Eventually after weeks of research, I decided this wasn't the right time for me. Plus the costs were extravagant. However, my friend continued to search and pursue this incredible experience.

Eventually, about a half a year ago, she went to Ghana on a philanthropic program where she would volunteer at an orphanage with several other volunteers from around the world. She came back with an incredibly new perspective on the world along with hundreds of pictures and stories that she was all too willing to share. In short, from what I've gathered her experience was transcendent, eye-opening, and simply astounding. She had no negative stories to share and it was clear she made a difference in many childrens' lives.

What brings me to discuss this topic is actually a tweet-of-the-week nomination our class had one week which pointed out negative effects of volunteer-abroad organizations. Upon further research I've found that these were the most common complaints:

• These volunteer organizations are for-profit and therefore motivated by financial gain,
• The comfort of the volunteers come before the comfort of the locals,
• Local communities are unsure about who or what the volunteers are or what they are supposed to be doing in their tightly knit communities and;
• Volunteers do jobs that locals could be doing.

These are all viable concerns. However, I found many positives while researching as well:

• Local programs have more labor power
• Provides financial support
• Offers opportunities to hire local support staff
• Improves facilities such as schools, parks, etc.
• Volunteers typically remain involved and invested in the host community
• and most of all, volunteers inspire others and give a voice to their host communities

I've found that these volunteer opportunities elicit a special type of philanthropic contribution. It makes the world a smaller place. The volunteers who return give a voice to those we wouldn't be able to understand otherwise. My friend came back with a mission to tell her story in order to inspire others to contribute whatever they possibly could into the world. Whether it be money, their time, or their intrigue. She wishes to affect her change by making Ghana a relevant country for her friends to think about, and then perhaps one day they may be able to affect their own impact into Ghana.

Though one must be able to understand the positives and negatives of this type of philanthropic work. While exercising your ability to do great things in areas needing help, you may need to stop and think if your way of helping is truly needed in that form.

So this is my way of spreading my friend's message. I hope you all find an opportunity to give back to the same degree that my friend did.

Skyping with Anita

Yesterday, our class had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Anita Borkenstein about philanthropy, giving, and decision making. What I found most interesting was how many parallels were drawn between Impact 100 and our class. As we discussed Anita’s work, it was as if we were talking about our own. At the core of these two projects is collective giving. Collective giving versus individual giving presents its own risks, challenges, and rewards. I personally like the idea of collective giving. I like that collective giving creates a discussion and presents options to donate outside of our initial individual choices. Before taking this class, I didn’t realize how many non-for profits there were in Broome County alone. By working together, our interests pooled together a variety of options in different fields, industries, and practices that we would not have come up with on our own. Like our Skype session pointed out, as much as we would like to help every cause out there, our funds can only stretch so far to be effective.

What I found most useful was our discussion about decision making. We are at the point in this class where a decision has to be made. One of the questions that Anita asks herself when coming to a decision is, “Is this project transformational”? Each of our finalist organizations presents a unique opportunity to positively affect Broome County. Our grant has the potential to continue a pilot program, provide therapy to those in need, fund after school programs, or start an entirely new program. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever organization we choose, it will enact positive change. Another question we considered was, “What will happen if we don’t support an organization”? We always consider the future of the decisions we make but never the future that would have been from the decisions we don’t make. In the case of the Lourdes Detention After School Program, lack of funding from our grant will eliminate this program all together. As a result, eight children who would have been having a productive summer and developing skills will likely be on the street continuing life as they normally would. The opportunity for a challenging and positive summer experience will be taken away. Is this the future we want for them? Certainly not, but this is the cost of not funding programs like this. After the Skype discussion, I feel that Lourdes best fits the need for our grant. Their performing arts program takes initiative within the community because it would be the first of its kind that is affordable and accessible to at risk children. Without our support, this organization will not even get the opportunity to establish a pilot program to prove themselves for future funding. Unlike other organizations we have met, there are no additional grants to look forward to if ours falls through for them. Furthermore and most importantly, if this program does not happen, students lose the chance to have a paid summer internship, develop leadership skills, and be part of a structured program that utilizes creative outlets that would otherwise be left untapped. My gut tells me that this is the program to choose. I like the enthusiasm of the leaders for the program, their professionalism in preparing answers for the questions we asked them, and the effort they made in engaging us with group activities. I hope that as a class we can apply Anita’s insight on decision making towards every organization to guide our final choice. I look forward to seeing which organization we select!

