Category Archives: Mission

The Plurality of Opportunities

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By Diana Castillo, BA 2017

We have made it! Finishing the first chapter of our briefing book was a roller coaster, yet it was an enriching experience. There were nights of struggles and nights of success, yet through researching our topic and learning more about what philanthropy is aimed to do, we feel more prepared for what is to come.

At this point, we have started learning about individual organizations assigned to us because they work, approximately, in the issues we’ve been researching. We have gone from learning theory to now diving into the more practical things. Pitch day is right around the corner and now we begin the journey of exploring the plurality of opportunities. There are so many great organizations, and each of them has something great to offer. And even though there is a variety of opportunities for what can be done with the resources we have, with time I know that we will be prepared to make wise decisions and truly make an impact in our community.

Pitch day, the day we meet face to face with some of our potential partners, is exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. There is so much knowledge to share and so many things to ask, yet our time is limited. With only 15 minutes for our meetings, it is essential that we manage our time well! In preparing ourselves for this step, we started reading more about how to ask questions and how to build good Grantmaker-Grantee relationships. Some of the articles we have read include: Kierra Johnson’s “Four Dating Tips to Sustain Strong Grantmaker-Grantee Relationships,” Sean Thomas-Breitfield’s “Ask Questions, First to Listen, but Then to Act,” and Elizabeth Cushing’s “Walking a Different Kind of Grantmaker Walk.” All of these articles have great tips and insights about partnering with organizations, yet when reading the Breitfield’s work, the purpose and process of what could happen through pitch day became clear. When meeting with each organization, it is important to go through “the process of asking questions, learning from the answers, and then changing the funding strategy to fit what grantees were saying actually,” instead of basing the funding strategy on what one thinks is necessary (Breitfield). Through research you get to know the opportunities available, yet in asking questions you get the chance of better understanding each organization and its needs. Through the responses to these questions, we will then learn and feel more prepared to be good stewards of the resources we have.

In the quest of understanding philanthropy’s purpose, I have gained so much experience and knowledge. Graduation is in May and, just like in this class, I have a plurality of opportunities available. After four years in Waco, I have fallen in love with the community and have decided to stay for the next few years. I am excited to use what I have learned here and take that wherever God takes me. I am thankful for this class and for the chance of working with a great team. This semester is not over yet, and the plurality of opportunities continue.

What should today’s philanthropy aim to do?

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By: Haley Haskew, BBA/MACC 2018

The bulk of our discussions so far this semester have been centered around defining what philanthropy means, its purposes, and its functions as it relates to the public good. Questions we have asked include but are not limited to: What is philanthropy? Who is philanthropy for? Who can participate in philanthropy? How can we do the most good with the resources we have? What does it mean to be philanthropic? What is the purpose behind philanthropic actions?

Ever since our first meeting of the semester I have felt my mind constantly racing as I try to search for and pursue the answers to these difficult questions, and my chase continues. One of the most important yet simultaneously most difficult aspects of philanthropy is that it is focused on people. Behind every decision and answer made there is a real human face experiencing real dilemma and feeling real pain. This is the great complexity behind philanthropy: it is not centered around crunching numbers or meeting deadlines, but rather is is centered around changing human lives for the better.

My group is specifically researching concerns relating to health care accessibility and mental health, but before we began our research we attempted to answer the question of what should today’s philanthropy aim to do? In reflection of several different readings, we decided that today’s philanthropy should aim to take action for the public good by focusing on people in need, engaging them to partake in decision-making, and enabling them to live a more satisfactory life. Rather than concentrating on a problem or a solution, philanthropy should concentrate on the specific people whom it is trying to serve. In order to do this, people participating in philanthropic actions should first ask the people they are engaging with what their needs are. Our group noticed an existing gap between the giver and receiver in philanthropy where the giver assumes it knows what the receivers needs and chooses the solution they think is best. Instead, givers should empower those whom they are helping by allowing them to participate in decision-making and decide for themselves the best answer to their problem. Finally, philanthropy should aim to enable the person whom it is helping to live a continuously better life. Philanthropy is not a bandaid or quick solution to a problem, but rather it is aimed to create a permanent change leaving the receiver in an everlastingly better position than they were in before. 

