By Shikha Dalal
College students in New England are quickly learning that giving money away is no easy task; a new grantmaking initiative focused on the education sector is making sure of that. According to a recent Boston Globe article, corporate and family foundations have begun investing in philanthropy education at more than 10 New England colleges including Brandeis, Holy Cross, Boston College, Wheelock and Lesley. This investment has allowed focused classes to be offered at these institutions, response to a surging interest in social responsibility among college students. Courses are designed specifically for professors to teach financial morality in the realm of philanthropy – instructing students to give away money responsibly and having them actively engage in and experience the process of managing public-private relationships.
Here’s how it started: The Sunshine Lady Foundation (established by Doris Buffett – that’s Warren’s sister) has granted colleges $10,000 a year to disperse since 2003. The Foundation’s Learning by Giving program allows students to practice the creation of mission statements for makeshift foundations and research nonprofits in local communities. Throughout the course students spend about two months engaged in the work, debating the priorities of the community, and ultimately decide upon how to allocate the pot of money.
Now the program is expanding into academic institutions for graduate and undergraduate programs, supporting the notion that the ever-growing field of philanthropy continues to professionalize. The growing interest of Generation Y searching for employers who are socially conscious has translated into the academic environment. It is in this environment where they seek to learn these relevant skills that will help build the foundations, no pun intended, of their knowledge about the foundations, philanthropies, and nonprofits in their communities.
The proactive experience of creating and following a project from inception to completion has left students feeling accountable for the work they are investing in the community. In addition to the preparation for careers in the field, the tangible exercise of giving away real money added to the students’ awareness and gave each a socially conscious perspective of the concerns in the areas where they live and study.
Keep us posted on any interesting academic courses that have left you feeling more than inspired!
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