Engaging in Philanthropy for Clean Water

By: Moira
Moira is participating in Allowance for Good's spring 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program. 

Helping people out is one of the simple pleasures of life. There are many foundations and organizations that help make other people’s lives better, one of those being a family foundation. If I had a family foundation, it would be difficult to choose which causes to support but the main cause I would choose to support would to be providing clean water globally. Clean water is an important cause to support because water is the basis for life. Without water, it is hard for people to live a healthy and happy life. When you are thirsty, it makes it harder to concentrate and dehydration is a serious health issue.

In class 2 weeks ago, we learned about the Adonai School in Uganda, and our guest speaker told us about the struggle that the children faced when they retrieved the water. The nearest water is a long way away from the school so on the walk home it is tempting for the children to drink some of this water although it has not yet been purified and could cause health issues if it is drunk. Even if the children make it all the way back to the school, in order to purify the water they must boil it first to rid it of bacteria. After all this time had passed it is then okay to drink the water and some of the children might have already drunk it. 

If I was running my family foundation, I would want to make sure that I was engaging in philanthropy instead of charity. If I were to engage in charity for the cause of clean water, I might donate 50 gallons of purified water to a place that needed it. Instead of doing this, I would want to be involved in a more philanthropic aspect of giving. For example, maybe my family foundation could invest in water purifiers for those who need them. The difference between these two would be that the water purifiers could help for a long period of time and maybe help end the problem of water deprivation or unclean water, whereas giving water would only be a temporary solution. I know that everyone is able to help out people and need and they should because it will make them feel good.

Moira stands next to her favorite leadership quote during an Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class.

Passionate Youth Building Awareness, Taking Action

By: Kate
Kate is participating in Allowance for Good's spring 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program.     

One issue that I am passionate about is domestic violence and abuse. I am passionate about this topic because I was exposed to this through my swim club and through my church. I swim for the YWCA Flying Fish in Evanston. While this is a completive swim program, it is unique because the pool is located in the YWCA which houses displaced women and their families. Every year our team raises money for the YWCA through a ‘swim marathon’. For the swim marathon we swim as many laps as possible within one hour. We each raise money by collecting donations for each lap we swim. This year the Flying Fish raised almost $100,000 and it is all donated to the YWCA to help the abused women and their families. I have been doing this for the past eight years. During this time I have learned about domestic violence and abuse.

I also experienced the affects of domestic violence and abuse this past winter while doing volunteer work for my church. A few friends and I volunteered to work at the Night Ministries in downtown Chicago. We helped serve food to the homeless and less fortunate. Before we started, the person in charge told us that some of the women we were going serve are victims of domestic violence. This really hit home when a young woman came through the line with tears in the corners of her eyes. I could tell immediately that something was wrong but it was not my place to ask too many questions. When she went through the line my dad asked her if he could do anything for her, but she shook her head no. Just from looking at her tear stricken face, I could tell something was very wrong and it made my mind wonder with questions. Was she a victim of domestic abuse? Did she have anyone she could talk to? I was only there to give her a warm meal, but I wished there was a way I could do more. 

From my involvement in both of these organizations, I have had some exposure to domestic violence and abuse. However, I’d like to become more involved. To build onto the work I have already accomplished I can look into volunteering at the YWCA to help these women. This issue inspires me because I do not think it is something anyone should have to go through. I also think that people everywhere should become more educated about this issue so we can try and prevent it from happening again.

Kate, left, discusses leadership styles with AfG Executive Director Elizabeth Newton at an Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy seminar.

Philanthropy: Fun, Easy, and Motivating

By: Meredith

Meredith is participating in Allowance for Good's spring 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program.

I have always enjoyed helping people and having that feeling of accomplishment after. That feeling always makes me feel like a better person. To help someone I don’t have to save a person from tragic accident, I just have to do a simple act of good.

Part of what motivates me to be a philanthropist/young catalyst for good is after helping someone they get this joyful and satisfied look on their face. That makes me feel very happy with myself and what I had just done. The way people feel when I help them is the motivation I get to be a philanthropist, but I also find helping people and being a young catalyst fun. When I am given a goal that I must reach and I like to do what I have to do, it makes good memories and is very fun. Many people may think that helping people is hard, but with help from some adults, I have found that being a philanthropist and helping people is very easy.

