Category: Articles

Cool Classes: Philanthropy and the Common Good

From the Notre Dame Magazine

If you were in a college course that requires you to give away thousands of dollars to local nonprofits, how would you spend the money? Would you support an organization that makes our environment safer? How about one that helps prisoners re-enter society after they have served their time? A nonprofit that feeds hungry children?

Thanks to an organization called The Philanthropy Lab, which sponsors courses at nearly 20 schools nationwide, I guided 25 Notre Dame undergraduates through that process during the 2019 fall semester. In the course, Philanthropy and the Common Good, they were tasked with making tens of thousands in grants to nonprofits in the South Bend area.

At first, the students seemed perplexed, like there must be some kind of catch. The only rules were that the class had to award between three and six grants, and that each had to go to established 501(c)3 local organizations.

Our amount of grant money was not set from the start. Since there were 25 students enrolled, we had a minimum of $50,000 to award. We could earn more grant dollars from The Philanthropy Lab through incentives as the semester progressed, such as students making individual lifetime giving goals and agreeing to follow up with their philanthropic activity years down the road.

The Philanthropy Lab encourages students enrolled in its sponsored courses to make a goal — not a pledge — about how they hope to participate in philanthropy in the future. For example, a goal might be to give 5 percent of one’s income to charitable causes once student loans are paid off. The class receives an additional $1,000 in funding for each student who makes a goal. The Philanthropy Lab then surveys students years later to determine if students in these courses end up being more generous than the average person.

The lab also offers an additional $10,000 to disburse if the university president attends a class award ceremony at the end of the semester. Those incentives meant the class would likely have between $60,000 and $85,000 to give away. I had 16 weeks to work with 25 of the smartest young people I had ever met to get it right.

I asked the students to divide themselves into six teams. Each team was required to visit two organizations early in the semester, then make presentations to their classmates about what they learned there. We would spend the remainder of the semester analyzing proposals about each nonprofit to determine which should receive the funds.

Two class days before Thanksgiving would serve as board meetings in which students voted on the grants. We’d also spent several sessions focused on theory, the history of philanthropy, how mega donors such as Bill Gates shape giving, and how to define and promote the common good.

One often cited definition of the common good is that it is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily.” We find this definition in Gaudium et spes and used again and again by the Church. Of course, no single definition solves the puzzle of how to give money away most effectively for the betterment of society. That’s one element that makes the course so exciting to teach. I was able to see the students wrestle within themselves and with each other about how to best use the money.

One of my goals as the instructor was to not influence the grantmaking whatsoever. We all have areas of interest when it comes to giving and volunteering. I wanted the grants to reflect the students’ interests and their determination of how the money could best serve the common good. I trusted them to make the tough decisions.

By early October it was time for the groups to make their presentations to the class. In the interest of not influencing the grantmaking and to avoid the risk of adopting a favorite organization of my own, I decided not to make any site visits. I would learn about the options through the presentations.

The course took on a different feel at that point. The students came to a realization about the painful decisions ahead. Of the dozen organizations they collectively visited, at most only six would benefit. Some students had their favorites, organizations that addressed issues personal to them or where they spent hours touring facilities and getting to know the people involved. I could tell just how seriously the students were taking the responsibility. A course about giving money away sounds fun, maybe even easy. In reality, it’s a lot of work, requiring tough choices that are both analytical and emotional.

As Thanksgiving neared, they prepared for a few class sessions of conversation and debate. I tasked certain students to run the board meetings and call the votes. The discussions were civil, yet at times intense. Some students prioritized funding projects at organizations such as Cultivate Culinary and A Rosie Place for Children, which both serve local children. Others recognized the importance of helping local youth but pointed out the necessity of serving often-overlooked adults, arguing for support of nonprofits like Imani Unidad and Neighbor to Neighbor that meet their needs. Each of those organizations ended up receiving funding from the class, in amounts the students negotiated diplomatically to determine.

Ultimately, they decided on grants to nonprofits providing school supplies for K-12 classrooms in need, building a community garden, enabling immigrants to feel more welcome in South Bend, addressing food insecurity among youth and providing care for medically fragile children.

Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins ’76, ’78M.A., did attend our awards ceremony, celebrating with the students and the grant recipients, his presence securing for the class that extra $10,000 from The Philanthropy Lab. He gave insightful remarks, stressing that while the grants are important and will do much good in our community, the real value comes from the life lessons students learn about the importance of making a contribution to society and the necessity of striving to make the world a better place.

As I told the students during our final class, Father Sorin’s call for Notre Dame to be a force for good in the world challenges all of us who are lucky enough to pass through this institution.

They are off to a great start.

Jonathan Hannah is program director for the Law School’s Program on Church, State and Society. He is currently teaching Philanthropy and the Common Good for the second time during the Fall 2020 semester.

View the original article: https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/cool-classes-philanthropy-and-the-common-good/

Philanthropy and Society students award $83,000 to local nonprofits

From Notre Dame News

Written by Erin Blasko | January 16, 2020

Students in Jonathan Hannah’s Philanthropy: Society and the Common Good class at the University of Notre Dame, a partnership with the Philanthropy Lab, spent the fall semester researching and evaluating local nonprofits for consideration for thousands of dollars in grant money.

Hannah is director of the Program on Church, State and Society at the Notre Dame Law School. The Philanthropy Lab supports philanthropy education at colleges and universities in the U.S.

The students, working in teams of five, consulted with Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, conducted online research, performed site visits and solicited and evaluated proposals to determine which organizations best aligned with their values and would most benefit from their support.

