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.)