Some things to consider:  

How has the Skype discussion affected your decision making choice? Is there a particular organization you are in favor of or against? Were there any questions you thought of now that you wish you would’ve asked?

Christina C.

Site Visit Reflection

Our class has now completed all five of our site visits. Although it took up a lot of class time and required some travel it was my favorite part of our class so far.  I was able to learn a lot about nonprofits and the way they are run but I was also learned about Broome County and Binghamton. The site visits also supplied the class with information about the organizations that we would not have gotten from a piece of paper or a website. For example, I personally was very hesitant about supporting the Lourde’s DAASP program based off only their response to our RFP because I didn’t really understand what the program was trying to achieve or how it was going to be structured. After with meeting with the people from Lourde’s and the specific program I was able to learn more about the type of program they are interested in starting. I also liked that they passed around papers with answers to the questions that we sent them because it allowed our class to learn more about the program from their responses but also saved time for us to ask new questions that we may have come up with that day.

One of the most interesting questions to hear a response to was Professor Campbell’s question about why the employees got involved in with their organization. I really enjoyed hearing the responses of all the representatives. Their answers definitely showed that they were not there for the money, but because they truly cared about the lives of the children and want to see them be successful.

When comparing the site visits, I think one of things that made the biggest difference for me was the attitude of the person or people that were presenting their program. It was great to see Dan at the YMCA be so passionate about his job and the programs they offer. It was also great to see Jennifer and her co-worker at Urban League talk about the kids that they help with their programs. It seemed to me that they are excited to get up and go to their jobs in the morning, and that encourages me to help support their organization.

Based off site visits alone the top two organizations I would like to support are the Urban League and Lourde’s DAASP. I think both of the programs that they proposed help youth in need, which is what our class wanted to see happen. The programs were also presented in a very positive way and their presentations helped us to see what the programs would accomplish. A highlight of the Lourde’s presentation was when they got our class involved in a game that they would play with the youth in their program. The Urban League stands out to me because of the passion of their employees and the scrapbook they passed around that was made by their own students.

What did you think of our site visit experiences? What organization would you like to support based on the site visits alone? Do you think it’s fair to base our decision solely on the site visit or are there other things we need to consider?

Thoughts Following the Lourdes Site Visit

This past Thursday our class had the opportunity to speak with the staff of the DAASP and MHJJ programs of Lourdes Hospital. Of the finalist organizations, this was the one that I knew the least about going into the visit. As a result, I didn't know what to expect going in. Afterwards, I can say that any expectations that I did have were exceeded after hearing the staff explain their programs.

The staff spoke about a number of points that I found very compelling. The first being that there is no similar program to the one that they wish to create in the area. This is important because we don't want to fund a program, especially a new one, that addresses a need that is already being tackled by other existing programs. The new program that they are proposing we fund would provide job experience to youth who would experience immense difficulty when finding an internship. As the program staff told us, many of the kids that the program serves have been given up on by their schools. Employers of interns and part time workers don't favor youth who have been in the court system. Under these circumstances, it would be understandable for a young person to feel rejected by society and lose hope. Providing these kids with internships in fields which they have an interest in could change their perspective on life at a very crucial age. They would be letting their energy and emotions out in a way that is productive and creative which we as students know can be very rewarding. Additionally, the program would provide them with experience that would look good on a resume, something that many of us understand all too well.

What impressed me most at the site visit was the passion that was clearly visible in all the staff members. Our class may have some reservations about funding a new program. Many of us seek to fund a program that will be sustainable as to make a lasting impact. A new program might seem risky because we don't know if it will succeed and be funded in the future. Personally, I feel more at ease knowing that the staff behind the program is passionate about their work with youth. A new program needs passionate leaders and staff behind it to produce results that will allow them to get funding. I think all of us can agree that the staff has this passion. They came off as very dedicated and also positive which must be difficult when dealing with youth who have very little positivity in their lives. This serves a double purpose. Not only does the staff's passion show that they will work hard to make the new program succeed, it also shows us that they are good role models for the youth that they serve. The kids in these programs could use a role model who is positive and dedicated to helping them succeed because many of them probably feel like society has given up on them. Having an adult figure who works tirelessly to improve these kids lives must give them hope in their own futures.

I'm not attempting to sway the class into favoring this organization for our grant. The other four candidates are also impressive and have key differences that set them apart from each other. However, I was very impressed with this particular organization and consider it a front runner at this point in our decision making process. I'm interested in hearing what your impressions were of this organization at the site visit.