In our class discussion, Andy said that today’s philanthropy should aim to promote human flourishing. This is rooted in the fact that people are not identified by their problems or lack of resources. The things a person does or does not possess do not fundamentally impact who they are and the greater purpose they have in the world. Philanthropy pursues the enrichment of the lives of both giver and receiver, and results in a tangible and intangible impact for both parties, leaving each person more fulfilled than they were previously.

Philanthropy should not aim to give everyone in the world health care. It should not aim to feed every starving person. It should not aim to bring everyone out of poverty. Rather, philanthropy should focus all of its endeavors, efforts, and resources into one thing: people.

Discovering our purpose

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CJ Lemanski, BBA 2020

The past few weeks in Philanthropy have definitely been busy. Today is actually the deadline for chapter 1 of the Briefing Book. The Briefing Book contains personal writing on how philanthropy should work, and also dives deep into some of the issues that my group is focusing on. For me the past few weeks and the overall course has really been incredible; I have learned so much. Before this class all I really knew about philanthropy was that normally a check went from one party to another. Obviously there is way more to it then that, and that is what I feel like I have been learning a ton about recently. That the process of how that money is exchanged is extremely important and should not be taken lightly. The process is very in depth and is deceptively tedious. That when it comes to giving it should be taken very seriously and should be strategic. One of my classmates shared a story during group discussion of a village in Africa where a group was donating mosquito nets to prevent malaria.  There was a big issue because there was a man in that village who made a living by selling mosquito nets to the villagers, and this put him out of business. This is great example of people trying to do really solid work, yet due to lack of effort and research it actually hurt the lives of others. That is why giving has to be done extremely thoroughly.

Also, there is so much amazing work going on in our world that has the ability to do a lot of good, so with that it really takes time and focus to decide where to give to make the biggest difference possible. Also something that really has struck me is how giving is about so much more than just money. The whole idea of philanthropy includes time, presence, energy, and resources. It is not just about money. For giving to be successful it should give all these things in equal parts. Being present and investing time into philanthropy is very important. Building relationships is absolutely essential in successfully giving. Sometimes people do not necessarily need money, sometimes they just need a friend, someone to do life with. Sometimes this is harder than just giving money or writing a check. Being relational in philanthropy may sometimes involve leaving the comfortable world you live in and going somewhere uncomfortable, which is definitely hard for people. We also have been learning that Philanthropy should aim to empower people and should not just be a one and done fix.

I am really excited for the future as we shift out of the learning side of things and start deciding what organizations we want to give to.

Transformational Giving

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By: Shannon Foy, BBA 2018

This week in class we are knee deep in research on our issues while also doing a lot of inward group analysis of what we are looking to accomplish in this class. This inward research was encouraged and developed through various readings and podcasts, but the two that stuck out to me were “Four Gifts” in We Make A Life By What We Give and the podcast by Malcolm Gladwell called “My Little Hundred Million.” These were essential in changing my thinking about what philanthropy should really be looking to achieve: a transformational impact. In the Gunderman reading, he discusses that liberal giving is the only type of giving that will truly “[liberate] the human aspiration to give.” Giving and ultimately philanthropy should not be about solving wicked problems or resolving issues, but rather to transform humanity into eternal givers. By using philanthropy to liberate people from the temporary things that are restraining them, they are given the freedom, opportunity, and desire to then give themselves. This endless cycle will prove transformational for society, if philanthropies approach the idea of liberal giving as their end goal.
This goal of “transformational giving” might be easy to discuss and establish in theory, but implementing it seems to be the real task. The podcast by Gladwell was able to give us a tangible example of how this is put into practice. His theme was the idea that we should push to “secure the floor” instead of “raising the ceiling.” He tells the story of a philanthropist who decided to give to a local college that served primarily low-income students, instead of prestigious MIT, which he attended. He described this type of giving through the analogy of a soccer team, how studies have been shown that increasing the success and skill of the worst player on the team will help the team more than simply training or gaining a new star of the team. This analogy runs parallel with the trend Gladwell observed of the massive amounts of funds that are given to firmly established and prestigious universities instead of those colleges or schools which hold the majority of the student population. If those least privileged are never shared with, then the best will only keep getting better. This idea coincides with Gunderman’s idea of liberal giving as freeing not just one section of society, but all of humankind with the freedom and desire to give. We must all rise together, from the ground up, or we will not be able to rise at all.

