What did the process truly accomplish?

We are a little less than a month away before the semester ends. It's been an interesting process and an interesting class. In less than a month, I will walk away from this class having made a decision with a bunch of strangers that impacts a whole community. I get to graduate and say, “I made a difference”, but I leave this class questioning whether this class has truly made a profound difference for us as philanthropists.  

Over spring break I returned home to New York City. The familiar skyline and murky air greeted me. Blaring sirens, rude pedestrians, and dancing kids in subway cars engulfed me once again. I was home. However, to most New Yorkers, including myself, the need in New York confronts us every day on our daily commute. One city block can make a world of a difference. You can walk from one of the richest parts of the city into one of the poorest, without giving it much thought. I saw beggars beg and starving artist perform their craft in exchange for a few dollars. I saw kids dance in the subway, then narrowly escape cops who tried to arrest them. I saw all these things unfold before me and just like every other time, they made me uneasy and angry, but just like everyone around me, I did nothing. I knew better, but I didn’t do the “right” thing. In the same way that I ignored the need in New York, I believe we ignored the time once must dedicate to philanthropy.

In many ways, though democratic, I felt that we rushed our decision in picking organizations. I completely understand that we are constrained by time, but for a class that values time so much, perhaps we should of devoted a bit more of our own. I guess my point overall is whether the process merely facilitated the donating part of the program, but failed to cultivate/foster the philanthropist culture. Amanda put up a good fight in order to up the total number of organizations we wanted to consider, but most people, including myself, wanted the deliberation to be over quickly. We chose some organizations based on impulse and emotions, rather than calculated assessments. We were instructed to consider financial health a factor, but not the most important. We, as a class, were far more concerned with impact, but again, I ask, what good is the impact of an organization if we chose out of haste, instead of true need.

I don’t believe any of the organizations we picked are bad organizations, but perhaps they might have not deserved to be there, perhaps it is the case that we missed out on picking a better organization in a rush to do “good”. Did we compromise our philanthropic values?

A Daunting Choice

It's a little bit strange to think that we are so close to the end of our semester. It feels like we just began our hypothetical discussion of how to best give and what giving really means for us individually and collectively as a society. But now with only three weeks left of classes we have to turn our months worth of hypothetical questions and answers into reality. We have chosen five amazing organizations, all of whom do great work for this community. There is not question that all of these organizations and the 50 others we passed over are deserving of this money. But now we are faced with the daunting decision of how we choose. As we scrutinize each organization we should leave our emotions aside and decide based solely on fact, need and our individual subjective assessments of the organizations. I look forward to hearing about each individual sight visit because I think it will give us more of a full picture of each organization and the work it accomplishes.

I have to admit I am already a little bit nervous about the organizations we choose to be in our finalists. In theory and maybe even in practice they are all great organization, but I can't help looking at the downfalls they each possess. For example Kopernic, a great organization that fosters the love for science into local youth does great work. But will a new imaging system really help them get closer to achieving their mission. Furthermore, should we give money to them just because we know our grant will be matched. I believe that while making our decision we should leave not consider  the fact that the money we could give would be matched. This fact has been mentioned various times during class discussion, and though it is great that our small grant could help acquire them an even larger one, it has no baring on the merit of their request.

We can then look to Family Planning, a great organization that provides essential medical care to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it. However, is a clinic that is only open once a week really in need on $10,000 in repairs.

Does the Southern Tier Alternative Therapies require that we pay for each child to receive a new IPad, or is their a more cost effective route that would allow for the same outcome?

Should we support an organization that requires its recipients to attend and participate in Christian services when there is little to no other option for men of lets say a Jewish or Muslim faith?

These are the questions that I cannot help but ask myself. I know that in the end we will make the right choice. But I am anxious to find out how we will make that choice.