They also learned about the social, organizational and financial aspects of philanthropy from Hannah and guest speakers including Lou Nanni, who oversees development at Notre Dame in his role as vice president for University relations.

At an awards ceremony Dec. 5, the students presented novelty checks representing $83,000 in actual money awarded from the Philanthropy Lab to six local organizations:

Cultivate, a food rescue organization, received $20,000 for its backpack program, which provides weekend meals to students in South Bend and Elkhart.

Neighbor to Neighbor, which fosters relationships among South Bend’s immigrant and non-immigrant populations, including migrant and refugee populations, received $8,000. 

The Elkhart Education Foundation received $15,000 for its Schoolhouse Supply Store, which stockpiles free school supplies for Elkhart Community Schools teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors and social workers.

Dismas House received $15,000 for its transitional housing program, which houses ex-offenders with Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross students in South Bend.

A Rosie Place for Children received $15,000 for its respite care program for medically fragile children, located on a five-acre campus in South Bend.

Imani Unidad, which offers risk counseling as well as HIV/STD prevention and education services in South Bend, received $10,000.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Evan DaCosta, a senior political science major from Boston, said of the semester-long course. “I would recommend others take the class.”

The biggest takeaway?

“I didn’t realize how much really does go into philanthropy,” DaCosta said. “It’s not just writing a check. You have to do research, you have to talk to (community and nonprofit) leaders, you have to look at (tax) forms, you have to look at how efficient the organization is. It’s really a pretty interesting world.”

The $83,000 included an initial $50,000, plus $1,000 for each student who committed to future giving and $10,000 if Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., took part in the awards ceremony, which he did.

The latter accounted for the $10,000 for Imani Unidad.

“I’m impressed with what you’ve done,” Father Jenkins told the students, “and impressed too with our partners in the community that do such great work.”

He reminded the students that “the generous people are the happy people. They find in their lives meaning. They find a purpose to life. And that is how to build a worthwhile life.”

Tieal Bishop is CEO of A Rosie Place for Children, which offers short-term relief to families of children who require specialized care because of ongoing health issues.

“This is meaningful,” Bishop said of the $15,000 for her organization. “It will have a significant impact on the hundreds of children we serve.”

Specifically, Bishop said, it will allow A Rosie Place for Children to host as many as 20 to 30 children for sleepovers and/or expand its playground, which features specialized equipment for children with sensory issues.

“I think Father Jenkins said it best,” Bishop said. “A check is fabulous, but really being invested in your community, that’s what makes a difference in the long run.”

Philanthropy: Society and the Common Good is offered through the Hesburgh Program in Public Service and crosslisted with the Department of Political Science and the constitutional studies minor.

Hannah, the former director of foundation relations at Notre Dame, developed the course, which he plans to rename Philanthropy and the Common Good for 2020, with support from Nanni and the development team and in coordination with Cristina Desmond, program director at the Philanthropy Lab.

Desmond is a 2010 Notre Dame graduate.

“Notre Dame was a great partner this year, and we were thrilled to add them to our network,” said Desmond, emphasizing the overlap between the University’s commitment to service and community and the lab’s work “to inspire students to be thoughtful philanthropists and to be thoughtful about how to support deserving organizations.”

“I think many students and alumni feel fortunate to call Notre Dame home and want a way to give back,” Desmond said, “and the class enables students to do so in a way that maximizes their learning and the impact in the community.”

Said Hannah, “No one was forced to be in this class, but they all wanted to take it to focus on philanthropy and volunteering. That’s really inspiring.”

For Cat Edmonds, a senior management consulting major from South Bend, the class was an opportunity to learn about philanthropy while supporting her hometown.

“I’m a big believer in South Bend and its potential, so to visit these organizations and see the actual impact (these grants) are going to have is super exciting,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds is one of two students from the class who will represent Notre Dame at the Philanthropy Lab’s annual Ambassadors Conference in Dallas in June, where she will have the opportunity to network with like-minded peers and pitch one of the class’s six grantees for further funding from a pool of $150,000 in additional grant money.

Founded with the goal of promoting philanthropy and philanthropy education, the Philanthropy Lab has contributed more than $9 million to philanthropy courses at dozens of colleges and universities in the U.S. since 2011.

“The Philanthropy Lab has a threefold mission: to spark students’ interest and participation in philanthropy, to increase the prevalence and priority of philanthropy education in higher education, and to become self-sustaining at the University,” said Hannah.

With continued support from the lab, Hannah hopes to establish Philanthropy and Society as a core part of the curriculum within the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, while working with Nanni and the development team to find new sources of financing for the course, distinct from the lab, so that the lab can expand to more schools.

“This enables us to take our seed funding and expand to other schools without preexisting philanthropy courses,” Desmond said, and “encourages alumni to engage with current students and share their own philanthropic experiences.”

Desmond praised Hannah for doing “a fantastic job setting up the course and getting students excited about philanthropy,” noting how during a visit to the class in the fall “the students were excited about the subject matter, passionate about the local organizations and wrestling with hard questions to make the best decisions possible.”

She also thanked Father Jenkins for his “support of the course and participation in the end-of-term giving ceremony, emphasizing the importance of the next generation of leaders from Notre Dame considering what it means to be a responsible citizen.”

“A common aspect of our most successful partnerships is strong institutional awareness of and support for the Philanthropy Lab class,” Desmond said, “which is why the support of Father Jenkins and Lou Nanni is so encouraging.”

View the original article: https://news.nd.edu/news/philanthropy-and-society-students-award-83-000-to-local-nonprofits/