Author: ayminor

This fall, Penn students had the opportunity to sign up for an urban studies course that allowed students to work together in teams to collectively decide how to give away $100,000 to local charities in Philadelphia.

Each team was responsible for creating a mission statements, soliciting grant proposals from local nonprofits, making site visits and interviewing administrators. The $100,000 grant was provided by the Once Upon A Time foundation.

After reading the article, I was so disappointed that I was unable to take the course as an undergrad because it would have been great exposure to the nonprofit world that I have increasingly gained interest in following graduation.  Not that being a PPE major is an excuse, but I did not even know the course existed!

As I currently work on my first (of hopefully many) nonprofit projects, and as a future philanthropist (speaking it into existence), this course sounds so exciting.  Just thought I would share, in case any current/future Penn students happen to stumble across my blog — check out the article and the course when you begin to plan out your schedule for the semester — it truly sounds like a worthwhile semester-long experience!

Penn Philanthropy Class Gives Out $100K To Local Charities

University of Pennsylvania student Sharree Walls didn’t realize when she signed up for a course on philanthropy that she’d actually become a philanthropist at the end of the semester.

Then her professors announced that the class would be doling out $100,000 to local nonprofits. Walls said she was thrilled, excited – and “definitely a little nervous.”

“Obviously, it’s a huge responsibility,” said Walls, a 21-year-old urban studies major from Lombard, Ill.

The funds came from the Once Upon A Time foundation based in Fort Worth, Texas. Penn is among 13 U.S. colleges to receive a grant from the private philanthropy, which has quickly expanded the program since a successful pilot at Texas Christian University in 2010.

“Our goal is to expose students to the importance of giving back, and giving back in a thoughtful manner,” said foundation President Sam Lett.

But students must do a lot of learning, and legwork, before the checks are written.

The class was a perfect fit for Lett’s foundation, which offered Penn its first grant last year. Bauer said the money hasn’t changed how the course is taught, but “it makes all the information and ideas we share during the semester come alive.”

At Penn, an Ivy League school in Philadelphia, Doug Bauer and Greg Goldman have co-taught an urban studies course on philanthropy and nonprofits for more than a decade. Bauer is executive director at The Clark Foundation, a private philanthropy in New York; Goldman is vice president of development at the nonprofit Philadelphia Zoo.

This year’s class split up and created four “foundations” that would award $25,000 each. They had to devise mission statements, solicit grant proposals from local nonprofits, make site visits and interview administrators.

The first several weeks include lectures, discussions, readings and papers – all designed to teach students “how complex it is to nurture an urban community, and how critical the role of nonprofits and philanthropy are,” Bauer said.

Read the complete article here.