The Castle

This Saturday, I was really excited to hear that Binghamton University has taken on stewardship of The Castle, formerly known as the Inebriate Asylum (read the full story here http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2015/04/10/details-emerge-bu-stewardship-castle/25592067/). It was built in 1858, when it became the first institution in the USA to treat alcoholism as a medical condition. Unfortunately, it's been vacant for 22 years. I mentioned this historical site in a comment a few weeks ago, and ever since I first heard of it I've been absolutely fascinated. I had no idea that a beautiful building like this even existed, or that it's located a mere 14 minutes from our campus. I was thrilled to hear that BU has taken it on, it makes me feel proud to be a Bearcat. 
The university is really excited about The Castle, although they don't have any specific plans yet. I can imagine it as a hub for cool new businesses, which would get tax benefits for being on the site. What can you see in The Castle's future? A community center? Restaurants? Classrooms?
I'm curious to see what kind of a role philanthropy will play in these plans. So far it seems that the University is relying solely on $12.5 million of state funds. Although our class has certainly favored social organizations rather than SOBs, I think funding a place like The Castle would be just as important. It has so much potential to improve the community and make Binghamton a better place to live, somewhere to really be proud of. That's why I think it's really important for us to consider funding Kopernik. Anything that attracts people to Binghamton is good for the community as a whole.
The community needs places like this to keep it alive. I know because my hometown is pretty dead. There's almost nothing to do there, and i wish we had someplace like Kopernik. However, when I was home for spring break I was really excited to hear about the efforts of a local music hall, which holds concerts and other community events. They just started renovations on a new music reading room. They need money for repairs, so they're asking everyone in the community to make a donation, even if it's only a few dollars. So far, the community really seems to be rallying around this cause. People like having something to work towards, together. I hope that if the University decides to collect donations, they will harness this collective spirit of community giving.

Tweet of the Week Donation (and disclaimer of possible conflict of interest)

During the first week of March, I was fortunate enough to win the Tweet of the Week contest with my tweet, "F*** the poor." This provocative video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBuC_0-d-9Y for anyone who wants to rewatch it) explored people's reactions to different stimuli. Many people were quite upset when a man carried a sign that said "F*** the poor," but almost no one could be bothered to donate when the sign said "Help the poor," and the man asked for donations. It showed how people could be aware of a problem, yet ignore it when it requires their help. 

By winning the contest, I received $87.00 to donate to a charity. I chose to donate to an organization from my hometown, Syracuse, that has expanded to other locations in Upstate New York, including Binghamton. Interestingly enough, the organization I chose, the Rescue Mission, applied for the Learning by Giving grant and has been chosen as a finalist by the class. 

I have been involved with the Rescue Mission since I was young. Having no younger brothers, when I grew out of my clothes, I donated them to the Rescue Mission for distribution to the impoverished or sale in their Thrifty Shopper stores. I have also cooked and served meals at the Rescue Mission homeless shelter in Syracuse many times, as well as have participated in the annual Ride for the Rescue charity bike race. 

The Rescue Mission is an organization that I believe is an excellent finalist for our class's grant, as it performs an instrumental role in the community. Poverty is an established problem in Broome County, and the Rescue Mission takes many steps to combat poverty. It has built a nonprofit business model that is simply incredible through its Thrifty Shopper stores. The stores sell only donated items and clothing at low, affordable prices. Because of its affordability, many people going through hard times are able to purchase clothes at low prices. In addition, all of the proceeds go towards running the Rescue Mission's other ventures, including shelter and meals. In Binghamton, the Rescue Mission operates a dormitory and support center at Whitney Place. Whitney Place offers training, counseling, and education designed to help the impoverished get on their feet and find a place of their own. It not only provides shelter to the poor, but empowers them to find their own shelter.

The Binghamton Rescue Mission has applied for the grant in order to place more collection bins around the Broome County area. I can personally vouch for the success of these bins, as I have dropped off all of my donations to the Rescue Mission through a collection bin. The collection bin that I use is located adjacent to the local Wegman's, making it easy and simple to drop off donations before going grocery shopping. I have never seen it empty, and it is often completely full of donations. The donations are important because they are key to the operation of the Thrifty Shopper stores which fund all of the other services that the Rescue Mission offers. Without the donations, the Rescue Mission would not be able to function as its mission intends.

