Category Archives: Expectation

Things Learned “Out There”

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By: Kendall Wood, BBA, Psychology 2020

We wrapped up our last class meeting Thursday at 1:45 pm.  This doesn’t mean our interaction as a class is over, though. The best day of Spring 2017 is yet to come!

This coming Tuesday we will hold a reception celebrating the grant decisions that each team made and awarding those grants to members from the organizations!  To me, this feels like Christmas Day and I get to be Santa Claus for the first time in my life. We’ve been anticipating this day all year, and it’s hard to believe it’s here.

Knowing that celebration was soon to come, Thursday’s class was dedicated to much reflection. Before class, Andy asked us to write down 3 things that we learned “out there,” in the field, with real people amidst real life. The discussion that followed was very unstructured, and we each got to share a few of the many life lessons that we gained over the semester.  Some of them are simple and don’t strictly pertain to philanthropy, and some of them are perspective-shifting and have influenced how we plan to give for the rest of our lives. I wrote down my 3 and jotted down more as my classmates shared their own.  This definitely does not encompass all the lessons learned for the entire class, but I connected and agreed with the following 8 lessons learned “out there”:

  1. How to run a meeting with an actual adult. — This one was serious for me. Being in a position of leadership over an older adult was a challenge at first, but the more we did it, the more comfortable I became, and now I’ve gained confidence in my ability speak maturely and act professionally.
  2. No amount of e-mailing or phone-calling will have the same effect as a face-to-face conversation. — Our generation is often inclined to limit our interactions in person, but this kind of work cannot be done without meaningful, face-to-face conversations. I found this to be true with my team meetings as well as meetings with nonprofit executives.
  3. How to ask good questions — Preparation is key to doing this.  Maggie McBride made a good point on this topic today, indicating that we owe it to our classmates to ask good questions because they depend on that information to make important decisions regarding our grant money.
  4. How much work the Waco nonprofits are doing. — I think we were all blown away by the amount of effort that is being exerted over seeing Waco prosper. It is exciting and humbling.
  5. Success comes from giving more than receiving. — Receiving will never be inherently bad, but there is a special joy that comes from giving, and only from that.
  6. Collaboration is the best way to see real impact. — My classmates’ blogs previously explained the incredible results that came from our decision to collaborate.  The impact of our grant money increased beyond what any of us had initially imagined.
  7. We choose our perspective of scarcity vs. abundance. — Viewing the world with the perspective of scarcity results in a lonely and cold life, always believing there’s never enough and that people are only trying to take from you.  However, viewing the world with the perspective of abundance results in a joyful life full of gratitude and warmth because you know that there is fulfillment in pouring yourself out for the sake of others.
  8. How to broaden your horizons in giving. — Many classmates mentioned that they ended up giving to areas of society that they never believed they would.  This just shows the passion of these students to step outside of themselves to see great work done.

The Difference between Tony Stark and My Classmates

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By: Julia Stricklin, BBA 2018

If you’ve been following our class blog, you know that we have finally made it to the most exciting part of our semester! Final decisions have been made, organizations have been notified, and invitations to the check presentation day have been sent. This is also the point in the semester when I look back to the beginning and see how much I’ve learned, grown, and changed. This looking back is what brings me to the title of my post today: The Difference Between Tony Stark and My Classmates.

I will be very honest: before taking this class, the first thing that came to mind when I heard the word ‘philanthropy’ was the scene in The Avengers where Tony Stark declares himself a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” This scene, and an admitted lack of prior knowledge about the field, gave me the idea that philanthropists were people like Tony Stark – wealthy elites that threw huge sums of money at innovative projects. I didn’t see this as a bad thing by any means; it is of course a good thing to give money to worthy causes. But after this class, I see that philanthropy and philanthropists are so much more than what we see in Tony Stark. Our class has taught us to be truly engaged in our work as philanthropists, to put forth every effort to ensure that our money is given well. In that pursuit, we have investigated the particular needs of our community, and taken input from organization directors on how our funds would be best put to use. We have not simply taken an elitist view that we know best how to fix wicked problems because we have college educations, or something of the like. Another striking difference between our class and the Tony Stark philanthropist character is how much money we gave. Sitting next to a sum such as $1 million, our $50,000 may look small. But I’ve learned that doing tremendous amounts of good does not necessarily take a tremendous amount of monetary input. Our class’s largest grant was for $14,000, the rest were under $10,000 each, and a notable number of grants required less than $5,000. My final and favorite difference between Tony Stark and my class is our ability to come together. Ironically, just before Tony Stark labels himself a philanthropist, he says, “I don’t play well with others.” Well, that could not be less true of our class. To achieve the best work possible, we found that we had to collaborate. I can surely say that I could not have been as effective in the grant making process if I had gone it alone as an individual, so I am thankful for my small group I was able to work with. Not only that, but our class could not have granted as effectively if our small groups had not worked together as one larger group. After all, a sharing attitude is the best attitude to have in the pursuit of philanthropy.

