Category Archives: Decision-making

By: Maggie McBride, BA 2020

Our semester has finally drawn to a close, and what a full semester it was.

Tuesday, May 2^nd, our class finally had the privilege of giving out grants to the organizations we researched all semester. The time, effort, and thought that went into these decisions finally culminated into a beautiful ceremony where we got to support and honor the work that these organizations do in our community.

This ceremony brought much joy and celebration to its participants, but it also caused us to reflect on the semester. Our class just collectively spent a vast sum of money, and it was entirely in our hands where and how we spent it. I recently discussed this class with one of my peers, and she asked me, “do you find it difficult to know if you made the right decisions with the money?” This question, depending on the stages throughout the semester, certainly had different answers.

Before we made each decision throughout the process, I felt their incredible weight. Our class, a combined group of eighteen to twenty-two year olds, held the responsibility for tens of thousands of dollars. Each organization we considered does great things in the Waco area, so it was hard to know who was doing the “best” things, and what the best way was to spend our money. I wanted a sign saying “this is the right answer!” because there were dozens of “right” possibilities tugging at my heart and mind. When I compared each possible scenario with my group about how we would spend this money, it felt nearly impossible to know which way was the best way to spend our money.

On the other hand, after every decision this semester, I knew that the collaborative effort of my classmates resulted in the right decisions. When we decided which organizations to move forward in the grant process, and later how much, if at all, we should grant to these contenders, I felt an ease in knowing we did the best we could with the information we had. When I reflect on the grants we made this semester, I am grateful that we made the choices we did, and the award ceremony solidified this feeling in every possible way.

Celebrating these collective victories for our community was the best way to enter this summer season. Joy filled the room because we knew that these grants would lead to so many positive outputs in our community. I am grateful to the Philanthropy Lab and Aramark for making these endeavors of our class lead to real fruits within the community. Our reception may have been the final collective act of the class, and the end of a long grant-making road, but it was also the beginning of something new and beautiful in our Waco community. I cannot wait to see how well these organizations utilize these funds, and how the theoretical “most good” we strived to find in our class becomes a reality in the streets of Waco.

Jake Bartlett, BBA, Pre-Physician Assistant, 2017

May 2^nd 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

Katie Yarbro, BSW 2017

Over the past few weeks, each group has worked diligently to find a balance in understanding the mission and vision of several organizations along with their desires as grant makers. This has required pages and pages of quantitative and qualitative research on the national, state, and local levels, as well as in-depth logic models of the impact our grant money would make in the short and long-run.

Each group then met with Dr. Hogue to further process their findings and seek guidance on the decision-making process from this point on. While this conversation was insightful, many groups were overwhelmed with the weight of the hard decisions to be made. Many of us felt that giving to one organization meant not giving to another. Dr. Hogue constructively encouraged each group to consider pitching one or two organizations to the entire class with the potential of rallying funds together to grant one or two additional organizations. On one hand, this was a refreshing reminder that sparked hope among the class, but on the other hand, we felt the need to gear up to defend the organizations we had so meticulously studied.

As we entered class last Thursday, we prepared to fiercely advocate for our particular organizations. Each felt certain we would achieve our mapped out desires only to learn that we kind of missed the point–or at least I did any way.

I so strongly believed that the organization I was representing was worth the time and money that I felt defeated when my classmates did not join in as quickly. On the flip side of this coin, this revealed the log in my eye. I have subconsciously deemed other organizations less deserving simply because I did not study them as intently. But when I removed myself from the competitive academic setting, I remembered that each organization is just as worthy as the next; that it’s not about who is right or wrong, winning or losing, it’s about people in need of help and organizations meeting those needs.

So rather than pushing against class unanimity, I chose to set aside my admittedly prideful desires of “winning” because ultimately, any money given to a local non-profit is beneficial to the community as a whole, which is the end goal. As a class, our hopes are that our funds would assist those doing the good, hard work and eventually that the Waco community would experience holistic transformation.

After compromises were made on behalf of many, our class has finally made decisions on the Spring 2017 grant recipients and we are excited to share the news with the community, so stay tuned!

By: Abby Callison, BA 2017

Tomorrow we have our second board meeting with the entire class. The purpose of tomorrow’s meeting is for each group to present to the other groups which organization(s) they have chosen to give their grants to. I am looking forward to seeing not only which organizations the other groups have chosen, but also seeing why the groups have chosen to give to a particular cause, and how they believe their grants will make a broader impact in the Waco community.

I can’t believe how quickly the semester has flown by! In reflecting on the semester thus far, I am amazed at how thoughtful every part of this course has been in preparing us to make this difficult decision. I am so grateful that as a class we were equipped to make this decision with the readings and exercises we completed at the beginning of the course. Studying the purpose of philanthropy, generative giving, and strategic giving really caused my group and I to think through the effects of our money in a much different way than we would have before. I think before this class, I would have been much more driven by emotion in my giving. While emotions are not necessarily a bad thing in choosing to give a grant, one should be very thoughtful in considering the potential impact your money can make. The work we have done this semester taught me to look much more logically and strategically at how grants can help an organization to serve its community well.