Lessons Learned About Giving Decisions

Dear Students: When Anita Borkenstein visited our class earlier this semester, she shared her experience with Westchester Impact 100, her giving circle.  As you start to make your final giving decisions, she has generously agreed to share her reflections about what she learned in that process for our blog.  Please feel free to comment on her reflections and their implications for your grantmaking process

How to Give Away $187,000 to Not-for-Profits (NFPs) in Westchester County

A Good Problem to Have!

I could not believe how well membership recruitment went this year.  We convinced 187 women to join (or rejoin) Impact100 Westchester!  Membership is $1,000 per person.  We pool ALL the money together to make transformational grants to local charities.

Once membership recruitment closes we announce the grant amounts to the NFP community.  Last year, our inaugural cycle, we had 132 members; we gave one Project Grant of $100,000 and three Operating Grants of  $10,660.  All finalists received an award. Our challenge this year, how to distribute $187,000 into Project and Operating Grants? If we implemented last year’s strategy, too much money would be awarded in operating grants when transformational grants are our focus.

What to do? Should we continue to give one Project Grant of $100,000 or make two for a lesser amount?  Do we need to stick with our signature award of $100,000 for branding purposes? How much of an Operating Grant should we award to the three finalists; those funds are disbursed with no strings attached.

On a cold day in December, the Executive Board convened in my kitchen to debate the issue and discuss our options. We talked about it all the time during the membership drive, but now it was decision time. Donna came up with the perfect solution, let the members decide! 

First we put several options to a vote by the Board of Directors.  18 women had three options to choose from.  Then we put the Board’s favorite two options to a membership vote.  145 women out of 187 voted.  They decided 60/40 to give two transformational Project Grants of $85,000 each and two Operating Grants of $8,500 each to the finalists.  We are DOUBLING THE IMPACT in 2015!

What Choosing Finalists Says About Us

Back in December, my favorite thing about signing up for this class was I get to make a difference. Back home I’d been so involved in my community, and coming here as a freshman, I loved the idea of taking a class that pushed me right back into the world of volunteering and charity and taught me how to be a philanthropist. I loved how I would never be angry when we gave away the money. In my mind, we’d all be personifications of the word fierce, debating for hours back and forth on how to best save the world. In the end, the winners would rise out of the clouds of dust, and we’d all smile, because we’d have fought well and made a difference.

However, that’s not how my deliberations went. When we presented finalists, my group didn’t fight for hours or debate with righteous indignation; we sat in the Marketplace and picked names off the list that we could all agree on.  We used pretty clipart and bullet points. Everyone made very nice presentations that I couldn’t help but nod along to. Everything made a lot of sense, and I only asked one question which got a pretty complete answer. So I started to think, maybe we’re not gladiators. Maybe we won’t yell and scream and fight with metaphorical fists. Maybe we’ll all just agree on how to give. The collective decision-making process will be neat and organized, because we’ll all know it’s for great causes.

Then it came time to vote. My change of heart said this would be the easy part; the percentages would just line up, we’d have a list of finalists, and we’d barge onward towards a decision. Instead, there was the yelling and the screaming and the debating I was waiting for. Yet it wasn’t over charities, it was over percentages and numbers. I heard fights over whether we should need over 50% of us to like it, if we should hold another vote to see how it could turn out, and whether or not someone’s absence creates a confound. I had thought I’d be vying for my organizations to make it in. Instead, we debated the difference between 5 and 6, which for the record, is not 1; it’s 52 and 48. Instead of fighting over who was playing the game, we fought over the rules, and I don’t know which is worse.

 

Yet, I think I know why. It’s because we can’t get angry. All of these charities do amazing work. They all serve the needs we presented on. They’re all composed of people who just want to change the world we live in. I would never debate against organizations like Mom’s House or OASIS, even if they’re not my top choices. I can’t bash a good charity. But I can bash the rules. We can detach ourselves from what we’re talking about by debating the number of finalists we should pick, and the threshold they need for it to be considered a good idea. Those debates don’t require bashing a charity. Yet these debates don’t help the process. They just create gaps between us where there should be agreement, because we already proved we could decide effectively together. We’ll get angry because a group squeezed through with 48%, when we should be happy that now we’ll see how these charities work and make such a remarkable difference in the community.