As we finish our class, I am pleased to realize that Philanthropy and the Public Good has not produced a graduating group of Tony Stark philanthropists, but rather genuine, engaged, and collaborative doers of good work.

Building Anticipation

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By: Kendall Wood, BBA, Psychology 2020

As a class, we are entering into one of the most thought-intensive portions of the semester. If I could liken this process to a train ride, what felt like a slow chug up the mountain of learning, peaking at Pitch Day, has turned into a nose-dive into the exciting but serious process of decision-making. With goals in mind and concrete options before us, we are more certain and yet uncertain than we have ever been, so team-cooperation is vital. This is site-visit time.  Next week, we will meet with the organizations with which we have chosen to move forward at their facility for about an hour each.

At this point, we have done a considerable amount of research on these nonprofits, so the purpose of these site visits is to dig deeper and gain better perspective as to what our grant would be funding and the impact it would make on the organizations’ efforts.  My team specifically hopes to receive tours of each organizations’ facilities because we believe there is a depth of understanding that comes from observing operations rather than just talking about them.

Dr. Hogue provided us with a couple of informative articles that would guide us in these meetings—the “Quick Guide to Conducting a Nonprofit Site Visit” and the “Guide to Interviewing a Nonprofit’s CEO,” both written by The Bridgespan Group.  Fortunately, much of the instruction given to us in the “CEO” article was already a part of our Pitch Day meetings, meaning we were able to ask the representatives in-depth questions about the organization on that day.  This has put us in a good place for these site visits because it allows us to go further in our discussions, taking advantage of each minute on-site.

The “Quick Guide to Conducting a Nonprofit Site Visit” gave us four important items to consider before we arrive to the site visit:

  • “Share your goals in advance”—We are accomplishing this by e-mailing each organization the topics we intend to discuss and what operations we hope to observe while on-site.
  • “Bring other decision-makers”—In a perfect world, this would be our professor Dr. Hogue, since he will be assisting us in our future decisions and we value his opinion. However, it is not feasible for him to attend each site visit, so we will rely on each other as a team to obtain all the necessary information and offer educated opinions in our post-meeting discussions.
  • “Be prepared”—This one may seem obvious, but it is too important not to mention. We will have our questions prepared in advance so that we can reach the core of every issue about which we want to know.  There may be aspects of the organization that we might not be exposed to or understand fully if they are not questioned.
  • “Know how close you are to a decision”—This is for the sake of the organization to understand our position. We will be prepared to answer questions regarding our own process of decision-making and where we find ourselves at the present time.  All of which will be done with both candidness and respect.

 

Overall, despite the decisiveness we have to exercise on a daily basis, we are excited by the intentionality with which we get to speak to these organizations.  The anticipation is building and the determination to make mindful, strategic grants is ever-rising!

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.

Character Matters

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By: Clara Binder, BS 2017

Doing philanthropy well requires much of us. If this course were simply reading about philanthropy or researching wicked problems, perhaps a person could escape without giving much. In the realm of the theoretical, the choice is ours whether we invest ourselves in these ideas and think carefully about them. Researching and paper-writing do not necessarily require significant investment of self.

Now, though, we have moved out of the realm of the theoretical and must start making decisions: which organizations do we most want to support? (Alternatively, which organizations would not be as good a use of the grant money given to us?) We have logic models and carefully-chosen readings to support us in the process, but even these cannot carry us through. What matters in these conversations is not just the knowledge we have but the persons we are.

