Hello classmates,
During the last few weeks, we have been visiting local nonprofits and will soon decide which organizations we will donate our money to. The Learning by Giving Foundation has given us $10,000 to donate in the form of a $7500 program grant and a $2500 operating grant. However, we actually have the opportunity to donate even more money, upwards of an extra $3,000 dollars. If you are reading this post right now, you are helping increase our chances of being awarded this money. That is because the Learning by Giving Foundation awards extra grant money to classes that are thoughtfully engaging in philanthropic discussions, like we have been doing through our blog posts. We have the opportunity to be awarded an extra 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 dollars in grant money to donate to one of our finalist organizations. I think its important to speak about what we could do with this money in the event that we will be awarded it. We should begin to plan what we as a class will do if we are awarded the grant money and if that plan would change based on the amount we receive.
The five finalist organizations we are currently considering are CHOW (Summer Caring Package Program), YWCA (Helping Hands Scholarship Program), Boys and Girls Club (Summer Teen Emplyoment Program), Wilson Children's Center (Social/Emotional Development Program), and the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier (COMPEER Youth Mentoring Program). After we speak with the representatives from the Wilson Children's Center, we will begin our deliberation on how we will donate the money. As it currently stands, we must decide which organization will receive the $7500 program grant and which will get the $2500 operating grant. However, if we get the extra grant money, when/how will we decide to use it? Should we include the extra money in our deliberation of the program and operating grant or should we decide the program/operating grants and then decide on the extra money? The extra money could help an organization get closer to its funding goal for a specific program. For example, our $7500 grant could help CHOW provide about $15,000 meals but, with the extra money, the total could be raised to 17, 19, or 21 thousand meals. We could also use the money on an organization with high operating costs, like the Boys and Girls Club.
As we begin to decide on where our $10,000 will go, we have to keep in mind that there is a real possibility that we will be able to donate up to an extra $3,000. If you are curious on how you can help increase the odds of us getting the money, simply continue commenting on the blog posts and engaging in discussion about philanthropic topics like we have been doing all semester. If the Learning by Giving Foundation sees that our class is active and excited about the grantmaking process, they will entrust us with more money to donate. This money, whether it be 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 dollars, can do a great deal in supporting the program or operating expenses of one of our finalist organizations. Our decision making process is nearing soon and our class will, hopefully, be awarded the extra money. So, I urge you all to really begin thinking about how we could use the extra money and how we should incorporate it into our grantmaking process.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think we can do with the extra money.
Thanks for opening this discussion David.
ReplyDeleteEarly on in the semester, I'm sure many of us remember how heated our discussions got when we were deciding on what issue area to focus. We each had our own opinions about what issue in the Binghamton community was most deserving of our help, and we each had strong justifications for our sides. Ultimately what we learned was that there were many pressing issues in the area, including food insecurity, lack of affordable childcare, opioid addiction, and inadequate access to employment. Despite many constructive discussions, we could not come to a consensus over which issue area needed our support most, likely because each issue area was in such desperate need that it was impossible to discount any of them. We decided that instead of selecting one issue area to focus on, we would identify organizations representing each issue area, and then decide which organization could have the greatest impact on their specific issue if granted funds by our class.
Despite this compromise, our decision is not an easy one to make. Each of the potential recipients of our two grants could do a lot of good with our funds. No matter what organization we choose, we are giving up the chance to give much needed help to other, equally deserving causes.
But if we had access to an additional $3000 in funds, we wouldn't have to make the impossible decision between feeding thousands of hungry kids and their families over the summer by giving to CHOW or providing underprivileged teens a life-changing, career experience getting paid to work over the summer at the Boys and Girls Club, we could do both, or any other of the very deserving areas of program support we could provide. While the $3000 grant would be less than the $7500 program grant we are already providing, it would still have a huge impact wherever we end up granting it.
As the semester is coming to a close, I am finding it harder and harder to decide where exactly I want our $7500 and $2500 grants to go. Before making any site visits (ironically), my top organizations were clear, but after visiting the finalists and hearing first-hand about all the wonderful things that each one does, my certainty has wavered. For example, originally I was skeptical of MHAST's program, but after visiting them last Thursday and hearing their workers passionately speak about what they do, I became fully convinced that their COMPEER Youth Mentoring Program is just as important as any other finalist program. This class has definitely impacted me more than I could've ever imagined, because the thought of awarding grants to one or two winners means taking that opportunity away from equally deserving charities. This is a burden that I never expected to carry when enrolling in this course, and although I'd love to give all the finalists $10,000, I obviously know that there can only be two grants awarded in this class. Therefore, it would be a privilege to receive more money from The Learning by Giving Foundation and use it to further help the community in Broome County.