After site visits, I had no idea how my group and I would make our decision. Visiting each organization and physically seeing the work they are doing made me wish our class had a lot more money so that we could help every organization. However, since we are limited in our resources, we really narrowed it down to what grant could make a lasting, generative impact on the organization and therefore the community, and what organization could not complete its goal without our help. I am so excited for how each organization will hopefully benefit from the grants our class has the privilege to make.

Haley Haskew, MAcc 2018

As the semester is quickly drawing to a close, we have now arrived at the long anticipated stretch where decisions are made and grants are given. At the beginning of this semester I assumed this would be a difficult decision to make, but after hours of research and site visits I am more eerily aware of what is to come. Although I am predominantly excited and eager to give to the community that has blessed me with a wonderful central Texas home, I cannot help but feel the weight of the countless other problems saturating our area that I will not address. The monetary limit of our grants makes strategizing and thoughtful decision-making all the more critical, so I have narrowed down the factors I believe should most greatly be considered in this process.

I believe that philanthropic action is best performed when focused on the people whom it is serving; thus, the most important implication to sift through is how your passions align with the potential grant recipient’s work. The most effective decisions are made when the grant maker is passionate about the people receiving help from the organization because the incentive to give well and strategically is magnified. Yes, philanthropy is most importantly aimed to benefit others, but it is also intended to create value for both parties partaking in the action. Grant-making is most impactful when it is stemmed from an organic desire to do good for a certain group of people or to address a particular concern, rather than just for the sake of distributing money to people in need.

Secondly, the efficiency of the nonprofit’s work should be carefully assessed. If the organization is unable to deliver satisfactory services to its clients then there is a risk the grant money will not be properly used and allocated. The grant maker’s passion and organization’s desires are irrelevant if operations are not meeting objectives and people’s needs. As a result, grant makers should diligently inspect the ins and outs of the organization to ensure processes are being properly performed. This is does not mean, however, that the grant maker should correct every little component of the organization’s work he or she disagree with. Instead, they should offer their thoughts and opinions while maintaining an attitude of respect and trust in the nonprofit organization.

Next, the effectiveness of the organization’s leadership must be adequately evaluated. Any group, whether it be a club, for profit company, or nonprofit organization is only as capable as its leadership. It is essential for management to not only be intelligent, committed, and talented, but also for management to promote unity, servant leadership, and employee/volunteer satisfaction. Grant makers should be unafraid to ask leader’s questions, especially regarding their awareness of the issues they are addressing as well as the impact of their operations.

Although these are not the only important factors to analyze when making a decision, I believe these considerations will drastically help as we decide where to allocate our grant money. We have some tremendously difficult decisions to make in the next few weeks that are going to quite literally impact a countless number of people. The answers to these questions will guide us to better understand where our resources can have the most profound impact on the Waco area as we strive to use philanthropic courses to better our community.

By: Shannon Foy, BBA 2018

Although the majority of the semester seems to be a distant memory in our rear view mirrors, it in no way downplays the amount of work our class has put into this great endeavor. Months of research, a pitch day, more research, and numerous site visits are all leading to the daunting but exciting inevitable destination ahead: giving the grants. I call it daunting because the impact of the decisions that we will make as groups and as a class is not lost on anyone. Through our research we have found the issues that we are passionate about and want to see change in. In pitch day, we heard and connected with so many amazing people and organizations that truly piqued our interest to explore more. The more research we did drove our passion about the issues further still. And finally, the site visits exposed us to the amazing work that each and every one of these organizations are doing on a daily basis. There was a sense of excitement but also apprehension, as we desired to not get too attached to these organizations knowing that we could still possibly walk away and not be able to give a grant.

But no matter what, there’s no looking back now. All of the work Dr. Hogue has prepared for and set before us to accomplish has fully equipped us for the decisions and hard choices that lie ahead. Knowing that full well, we must remind ourselves not to doubt our instincts, knowledge, wisdom, or passion that has driven us and shaped our incremental decisions all along. By keeping our vision and goal in focus, there can be no wrong decision. All of these organizations have gotten this far because of our confidence that we have in their mission and their work. Our group and class have also realized the amount of interconnectivity that the Waco social sector maintains between organizations; we know by even helping one, we are impacting numerous other organizations as well. Some look to the next decisions we have with fear and apprehension, as we know we will have to say goodbye to organizations we have grown to love and people we have developed such admiration for. So we must view our connections and attachment to the organizations, the people, and their work as a good indicator of our investment into this project and philanthropy in general. Looking around at my fellow passengers on this ride, I have seen how much we have grown in our knowledge and drive for not only these issues but also philanthropy as a whole since where we started our journey in January. As a class we have united with a common purpose: helping to serve and impact our community. Although hard decisions may lie on the road ahead, with them will bring great joy and impact that we can’t even imagine.

This is where the rubber meets the road. So ready or not, here we go!