We need wisdom and the ability to communicate. We recognize that this course offers us the choice between many good options; this makes it more difficult to discern the best of these. Wisdom here looks like viewing our initial preferences through the lenses of the resources that we have in the readings and in those around us. My initial preferences – gut instincts, perhaps – have been developed through my own experiences and knowledge, and they may not match those of the other members of my group. We all, then, need the ability to state not just which choice we believe is better but also the ability to articulate why we believe this.

This wisdom requires humility. A firm belief in my own intelligence and superiority has no place here; rather, careful listening will allow us as a group to come to understanding and agreement, sharing our own resources of experience and knowledge with one another as we make decisions. Additionally, we need humility as we interact with the organizations we are considering for a grant: there is so much about Waco, about the work of a social sector organization, and about people in general that I do not know, and a willingness to learn from these organizations and from one another is vital.

We need patience here. This process is long, and it is challenging. With so much we do not know, we struggle to communicate clearly with one another and with social sector organizations. Often the questions we ask do not provide us with the answers we most desire. Sometimes our very ignorance keeps us both from understanding an answer and from understanding that we do not understand. Making wise decisions and communicating clearly through it all is a challenge.

Which is why we need commitment. If this were just about a class, perhaps it would not matter so much. We could be content with a decent decision and move on with our college experience. But this is not just a class; this is about the place where we live and the people who live in it. The understanding that this is so much greater than us compels us to see this experiment in philanthropy through to the end, and it demands that we be people of character – wise, humble, patient, and committed – who give our best.

Why We Move

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By: Lucy Bray, BBA 2017

After the first week of classes in Philanthropy & the Public Good, I had concluded that there is something enormously unsettling about a foray into philanthropy and public service.

When I initially registered for the course, I was so eager to begin the grant-making journey, and I was so excited to delve into its process. Feedback from students who had taken the course previously had ignited my imagination, and I began to look around at the Waco community and wonder how the class would enable me to be involved in it. In the midst of my zeal and enthusiasm, I had not yet stopped to consider how personal the grant-making journey necessarily would be, but the first day of class alone challenged me to reflect on a higher level. I quickly realized that the most successful philanthropy is personally meaningful for the philanthropist, and that this course would require putting my heart on the line alongside the oversized check I hope to grant. After several weeks in the class, I have become convinced that the good my classmates and I intend to do is enhanced by the degree to which we commit to it personally.

When the class began, I was reminded that before my classmates and I could begin printing those oversized checks, we would need to answer what qualified us to print them in the first place. This required a deliberate, careful review of our personally-held values. Most college students do not reflect introspectively on their values on a regular basis. The pace of college life encourages and demands us to act quickly and decisively, leaving little chance for us to move forward with confidence as to why we move in the first place. We are challenged to succeed personally, professionally, academically, and socially, and we have learned to tailor our progress and meet expectations to create apparent evidence of those successes. That is perhaps one way to survive the rigor of university life, but it is no way to serve our fellow man.

Upon examination, my classmates and I have discovered that our values, along with a general and shared sense of altruism, were what had inspired us to join the class in the first place, and what would guarantee the best possible outcomes in our grant-making decisions. Each of us brought different values to the table, and all of us had a unique perspective regarding what characteristics our philanthropy should encompass. We discovered strength in the diversity of our thoughts and beliefs, and a unifying sense of purpose that would carry us onward.

As we begin the practical aspects of the course, deliberating between issues we would like to address and avenues in which to address them, I am happy to say that we are all so excited to move forward. We know now why we move. We are strongly convicted in our personal values and motivations, and we rejoice that they demand a deep, personal, and emotional commitment to our work. We have discovered the passion we have for service and stewardship, and we have begun to challenge each other to achieve the best expression of our altruism. We feel more confident that we are guided by our best principles, and perhaps more sure of why we are qualified to discern ways in which we can benefit our community.

 

Beginnings

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By: Savannah Newman, BBA 2017

These first few weeks of class time in Philanthropy and the Public Good have been centered around defining what philanthropy means introspectively for each of us as individuals as well as what it means to our class as a whole. We have just been placed in the groups we will be working with for the semester, so much of what has been done so far has been laying the foundation of what we will be working on this semester.