At the conclusion of this week, I realized that the goal of philanthropy is not something that is necessarily quantifiable. I really identified with what Andy said in class this week, “People are far more complex than the sum of their needs.” Therefore, the needs of humanity cannot be solved by any means of quantifiable dollars, programs, or service hours. Our goal as philanthropists should be the pursuit of impacting and transforming humanity into a society focusing on sharing and giving.

Giving to Create Givers

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By: Mark Richards, BBA 2019

This week we returned to the classroom, fresh off a few weeks of meeting as groups to research and discuss our issue areas of interest. We are continuing to craft our philosophy of philanthropy, and we have also begun considering some of the logistical processes that grantmaking entails.

In our discussion on Tuesday, we referred to Richard Gunderman’s book We Make a Life by What We Give, in which he describes four models of giving. The first, egoistic giving, is giving that is based in self-interest. This could involve, for example, a person who donates money to demonstrate his or her success. Despite causing change, this method is the least desirable of the four because of its selfish motive. The second model is compassionate giving, which seeks simply to meet immediate needs. This method, though quite accessible for many people because it does not require great wealth or expertise, carries risks. One risk is that a consistent flow of gifts will cause the recipient to become dependent on those gifts and apathetic toward his or her own progress and achievement. Gunderman’s third model is scientific giving, which was a historical response to compassionate giving that focused more on eliminating the root causes of needs rather than merely meeting the needs themselves. This model can be summarized by the maxim “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Scientific giving is markedly better than compassionate giving, but it unfortunately widens the gap between givers and receivers, because tackling the roots of an issue often requires much greater resources than the average individual can offer. This leaves many people to wonder if their comparatively small contributions could actually make a difference. The final model of giving is liberal giving. It aims to alleviate needs and eliminate their causes, but above all else it aims to make receivers into givers. These four models can each be effective, but Gunderman argues that this final model of liberal giving is the most ideal.

We have discussed principles similar to the ones behind liberal giving on several occasions in class, and those conversations have greatly informed my understanding of philanthropy. At the start of this class, I understood philanthropy as donating money in order to relieve needs or abate their causes. I didn’t realize that, more importantly than (and in tandem with) those goals, philanthropy should aim to create givers from receivers. A person’s joy in giving to and sharing with others ought to appear so attractive to the receiver that the receiver then strives to obtain that joy. Thus, as Gunderman puts it, philanthropy will make us into “people who concern ourselves more with what we can share with others than with what others can give to us” (29). I had never considered philanthropy in this way before. As we progress this semester, I intend to remind myself of this idea so that I regularly consider how I can inspire others to be better sharers through my philanthropy.

Polishing our Passions

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By: Amy Adams, BBA 2017

This semester is quickly coming to a close, as is our work with the Philanthropy Lab. Our semester has been filled to the brim with learning about how to be mindful and strategic in our giving, and putting this into action through our decision-making process. It has been amazing and inspiring to see how we have gone from broad, general topics that we are passionate about to formal presentations stating what we are going to be doing about it.

At the beginning of the year we were asked about a moment of impact in our lives. This could be anything that sticks out in our memory, which has shaped who we are and what we care about. As we were put on the spot, we were forced to speak from the overflow of our hearts. I noticed then that many of us could not talk about this moment in a brief, concise statement. We wanted to capture the importance and significance of this moment, so we rambled about how much it meant and what we learned from it. These ramble-y, spontaneous sentences formed the basis of what we are passionate about though. And I think, when you find something you are passionate about, you are not immediately inclined to summarize it. Instead, you talk about it with excitement and fervor, and without worrying about the amount of time you are taking.

As our time in the class has gone on, we have channeled this initial energy into certain philanthropies. Within our groups, we investigated different organizations and it was evident when we found the ones that aligned with our passions. After pitch day and throughout the course of the semester, we were asked several times to give updates on the philanthropies we had talked to and our work with them. Once again, we were put on the spot and our passions came flowing out from it. We were able to talk for a long time about the philanthropies that we loved and our heart for them. However, as we got more information these conversations became more structured around concrete facts and critical questions.

