Author Archives: alexandria_bishop

Let the Site Visits Begin

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By: Lexy Bishop, BBA 2017

Coming off of a relaxing Spring Break, our program teams have hit the ground running with site visits to the twenty-five organizations that have moved on for further consideration. Each team is responsible for scheduling five personal visits over the next two weeks to the organizations within our designated area of focus. For my team and me, that means visiting five incredibly diverse organizations that do community development work in Waco. Our hope is that once we meet with these organizations face to face and see their daily operations, we will acquire a deeper understanding of their mission and clear any questions we have regarding their grant proposal ideas. Having met with three organizations already, we now know that our job of narrowing at this stage is even more difficult than before.

The site visits that we have conducted thus far have been great. Being able to talk with our contacts in their offices, an atmosphere where they feel most comfortable, has helped us understand each organization better. A typical site visit looks like sitting down with the person we have been in contact with and asking them questions that were raised by other board members. Our goal was to be able to bring as much clarity back to our board member as possible. After an in depth discussion, we were able to walk around the grounds of the organization and see where the action happens. This helped us get a realistic idea of what these organizations are actually doing to help improve our community.

Seeing the day-to-day operations that accomplish each organization’s mission helps us grasp who they are and the work place culture that they embody. For my team’s evaluation process, the culture of the non-profit is just as important as the written mission statement. Seeing how an organization functions shows us a raw picture of what they believe because they are acting out of their convictions. The hearts of the people we have met are so authentically passionate about seeing the Waco community reach its potential. With each presentation we are blown away by their dedication to their cause and a deep commitment to seeing Waco prosper, which makes our decision so very difficult.

I have loved dialoging with my team about how this grant making responsibility has lead us to grow fonder of the city of Waco. Numerous organizations that we have spoken with always note that one of their goals is to retain Baylor grads in the community. On our drive to one of our sites last week, a member of my team noted, “As I learn more about the heart of the Waco community through these site visits, I could easily see myself staying here post grad.” I could not agree more. This class has given me more than just knowledge and practice for how to philanthropically give; it has given me a different perspective of my city. Seeking out the nonprofits of Waco is like taking a behind the scenes look at our community. They are what shape our culture and seek to make Waco a unique and desirable community for all.

About the author: Lexy Bishop is a junior Business Fellows major studying mathematics and economics. She has accepted an internship for this summer to work with Syrian refugees on the island of Lesvos, Greece.

The Development of our Mission

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By Lexy Bishop, BBA 2017

Our time on Thursday was spent clarifying our collective goal as a class, which we will later form into a mission statement. As the biblical proverb goes, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Clearly, a sharp vision for what we are doing is important as we embark on our philanthropic journey. With such a complex undertaking, it is necessary for us to nail down our unified goal for the semester before we begin any work so that we are able to be as effective as possible. Focusing on the big picture on the front end and establishing guidelines for how we as a team will carry out the task at hand will be beneficial to us as the semester progresses. Our duty is simple in theory: to philanthropically invest the money responsibly. However, this assignment will become more complex than we initially imagined. So, when the small details for our decision begin to drag us down, our team can always return to our mission statement, sewn together with the things we as a group value and consider important, and be reminded of what we have set out to accomplish.

To help better understand what philanthropy is and the complexity of our project, our group has been reading through three books: We Make a Life by What We Give by Richard B. Gunderman, Understanding Philanthropy by Robert L. Payton and Michael P. Moody, and Giving Well, Doing Good by Amy A. Kass. Our time on Thursday was spent dissecting various readings from these texts and collecting important ideas that influence our view of philanthropy. Some concepts from the readings that stood out to us include the following:

  • While our monetary gift is important and an honor to give away, we want to see ourselves give more than just money. We have a financial gift to bring, but more than that we have the opportunity to share the intangible gifts of time, attention, and knowledge.
  • Our goal is not to decrease want but to create sustainable opportunity and generously share. There is mutuality in sharing.
  • We want to follow after the Baylor principle of stewardship as we give of our selves with humility, gratitude, active cooperation, and self-reflecting knowledge.
  • As a group, we want to be open minded to our peers’ ideas and backgrounds, as well as share our views to contribute and grow as a whole.

It is evident from these statements that our team’s view of philanthropy has already expanded in just a short week of studies. I personally have come to understand that philanthropy is more complex in nature than I had initially perceived. It is more than just donating money to a worthy cause, or sporadically volunteering your time for service. Philanthropy is a way of life, and through this semester I am looking forward to developing convictions and motives that implement the ideology of philanthropy into a life long call to action. It is exciting to look ahead at what is to come because I know that the rest of our time is sure to be a growing experience.

Lexy Bishop is a Junior Business Fellow from the DFW area studying mathematics and economics. Freshly returning from a semester abroad in Spain, her passion to be a part of what God is doing in the nations of the earth and her belief that the Church is the hope of the world has only intensified.