I think we need to focus on what’s important, and that’s making the best decision we can to help the best way we think we can. In my opinion, all we can take away from this is that at the end of the day, someone will get help. Some very deserving organizations will get some very large checks. And despite all I got wrong about this class, I will get to make a difference.

Why I Chose to Give Money Back to Binghamton 

First of all I want to thank everyone so much for selecting me as the winner of the Tweet of the Week challenge and Stephanie for nominating me, it really meant a lot. The tweet that won the challenge was something I retweeted, a Binghamton blog post titled "20 Things that Wouldn't Exist in Binghamton University Without Your Support." I tweeted about Binghamton because I was organizing Tag Day that same week. Tag Day was a day on campus where SPC ambassadors and myself hung up tags around campus on all the things that alumni donated to spread awareness to students about how much of our campus was made possible by donors. I hope you saw them! If you haven't checked it out, you definitely should check out what I retweeted, what’s on the list might surprise you! http://blog.binghamton.edu/20-things-that-wouldnt-exist-at-binghamton-without-your-support 

Alumni donations to Binghamton are surprisingly something that I hold of great importance. I imagine that many of my fellow classmates might be wondering why I care so much about alumni donations if I am only a sophomore. I hear complaints from students all the time when I partake in tabling or fundraisers for this school; the most common one being "I pay enough tuition, why should I give back more of my money!?" A little over a year ago I thought the same thing. I didn't care about alumni donations to Bing and I definitely wasn't planning to give back money to this university, especially since graduation seemed so far away.  However, a good friend of mine and next years SA President, Dillon Schade invited me to join the Student Philanthropy Committee. The Student Philanthropy Committee, also referred to as SPC, is a small student run group focused on increasing alumni donations to Binghamton by instilling university pride in current students. We want students to love Binghamton and be proud that they went to school here so when they graduate they'll be more than happy to donate. 

Why are alumni and student donations so important? They increase our national rankings. Every past, present, and future Binghamton students wants Bing to increase in national rankings for obvious reasons; it makes us look better on paper if we went to a higher ranking school. A little known fact is that alumni donations are part of the criteria that determine rankings. The more alumni donations a university have, the better their rankings. Besides national rankings, and this is the more important reason alumni donations are so important is that donations aid to make this campus a better place. So much of this campus wouldn’t be possible without alumni contributions, such as campus plants and structures, the Fleishman Center, and the Philanthropy Incubator! Tuition is not enough to cover the extras the campus needs. Alumni donations are what makes our campus a better, more exciting, and more intense learning environment. Many of the facilities and opportunities at this University wouldn’t exist without the generosity of donors.

I don’t want to preach to you guys about how important it is to give back or seem that I am annoying you about donating back to the school. I understand we are all #brokecollegestudents. What I do want to do is make you love your experience at Binghamton so much that when you are rich and successful you will give back. Student donations are important to this campus and I do want you to realize that every contribution counts, but its okay if you cant give! The SPC is working on events that will unite Binghamton students, events that hopefully become traditions that students will remember for years to come. One of them is Happy Office Hours. This event is for seniors only and it is exactly what it sounds like, a mix between Happy Hours and Office Hours. Students will have the chance to drink and mingle with their professors on campus to get to know them on a more personal level. Everyone in SPC is really excited about this event and if you are a senior you should definitely sign up! The only caveat is that seniors who donated will have priority registering for this event.

I hope this post wasn’t too preachy, considering a portion of the money I am giving away is money that students in the class donated I thought it was important to explain why I am giving your money away to Binghamton University. This university and SPC are two things I am really passionate about and I hope that came across. Please let me know any more events you think will unite the student body and make students love Bing even more!

P.S. Vote for Baxter J