Most recently, we had our final board meetings. During this time we presented our final decisions and were able to see exactly where the $50,000 that we had been allotted would go. In this, our work has really come full circle. During these presentations we still loved to talk about the organizations we are contributing to and the work that they are doing, however now we have refined our conversation into well-structured and organized presentations. I think this proves that we have learned how to do philanthropy mindfully and strategically. We are definitely no less enthusiastic about these causes than we were on day one, but now through lots of research and effort we can confidently present decisions that concisely state what we have decided and why.

These board meetings were an amazing way to see the fruits of our labor this semester. However, I think it is even more impactful after reflecting on where we began this semester. The passion we started with has been honed and refined into decisive action, which will become even more real during the check presentation ceremony. We are now looking forward to presenting these organizations with the money that we have decided to give them, and seeing the results of all the effort that has been put in during the semester.

Proud Citizen

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Rebecca Voth BA 2018

I begin each campus tour that I give to prospective students with an overview of the city of Waco. I spend a few minutes hitting the highlights, attempting to convince visitors that this small town is not as bad as it might seem. However, this year has changed my perspective on the city, and for the first time, I feel like a citizen of Waco.

As a junior at Baylor, I have grown to feel like a valued and important part of the Baylor community. The friendships I have formed and experiences I have had here make Baylor a place that will always feel a lot like home. However, until this year, I did not feel like I was truly part of the Waco community. For the past three years, Waco has seemed like more of a place in which Baylor exists rather than a networked community. Even though I have served both in my church and with Baylor’s urban missions group for the duration of my time here so far, I never truly felt like I was an important member of this town. I have always known that I would be here for 4 years and then go off into the world, and there seemed to be little point in trying to make any lasting impact on this city.

This semester, however, after receiving a crash course on non-profits in the area, I can understand the enchantment of this city, and how it is more than just a small town between Dallas and Austin. With each site visit, I felt a little closer to the wonderful citizens who make up this community. I met philanthropists, CEOs, trauma victims and families who all contribute to the wonderful and caring environment of this city. As we, a group of young students with next to zero knowledge of how the philanthropic world works, were welcomed into the doors of the organizations that make a real and tangible difference in the community, my pride in the city increased. I felt valued by the community in a new way.

It was not simply because of the financial power we had to impact organizations, however. The process of learning about all of the incredible causes that are running in Waco, and the wonderful and strong leaders behind them taught me so much about my community. After going through this process, I am proud of my community for all it is doing. My community is changing lives for the better, and I could not be more proud to be a citizen of Waco.

Efficiency and Vision

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By: Sarah Dyer, BBA 2017

In Peter Frumkin’s The Essence of Strategic Giving he outlines a logic model for strategic giving. Frumkin encourages philanthropic givers to think about the direct outputs and long-term outcomes of each gift. As we approach the end of the semester we are making our final grant decisions. It is crucial that we think through what immediate and long-term results our gifts will have. What will our gifts do in the next year? What will they do in 15 years? Is giving to an immediate project better than supporting a long-term vision?

As a group we want to support arts and culture in Waco, especially arts education in impoverished areas. We know that art is crucial for a child’s development and we know that many schools in low-income areas do not have the funding to maintain thriving arts programs. Our group met with several nonprofit organizations, and the question we have been faced with is whether we want to meet an immediate need or fund a long-term plan to support arts and culture as a whole in Waco. I have learned that there is so much value in supporting individuals who have dedicated their lives to arts and culture and passionately believe in creating a better Waco. When arts and culture are thriving, the economy thrives, children develop creativity, and a community is strengthened. We have chosen to give to projects that will meet immediate needs, but we have also chosen to support a long-term vision to create a better Waco.

As I become more familiar with the philanthropic world, I have realized the necessity of funding long-term goals and visions rather than solely immediate projects. We live in a society that is obsessed with quick turnarounds and efficiency. While these things are important, when we lose sight of supporting individuals’ long-term goals we restrict the creativity of nonprofit executives who have a greater vision for their city. This course has taught me many things, but the most impactful has been that the nonprofit world needs a balance of efficiency and vision. When we allow nonprofit executives to dream big and support their goals, we may not see the immediate results we are craving, but the long-term impact on the community can be exponentially greater.

Mother knows best?