ReplyDeleteI believe if we receive extra money, regardless of how much, it would be a good idea to donate that money as another program grant to the runner-up organization of the $7500 grant. If by chance the runner-up happens to be the winner of the operating grant, then I think the third in line for the program grant should receive the extra money. The reason why I wouldn't want to give any extra money to the winner(s) of either grant is because I would love to give another finalist organization the chance to improve. If anyone has any other suggestions as to how we could use the extra money if we received it, please comment! The more engaged we are, the greater our chances of giving away extra money!
As each of you have said, the decision-making process will most certainly not be easy. We’ve seen throughout this semester that Binghamton requires aid in a multitude of areas, and each one of these organizations provides a great service in at least one of those areas. No matter where we give, I think our donation will make a big impact in the Binghamton area. Thinking of what we would do with an additional amount of money from the Learning by Giving Foundation, I almost think it would make the decision easier. Yes we would have to make more decisions, but we could donate to a greater number of organizations if we couldn’t decide on just one for each of our existing grants.
ReplyDeleteYou both have suggested that we give the Learning by Giving award money to an organization through a program grant, but I would like to argue the possibility of an additional operating grant. This decision is influenced by something that Carole Coppens of the YWCA said that has stuck with me since our site visit. When talking with us, she voiced her strong desire for the possibility of more unrestricted money; money that can just be used to cover the overhead costs of the organization. Donors are so willing to give money that supports programs‒perhaps it makes them feel like they are doing more‒but an organization can’t run if it doesn’t have overhead support. Therefore, her fervent request for money that can just be used to run the organization itself makes me wonder if we should actually focus on another operating grant.
When it comes to the actual decision, however, I think the question comes down to: Are we donating to who needs our money the most, or who would do the most with our money? By that I mean, are we donating for the biggest impact now, or to give organizations the opportunity to grow and make bigger impacts in the future? If the class decides we want to make the greatest impact now, then perhaps the additional money should be focused on programs and be given to the runner-up as Michael has suggested. However, if we want to give to who needs funding the most, then I would argue that additional money should be in the form of an operating grant.
David,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you put this post up! I feel like this is a really exciting topic to talk about as we address the burning question on how we would spend the extra money. I feel like this is a post everyone in the class should contribute to.
As I read Michael and Gabe’s comments I had the same thought as Sarah. As we’ve explored a range of charities that working in various issue areas, each has expressed the struggle of keeping up with operating expenses. We’ve learned it can be difficult for organizations to obtain operating grants because most donors want to support something tangible. However the reality is all programs rely on its organization to operate in a healthy fashion. I think this was most emphasized through Carole Coppens who so passionately spoke of the importance of operating expenses. Life never goes as planned for any organization. For these reasons, I feel providing an additional operating grant would be the most beneficial.
I understand why many donors like to give to a program that gives a tangible outcome. Not seeing exactly where your money goes can be really scary, but the idea is fine by me. If anything, giving a program grant can be risky because the exact results of a program can be uncertain. When you give an operating grant, you invest in the organization as a whole. It’s a way of expressing that you believe in what the organization is doing, how they’re doing it, and want them to keep up the good work. Having an additional $3,000 could help to level the playing field between the program and operating grants.
Regardless of type, I like Michael’s idea of giving the money to a runner up organization that would n’t receive funds otherwise. But at the same time if we really believe in what the winning organization is doing, and see the foundational value of operating expenses to any given program, would it make more sense to tack it on to the winner of the program grant? I would like to hear further feedback from more students to see where others stand.
Going off what Michael said, I think we should also consider the possibility of using the additional money to form another operating grant. I agree that the decision-making process will be hard and that given the strong opinions in our class it is likely that coming to a consensus will not be an easy task. I also agree that we should look at giving any additional money to another organization rather than giving more money to the organizations we choose. Given that we have learned that even the smallest of donations can make an impact, an additional 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 dollars- though maybe not necessarily a substantial amount of money compared to the large donations of organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- will definitely benefit any of the organizations we have been looking at this semester.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of another operating grant, I think the presentation given by Wilson’s Children Center today really explained the need for organizations to have that kind of money. In the case of Wilson’s Children Center they were able to explain that operating money is important because it allows for them to maintain their facilities, buy necessary resources, and pay their staff. Hearing how hard it is for them to find the money each year to stay open certainly provides a reason to create another operating grant given the extra money. I think Carole Coppens said it best when she told us that the best thing an organization could receive is an unrestricted operating grant. In the case of the YWCA, they said they would use an operating grant almost like a rainy-day fund; for if the boiler blows or if windows need to be replaced or fixed. I think because of the multitude of ways operating money can be utilized that we should really consider it as an option for the additional 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 dollars if we were to win. Not only can they use the operating money for keeping the lights on, but the organization could also use those funds to alleviate the costs of a program such as paying program staff or maintaining the facilities those programs take place in. No matter what we do with the money I honestly believe that this is an amazing opportunity and cannot wait to see what will happen if we are awarded it. Hopefully, we will be able to help even more people within the Broome County community.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a topic worth discussing for our class. As a philanthropy class, we want to make sure we are doing everything we can to help our community to the best of our abilities. This extra money would help us significantly in our efforts to better Broome County as much as we are able to with the resources we are given.