What I have discovered about myself through these first couple weeks have been uncovering the motivations for giving back and wanting take this class in the first place. On the surface the class appealed to me because it came so highly recommended, it would be a nice break from economics and math, and I knew that it would attract other high-achieving, intriguing students that I would be able to work with. However, what these first few weeks of class has caused me to do is really reflect on what makes up my value system and what aspects of who I am drew me to this class.

There was an exercise that we completed in the second week where we first wrote down the most important values that shape our own life, then recall events that had stirred strong emotional responses, and finally describe the people who most inspire us. Reflecting on what truly matters to me helped me to adequately articulate what it is I hope to accomplish not just this semester but throughout my life. I discovered not only the reasons I had taken this class, but also the underlying motivations for my path in life. I realized the importance I place on education based off of the influence of my grandmother; I discovered my desire to empower, work with, and learn from the people I am serving based conversations with women on my mission trip to Trinidad and Tobago; I connected my upbringing in Waco to my desire to contribute to the wonderful initiatives taking place and this class. Though these events and people have always been a part of my life, I had never sat down and physically written down the connections of my values to them.

I hope to keep these ideas at the forefront of my time in this class as we move from the more philosophical reasoning to the tangible and more concrete aspects of the class. I understand that these values, both my own and the ones we have discussed as a class, are the foundation of what we are to build upon this semester. They are what we should keep in mind as we dive into the finite questions of our giving. They are what we should return to when the hard questions come and there are seemingly no answers.

Already, I see the impacts of this class on how I view the world around me and how I relate to my surrounding environment and community. I am excited about the journey ahead and the person that I will become in the process.

 

 

Onward We Go

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By: Grace Miller

With our biggest decision behind us now, our class looks excitedly toward the future and toward the finish line.

At this point, we know which organizations will be funded and which ones will not. We know which projects we will be able to contribute to and watch grow over the next year or so. Although it stings to have to choose so few organizations out of all those worthy, we are excited and enthusiastic about the projects moving forward. We are confident in our choices and their ability to do the most good for this community.

This is such an exciting time! Everything we have been working toward the entire semester is rapidly coming to a close. It seems like only yesterday we were meeting in our project teams for the first time, getting to know each other and discussing our expectations for this course. Now, we find ourselves approaching the final stages and adjusting all the little details.

It’s been a whirlwind, but I think it’s safe to say this experience has exceeded all of our expectations. I know it has well exceeded mine. This chance to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, as part of our education, is so unique. I don’t think any of us realized how difficult these decisions and processes would be, but each one has contributed to our growth as students, as philanthropists, and as people. I wish every student had the opportunity to do something like this.

During our board meeting, it was neat to see everyone had the big picture in mind. We each, of course, wanted to push for the organizations from our own program areas, but I was surprised by how many people started speaking up for organizations from areas not their own. No one was selfish; instead, everyone truly wanted to do what was best. There was an attitude and atmosphere of working toward the most good, and that was necessary for us to come to the best decision for the group as a whole.

I think that attitude is important to keep in mind as we move forward. Of course, we each want the organizations from our program areas to receive as much funding as they need, but we have to remember the big picture. It’s not just about my program area or this organization I’ve grown so fond of—there are others out there who are just as worthy. It’s not a competition for funds, but it may be difficult to put all the pieces together and make them fit.

Let’s approach this final section of the course with that kind of attitude again. If we do, the next phase will be as smooth as the last. Onward we go!

Hope in the Yet to Come

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By: Julianne Bohnenkamp, BA 2016

As the third week of school is underway, our Philanthropy and the Public Good class begins to take a deeper look into what we, as a unified group, will be working on this upcoming semester. As addressed briefly in the previous blog post, Tuesday’s class was focused on building our mission statement, which will define the goals that our endeavors these upcoming months will seek to fulfill. The statement combines a number of concepts that we as a class brainstormed during our last meeting; some of these concepts include:

  • Stewardship
  • Commitment
  • Engage more deeply in our community
  • Compassion/generosity/love
  • Impact on individual lives
  • Faith integration
  • Generate knowledge
  • Foster giving (not dependency)

Though the official statement is not yet completed, it is essential for us to hone in on the most important conceptual themes that our work should be focused on. Every local organization implements these ideals in order to serve the city of Waco, especially those in that community who are in most need. We gratefully acknowledge our opportunity to partake in this course and question how we may assist these organizations in the most useful way.

