\u201cChange for Change\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c$1 Today, Hope for Tomorrow\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably seen these slogans paired with collection jars all over campus. Your change helps the less fortunate, but it also gives students more insight into the charities that benefit from that money.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of a class where students get a hands-on look at how nonprofits manage their resources through fundraising, volunteering and grant writing. While its technical name is URS 399, it\u2019s more commonly known as the \u201cpay it forward\u201d class.<\/p>\n
Students work with the charity of their choice, and that hard work pays off when they get to give the money they\u2019ve raised themselves to those organizations at the end of the quarter.<\/p>\n
When senior psychology major Britanee Brantley took the course, she worked with Daybreak, a local shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Her class awarded Daybreak a grant to help fund day-to-day operations at the shelter and buy food for the children there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was beyond amazing to do something good for those who deserve it,\u201d said Brantley, who continued to volunteer with Daybreak even after the class ended.<\/p>\n
This quarter, Wright State alumna Lindsay Ackley is teaching the course. As the associate executive director of Clothes That Work, she brings real-world, nonprofit experience to her students.<\/p>\n
Ackley\u2019s students have several major fundraisers in the works. In addition to the collection jars, the class is finalizing plans for a comedy show at Wiley\u2019s Comedy Club and a benefit concert. Proceeds from ticket sales at both events will become grant money.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo other school that we know of was doing it that way, having the students actually raising the money,\u201d said Jennifer Subban, Ph.D., the urban affairs professor who helped start the class.<\/p>\n
The students also solicit money from local businesses and individuals through letters and phone calls.<\/p>\n
The class expects to award $8,000 in grants this quarter and are already more than halfway to that goal after they received a $4,500 Ohio Campus Compact grant. The course is now in its fourth year and is part of the larger Student Philanthropy Project (SPP). So far, the SPP has distributed $24,000 to nonprofits that serve the Dayton region.<\/p>\n
Recently, an SPP grant provided a week-long stay at Ronald McDonald House for a family whose critically ill child was being treated at Dayton Children\u2019s Medical Center.<\/p>\n
Each student begins the course by selecting the organization that sparks his or her interest. They volunteer with that organization and study its operations, giving the students firsthand knowledge of how nonprofits function.<\/p>\n
Students work with a variety of local organizations, ranging from smaller, grassroots agencies to local chapters of large, national charities like the Red Cross or Big Brothers Big Sisters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis class opened my eyes to all of the local organizations that go largely unnoticed,\u201d said Brantley.<\/p>\n
Each student writes a grant proposal for their organization, and the class as a whole decides on a \u201cshort list\u201d of the charities they would most like to fund. The class visits each organization on the list, and a lively debate ensues before they finally choose which organizations get grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe professor can facilitate discussion and set the criteria for evaluating each proposal, but the students ultimately make the decisions,\u201d said Subban.<\/p>\n
While the course is designed to teach students about nonprofit management, the skills they hone in the process\u2014teamwork, communication, writing, relationship building, debating\u2014are transferable to any career they might choose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether or not you plan to enter the nonprofit sector as a career, this course prepares you to be an engaged citizen and leader,\u201d said Ackley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis experience confirmed my desire to give back to my community,\u201d said Brantley. \u201cEven though I plan on going into psychology, there are still ways for me to be philanthropic.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very simple,\u201d she said, \u201cto live your life as if you were giving it to others. Life is philanthropy for me now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Students get a hands-on look at how nonprofits manage their resources through fundraising, volunteering and grant writing. Continue reading