End of March: Class Thoughts on Nonprofit work & How We've Been Impacted (Written by Sabrina)

It's been about six months now where my class and I are continuing this process of allotting a local nonprofit organization in Massachusetts a $10,000 grant thanks to the Learning By Giving Foundation. We as a class have had many discussions during this RFP process and many heated debates. It has not been easy deciding who stays and who goes because in the end of the day, each and ever nonprofit is doing SOMETHING to help our society. That we know.

I have met several people in this class, from all walks of life. Some have benefited from the services of a nonprofit, some grew up knowing about the long lasting benefits of nonprofits, and some, like myself, have never experienced firsthand nor second, the impact a nonprofit can make on a life.

So, the Nonprofit Giving class here at FSU have decided to dedicate this post to real-life thoughts and feelings so far, being in this class, being exposed to this kind of environment.

I briefly interviewed and received statements from a few classmates on their own experience being in our class.

"I have always been the kind of person set in my ways...I came into this class knowing I wanted to be a teacher however this class has actually made me want to do something in the nonprofit sector as well...I can now see myself not only being a teacher but also being involved in a nonprofit in the future..."

                                                                                - Brooke, an Early education/ Sociology major


"This class has changed my perspective on society for the better..."

                                                                                - Zaria, a Sociology/ Psychology major 


"So far, I've learned not only the different ways and places I can give back to my community, I have also learned how to open my heart more and realized that everyone deserves help, no matter what tragedy has come their way. Specifically what the Louis D. Institute is doing."

                                                                                - Macaiah


" I may not have a lot of money to give, but what I do have is my time and my effort which is enough to feed the world's soul and to make someone's life better."

                                                                               - Michelle, a Liberal Studies major

Creating Our Class RFP (Written by Robbin)

As a class we have come a long way since the first day when the majority, if not everyone, did not even know what an RFP was. Now we have created our own and sent it to twenty-five different organizations with the hope that they will apply for our grant. The process of writing our RFP was spread across several days of class. During that time, we learned the differing views students hold on what is most important, and the difficulties involved in selecting just the right word to describe our meaning. When we first compiled a list of all the things students thought were important, we realized that the proposals we would receive would be at least twenty pages each to fit everything in. The process continued with class discussion on how to narrow down our requests, so that we get everything we need to make knowledgeable cuts to our list of organizations, without wasting the organizations time with unnecessary questions.

The most contentious problem among the class was deciding whether or not to accept requests for general operating costs. At our first site visit, at Bethany Hill Place, we learned that the donations would go to general operating costs, particularly staff salaries. This idea did not sit well with many in our class. A debate on general operating costs lasted several days. On one side students believed that the grant money should go to the programs that are assisting those in need, not to things like staff salaries or building payments. Others countered with the argument that without staff or a place to work from then there would be no programs to help those in need. In the end the class decided to accept requests for general operating costs as long as details for the exact use of the funds are included.

General operating costs are a clear point of difficulty in the world of charitable giving. Grant money going towards an electric bill is not as ‘sexy’, as our professor says. The directness of money going to a program to help the needy makes us feel good about what we have done. It is easy to say that you have made an impact. When we are told that the money is going towards salaries the immediate gut reaction is probably somewhere along the line of thinking “I wanted to help the needy, not pay someone”. But in actually it is more complicated than that. With a longer look it is possible to see that the money isn’t just going towards salaries, the money is making it possible for individuals to create programs for the needy, to help directly, and to raise more money for those in need. If an organization is not able to pay its own bills, then it will have to close its doors and no one is going to receive help from a closed down organization.