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By Janessa Blythe, BA ’18

At some point, before we started visiting organizations, we had a conversation in class about the way grants are typically given. Grantors typically designate money for a particular purpose. This is useful and good, because organizations are often able to make convincing pitches for exact sums of money, and they are able to fund important projects. At the same time, this limits organizations because they are unable to direct money to where it is needed at the time. They may have a need come up that they cannot use the money they have in their bank account for. Before an organization can execute any sort of interesting project, they have to be able to keep the lights on.

As I’ve become more familiar with the philanthropic world, I’ve heard from numerous executive directors that what they need, more than funding for specific projects, is money that they can use where they need it when they need it. They cannot always predict what needs they are going to have a few months down the road at the time they apply for grants.

As grantors have been working on becoming more strategic in their giving, have they begun to limit the ability of organizations to be more strategic?

It has to be difficult to need money for something and not be able to utilize the funds in the bank account because they have been designated already for other projects.

On one of our site visits, we were given a list of possible projects to fund, but the person describing the projects exhibited very little excitement about the projects. I asked this person if there was anything else they needed. They looked at me, hesitated, and confessed what they really needed was money for their general budget.

We talked in class about a trend among grantors where they are starting to consider giving sums with to organizations they trust, and allowing them to decide where the money goes.

I’m not sure what the right answer is. I think there is room for granting for specific purposes and granting with trust for organizations in the philanthropic world, but I think we really need to consider that organizations have the right to be strategic for themselves.

At times it has to feel like your mother is making decisions for you again. Yes, you get to propose the possible things a grantor can fund, but what if the project that would help the most people doesn’t get funded? What if what your organization needs isn’t an attractive thing to fund? What if there is just low interest in the problem you are seeking to solve? Sometimes outsiders cannot really understand the need. Sometimes an organization needs the freedom to make decisions for themselves.

Looking Ahead and Looking Behind

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By: Kristen Hendrickson, BBA 2017

It’s hard to believe that November is already here. The end of our journey is in sight and very near, and we are all extremely excited about what it will be like to be able to give funds to organizations that we have come to love and appreciate so much.

This past week was a calm one, after the site visits and Journey of Generosity the previous week. We met with Dr. Hogue on Tuesday to discuss what we are currently thinking, and it was encouraging to hear his feedback. On Thursday, we met as a class without Dr. Hogue to talk about ways in which we can obtain additional funding and what we would like to do with it if we receive it. I am humbled by the incredible people my classmates are, people who are generous with their time and resources and who wish to pay things forward, in the sense that we would give to future semesters of this class, as others have given to us. I know we all hope to see this class continue on until our children are here at Baylor taking it, and beyond.

We have some big decisions ahead of us, and as of right now I’m really not sure how we will make them. There is so much good to be done and so many people who need and deserve our help. It is going to take teamwork, compromise, thinking out of the box, honesty, and prayer for my group to come to sound decisions together. I feel very thankful for the group I have been able to work with this semester; they have been patient with me and we have all pushed each other to look at and evaluate things in new and important ways, and we have truly bonded throughout this process.

My group is primarily interested in arts & culture in Waco, with a focus on helping children in poverty through the arts. To be honest, at the beginning of the semester, I felt unsure about if I was the right person to be in the arts and culture group, and I internally and ignorantly felt like the money we would be donating might be better used elsewhere (such as healthcare, poverty, or social injustices). Generally, arts and culture receive only about 4.5% of the total gifts to the nonprofit sector in America each year, and this could partially be because some people feel similarly to how I did. It is easy to feel that arts and culture are just not as much of a pressing need. But, I figured the only way to handle this situation was to at least have an open mind. Since then, I have come to completely see the value in arts and culture, and now I am now fully on board with wanting to give to arts and culture organizations. Arts and culture have a way of unifying and giving pride to a city in a way unlike anything else can, bringing in businesses and new residents, healing and instilling confidence and passion in people, developing minds young and old, and so much more. Before this semester, I did not even realize how much I have personally benefitted from arts and culture growing up and throughout my life, and I so badly want that for the children and residents of Waco as well. I feel that a key piece of life and development is missing without arts and culture.

This process has changed me and opened my eyes in many ways and I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in it. I am eagerly looking ahead to the weeks to come, the decisions we will make, and the ways in which the things we have learned here will manifest themselves in our actions throughout our lives.