As Gabe mentioned earlier, Broome County is an area that unfortunately suffers from many social issues, including homelessness, food insecurity, drug abuse, mental illness, poverty, and many more. I believe our difficult conversations about which issue area we wanted to support stemmed from our desire to help all kinds of people suffering from all kinds of social issues. However, with our limited resources, our money can only go so far. With additional grant money, whether it is $1,000 or $3,000, we would be provided with an opportunity to provide support to another organization that deals with an issue area different from the issue area the organization(s) we offer our $10,000 focuses on combatting.
As far as how we should allocate this additional money if we receive it, I agree with Sarah and Andrea that it should go towards an operating grant, as almost all of the organizations that we went to stressed how difficult it is to obtain money solely for the purpose of "keeping the lights on" or paying staff members. I believe this operating grant should be provided to an organization other than the one or two that receive our original operating and program grants.
To answer Andrea's question of tacking on an additional $1,000-$3,000 to a program grant, I personally don't believe we should do this. Each organization chose their specific program based off of the $7,500 budget we provided. I take this to mean that they believe that that $7,500 will effectively cover the cost of either jumpstarting or continuing the program in the short run. Although extra funding could expand these programs, since many are small-scale or newer, I don't think we should put all of our eggs in one basket. In place of tacking on money to the program grant, an operating grant could potentially be more beneficial to another organization, as it is easier to obtain money for a program--especially one that seems impressive or has shown success. Like Patti from WCC said, it is difficult to find the right wording to convince people to donate money that would pay for the salaries of non-profit workers. After all, most people believe an organization that allocates more than 90% of their funds to their programs is a "good" organization. We forget that the people who make the change possible in communities need to be supported as well.
I know a lot of the responses to this blog have been in favor of a system where our favorite or most voted for organization gets the program grant, the runner up gets the operating grant, and the third most voted for organization receives this potential $1,000-$3,000. If we do decide to use this money as an operating grant, I believe we should think more in terms of which organization needs the most help in maintaining their facilities. To me, it seemed the two organizations who could use an operating grant the most were the Wilson's Children Center and the Mental Health Association, but of course other people may disagree.
I am curious to see what other people think we should do with this extra money if we are granted it.
I had an alternative idea of what we could use an extra donation for. My personal choices for what us to give to is the program grant to CHOW and the operating grant to Wilson Children Center. For reasons explained in my paper and presentation. But one program grant that stood out to me was the YWCA’s helping hands scholarship program. It was the only grant request where we would be essentially giving people the money to allow them to participate in the organization, in this circumstance it would be to provide scholarships to their daycare. We were told that our $7500 donation would be used as scholarships for 3 kids to participate in the daycare for a year. I personally feel like $7500 is a lot of money and I would prefer giving our largest grant to another one of our options; which is why I did not vote for the YWCA. But with this new potential extra donation I was thinking that we could use this money to perhaps provide a Binghamton University scholarship to one of the childcare organization have chosen. My personal preference would be the Boys and Girls Club. The price of tuition there is $65 for the whole year. So rather than paying for less than 2 kids at the YWCA, with $3000 we could fund 46 kids for a year or three kids for 13years (YWCA serves children from 5-18 years). Or however many we can with however large of a donation they give us. Some added benefits of this choice would be better public relations between Binghamton University and the community as well as the impact on the child's life knowing BU helped them by providing them this scholarship. My general idea is for a scholarship and the logistics of where to give and how much and to who we can discuss in class.
ReplyDeleteHi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about the best way for us to donate if we get the additional 3000 dollars ever since professor brought it up in class. I completely agree with you that that we should donate the money as operating grant. As many people said, operating grant is extremely sought after by the organizations due to their flexible, unrestricted nature. And our finalist organizations are all to some extend having hardships in keeping up their operating expenses, either the utility bill, or staff salaries. These expenses are the essence that keeps the organizations running, more so than their various programs. Besides, since we know that all our finalist organizations are exceptionally good organizations who are making an impact in their respective communities, I trust that our donation will be put to good use. So, I propose that we split our money three ways and give it to the three organizations that didn't win our 10000 dollars as unrestricted operating grant. Both as a consolation price to thank them for participating, and as an encouragement for what they have been doing for our community. I believe one thousand dollars for each of them will help alleviate their financial stress by filling the gap between their budget and expense. And also, I don’t think any organization who have participated in our class should be left out, as they all are great organizations, and they all deserve to win.
JT