After the first Sunday class I had I went home and talked about philanthropy with my mom. She had explained to me that I actually have done a lot of philanthropy in my life, without knowing it. During Christmas time, my family and a bunch of other families come together and wrap up presents for people that maybe can’t afford presents or need care packages to help them live easier. Also, I am a swimmer at the YWCA and had been offered to teach swimming lessons to little kids on days that I don’t have school or on the weekends. I wouldn’t get paid, but I did it anyway. I get to help out the teachers and I get to teach kids how to swim. Not only does it benefits the kids, but it helps me become a better swimmer and for in the future, a better teacher.

In the future I hope that I take charge and do good for the world. I don’t have to be a genesis that comes up with a new way to make everyone’s life easier. But, by doing little everyday things and some big projects here and there I can change the world to be just a little bit of a better place.

Learning Abound with Young Changemakers

By: Turner

Turner is participating in Allowance for Good's inaugural Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Changemakers program.

In the past few weeks in ELP Changemakers we have delved deeper into the grant making process and learned about grantor-grantee relationships and what a board of directors is/does.

It is important to maintain a mutually beneficial grantor-grantee relationship because the grantor can give the grantee access to their network of organizations that can give the grantee advice and other connections to get money from. The grantor can also give the grantee a place to come for the money they may need to support their projects.

A board of directors governs a nonprofit. The board of directors oversees the nonprofit and helps make decisions on what the organization should and should not do. The board of directors helps ensure that the organization is using its funds in the best ways possible and in the ways that accommodate the needs of the organization as well as it can. The board’s most important job is to govern and provide direction for the organization to develop its projects well. The board also helps ensure the effectiveness of the organizations planning.

I could see myself being a board member for an organization that I volunteer at frequently when I am an adult. The board members help make very important decisions for the nonprofit and I would like to be able to help an organization I care for in the future in that way.

I have enjoyed learning about grant reports the most about the grant making process.  Grant reports are a follow up that the nonprofit gives to the grantor after using the money from a grant. Some of the things that are answered in a grant report are what the project that the grantee spent the grant on was, how the organization achieved its objectives, and what the nonprofits challenges were. The grant reports allow the grantor to know a little about how the project went to help them decide whether their money was used well and if they should consider giving money to that nonprofit in the future. 

"I am Turner and I give my time because I enjoy helping those who need it."

AfG Youth Empowered to Make Change

By: Nina

Nina is participating in Allowance for Good's inaugural Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Changemakers program.

Throughout the past few sessions of the ELP: Changemakers program, I have been exposed to a variety of components of the grantmaking process. In class thus far, we have covered aspects such as what makes up a non-profit (executive director, founder, board of directors, advisors, etc.), the relationship between grantors and grantees, what factors grantmakers have to take into account when awarding a grant to a non-profit, and what kinds of documents must be filled out for grantees when applying for a grant.

As a part of our weekly sessions, we have had the opportunity to look at actual grant applications, and to answer the questions posed on the application form as representatives of a real-life non profit organization. In order to help us understand what RFPs, or Requests for Proposals, which a non-profit typically fills out in order to get a certain amount of money from a foundation or other organization, such as the government, are, we created our own proposals and had a couple of members of Allowance for Good's Advisory Council give us feedback. We also had the chance to act as grantors, and write a recommendation for a non-profit worthy of a grant. These activities have all helped me gain a deeper understanding of what I think is the hardest part of having a non-profit: making sure that it functions efficiently and with the greatest impact.

For me personally, what I think are the most surprising and challenging components of the nitty-gritty aspects of non-profit long term impact and success is a) how much a person needs to know about the organization and b) how much information needs to be taken into account in the grantmaking process. You have to be able to not only talk about your organization's successes, but also its failures and how those failures have been fixed. I have learned that there is a lot more that goes into the finer aspects of what keeps an organization running smoothly, and it is not as easy as it seems. The knowledge that I have gained during this class will allow me to become a better philanthropist as I continue to work with Allowance for Good and other organizations, because it has prepared me to think about how to help a non-profit organization continue to have the greatest impact. Armed with these skills, I feel more empowered to have the ability to make a change.

Nina, left, and Zoe pose for the camera during the 2013 Global Philanthropy Summit.