During our meeting, Dr. Hogue passed around a packet that showed us what organizations have been supported by grants from past classes. A few of the selected groups focused on resources needed or desired for present purposes, while others were centered on future usages with sustainability at the forefront of their aim. This semester, our class has to decide what purposes are we searching to support. Current concerns? Future objectives? New ventures?

We are just on the cusps of beginning to understand what our involvement in this class will entail and how our assistance can lead to a formidable impact on the future of these organizations. However, our actions should not be taken without caution. Taking note from one of Tuesday’s assigned reading by Dr. L. Gregory Jones, we can acknowledge that it is important that our goals remain optimistic, yet be aware of the sometime difficult reality of our modern society.

“…philanthropy will achieve its promise only when it connects more deeply with mindsets and practices that recognize and embody both the pessimists’ reading of reality and the optimists’ belief that change is possible….what we need to cultivate is people of hope. [1]”

We, as a collective group of leaders and students, should look to foster not only deeper connections to the community of Waco during the semester, but also hope as well. Hope that our efforts will become a seedling that will begin to take root and flourish with this community’s love and compassion, hope that assisting the toils of today will lead to the successes of tomorrow, and hope that our support will not only help transform aspects of these organizations, but also ourselves.

Though the third week already promises exciting things to come, there may be some uncertainty as well. But we shall not worry, because there is always hope.

 

[1] Jones, L. Gregory. “L. Gregory Jones: Philanthropy, Global Citizens and Hope.” L. Gregory Jones: Philanthropy, Global Citizens and Hope. Faith & Leadership, 10 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

 

Meet the Author: Julianne Bohnenkamp is a Senior Intensive International Studies major, with a minor in German and a minor in Poverty Studies and Social Justice. She loves reading, writing, humor, and actually dislikes long walks on the beach (because wet sand sticks to the feet). With a passion with service and cross-cultural interests, she looks to serve abroad with a mission organization after graduation.

Philanthropic Calling

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By Ryan Snitzer, BBA 2018

For the newest students in Dr. Hogue’s Philanthropy and the Public Good class this semester, there are a variety of mixed emotions as we embark on this adventure together. We are all blessed by the opportunity to not only better understand philanthropy, but to serve others and hopefully do good works. We are nervous about the overwhelming task of best deciding how to strategically divide monetary resources to non-profit organizations in the Waco community. Most of all, I believe we are excited to come together to be part of the bigger picture in God’s philanthropic mission.

Based on the first few class sessions’ discussions, it’s evident that we all have unique academic backgrounds and experiences that will contribute to our central mission. We have begun to realize that our experience in this class and our decisions on how to allocate the generous donations will be entirely different from previous semesters. Not only is that okay, but it’s honestly one of the best aspects of this program! The need to give well and do good is universal as we live in a broken world. However, there is not one single need in our community or world that deserves our sole attention above all others.

As we continue to seek a better understanding of philanthropy and narrow our focus in these first few weeks, I believe the right answers on which organizations to select will ultimately come to light according to God’s plan. There are so many fantastic philanthropic efforts that are taking place in Waco and can do great things with the resources this program has been blessed with. We can rejoice in knowing that the giving doesn’t stop there. The donations made for this program allow us students to grow towards our individual philanthropic calling, betters Waco-area organizations financially, and allows them to do even greater good in this community. That’s the true beauty of this program.

Hearing other student’s perspectives has already allowed me to reconsider my own personal definition of philanthropy and recognize other opportunities to help others in our community. Since coming to Baylor, I’ve gotten involved with my fraternity’s philanthropy, The Ability Experience, which focuses on disability awareness. Never before had I felt a real connection to the people and causes I was serving. It’s amazing how so often the times when you think you’re helping someone; they in fact make an even greater impact on you.

Our philanthropic calling is for every single one of us to determine. For us in this course, we are all striving to find it as we aim to be the hands and feet of God’s mission. In Ephesians 2:10 we are reminded, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I fully believe God has a special plan for Baylor University, the Waco community, and this program.

 

Ryan is a Sophomore Business Fellows student with majors in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Professional Selling. He wants to eventually go into private equity and has co-founded a new business in Waco called Campus Crates, which provides self-storage over the summer for college students.