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.