Author Archives: jacob_bartlett

The day we’ve all waited for, PRESENTATION DAY!

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Jake Bartlett, BBA, Pre-Physician Assistant, 2017

May 2nd marked a very exciting and rewarding day for not only myself and everyone in the class but for the organizations receiving grants!  In the midst of studying for finals and feelings of anxiety and stress it was a blessing to be able to see God’s hand in full work as we presented such selfless organizations various grants so that they would be able to go forth and continue to give well and do good.

The afternoon began promptly at 12:45 as we all met in the Presidential Suite at McLane Stadium, we welcomed each of our guests and mingled with one another, thanking them for being with us and expressing our gratitude toward them for all that they do in the community.  Along with the fun chatting that was going on, I can’t forget to mention the star of the afternoon… the s’mores station! As the afternoon proceeded, our guests took their seats and we began the presentations.  Andy gave a brief synopsis of what philanthropy means, the hard decisions we had to make to get to this point, how deserving each organization is of the grant they are receiving and the transformation he has seen in each of us throughout this amazing process.  Following Andy’s speech was Mr. Perlowski who spoke on behalf of Aramark, a generous donor to the class.  Shannon Foy, a fellow classmate then took to the mic as she told the story of the class, from the research we did at the beginning of the semester, pitch day and meeting all the organizations, our individual site visits and the collaboration that occurred between several groups to put our $30,000 into one bucket and divide that sum among the organizations we wished to give grants to.

And then the fun part began, the presentation of the big checks to the well deserving organizations.  One by one each organization was introduced to the crowd and brief synopsis of their work was described.  We posed for pictures to commemorate the beautiful moments that were occurring and grinned from ear to ear in excitement for the future of these organizations and for the people they serve.

As the afternoon’s presentations came to a close and our guests left, it was both exciting to know that we have each developed a clear sense of what it means to be a philanthropist but it was also sad to think that our time in this class was coming to an end.  So to end this blog I would just like to say thank you first to each organization for all that you have done and will continue to do for the community, secondly to each of my classmates, you all made this semester one to remember and thanks to everyone’s collaboration we impacted the lives of so many people, and lastly I would like to give a special thank you to Andy Hogue who inspired us each and every day to be better philanthropic leaders and to learn how to truly give well and do good.

Philanthropy Lab class grants Ð check presentation Ð grant recipients Ð PresidentÕs suite Ð McLane Stadium Ð The Advocacy Center Ð Take Heart Ministries Ð Unbound Ð AVANCE Ð Good Neighbor Settlement House Ð R Labs Ð Caritas Ð Compassion Ministries Ð Nurse-Family Partnership Ð Waco Hispanic Museum Ð Creative Waco Ð REACH Therapeutic Riding Center Ð 05/02/2017

 

Site Visits

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By: Jake Bartlett, Business Fellow 2017

Big things are happening this week as we begin our site visits!  The weeks following Pitch Day entailed a great deal of communication within our groups and with other groups along with many hard decisions but also a great deal of rewarding aspects.  The decision to move forward with a site visit for a given organization was determined, in its simplest form, on a percentage scale.  Looking at each organization individually, we had to ask ourselves, “Is the chance of us giving to this organization 50% or higher?” If the answer was yes then we moved forward and scheduled a site visit; however, if we felt that there was a smaller chance we would give to an organization then we decided to not move forward.  At this point, you might be asking yourself, “well, how did you decide if your chances were greater or less then 50%?”  and this was the exact same question we as a group had to ask ourselves on a frequent basis.

Our decisions were made after we outlined our goals and mission in giving to an organization as well as looking at the future goals of the individual organizations.  My group came to the consensus that we wanted to give to something that would generate growth in an organization and take them to the next level.  Deciding which organizations we would move forward with and which ones we would send letters of decline to was extremely difficult.  Throughout this process, I felt a sense of frustration but also excitement, a feeling of sadness when sending letters of decline but then an overwhelming feeling of warmth and joy when sending a letter to schedule a site visit.  In many cases, we were torn between groups and wished we could visit everyone we had previously met with; however, looking back at our goals and the growth we wanted to spur in an organization we were able to refine our number from eight organizations to four.

Tuesday, March 28th was our first day of site visits!  My group met with one out of four organizations at a local coffee shop, Common Grounds, as the organization is run out of one of its leader’s homes.  This organization is focused on helping women in homelessness to access feminine hygiene products, establishing relationships between these women and local churches. They distribute Love Totes, which are bags that include one month’s supply of various products.  Their proposal was for a trailer measuring around 7ft by 12ft to assist in the transport of the totes to various places of distribution.  During the visit, we asked further questions such as the cost of the trailers they were looking at, their means of transporting totes now without a trailer, and how a trailer would take them to the next level in reaching out to women in the community.  We also proposed the possibility of having the trailer wrapped with their logo as another means of reaching people and advertising their work.

Although our visit was an informational meeting, I didn’t feel as if it was business or solely informational; I got the sense of partners working together, exchanging ideas, collaborating and all working towards a common goal to enrich the lives of others and promote growth.

I look forward to meeting with the remaining organizations in the next few days as well as getting closer to making some very difficult but fulfilling decisions with my team members and possibly collaborating with other groups!