Learning by Giving at Binghamton University: 2020 Edition

Never. Never have I had a course that has had such an influence on my academic life, as well as my personal life, as this one. Never have I been challenged in my student career to make a decision that has so much moral weight, and will impact real lives that are otherwise beyond my control. With this hefty grant decision looming over us since day one, I knew that I had to be an active, engaged student in this course to learn how to make that decision.   With that said, I’ve learned so much more from this course than I ever could have imagined. At the beginning of the course, I expected to learn about the different methods and impacts that philanthropy has on the world, and where I would fit in to it. I did not expect to meet so many people that were just as passionate about changing the world as I was, and had such incredible stories of what drew them to this course. After I met all of you, I was able to comprehend the magnitude of this class, and how it calls for a unification...

At the start of the semester, I thought I had an idea of the organization we would donate to. It had to be an “everything” organization, with a low budget, great results, transparent and organized. I thought that it would be easy to pick one if not two organizations, to receive funding. Not only was I wrong but I was far from understanding what is important to me and what is it I value. It is difficult to choose based on objectiveness because each organization means different things to everyone. It is not a matter of what non-profit is more important but what is the most needed in the community. Philanthropy means supporting an organization that would do the best job getting to the root of the problem. I went into discussion already set in my ways, having already voted for Family Planning and VINES but halfway in I started to become conflicted. People brought up really good points in favor of RISE, which in my opinion I felt was not as needed as Family Planning’s health care plan. Ar...

The PERIOD Movement was founded in 2014 by two high-school students, and has grown to over 700 PERIOD chapters in all 50 states and over 40 countries. Its mission is to end period poverty and stigma, to provide free menstrual products to marginalized communities, to fight for access to menstrual hygiene products as a human right, and to pressure the government and institutions to provide free menstrual products. The PERIOD movement does this through several avenues:the creation of chapters across the country, like the New York City chapter, which my friend Sophia is apart of, partnering with other 501(c)3 organizations to distribute menstrual hygiene products, and sponsorships from companies like Tampax, Diva Cup,and L’Oreal. It is up to the discretion of chapters and 501(c)3 organizations in how menstrual products are distributed to communities. They also have campaigns like National Period Day, with a rally held on October 10th each year, and Free the Period, which is a continued e...

   Since the corona virus crisis has started, all of us have had to think about our lives in a different way. Almost every aspect of life at large has been overturned, including philanthropy. This crisis has to change our thinking about where and how we want to send donations. Massive amounts of people are struggling, not only with the depression and debilitating mental effects of constant isolation, but over 30 million Americans are unemployed and unable to pay the bills for basic necessities. While this problem is especially bad in America thanks to inaction from our government to stop layoffs and provide people with money to make ends meet, these problems are even worse in other areas of the globe that were struggling before the corona virus hit.    This situation has brought one charity back into my mind that we discussed in class earlier this semester and stuck with me, GiveDirectly. GiveDirectly is a top rated organization that focuses on helping families in d...

The Water Mission organization is a Christian engineering nonprofit that designs, builds, and implements safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. Since 2001, Water Mission has used innovative technology and engineering expertise to provide access to safe water for more than four million people in 55 countries. Water Mission has 350 staff members working around the world in permanent country programs located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.  In 1998, founders Molly and George Greene took a trip to Honduras, where they saw what the locals called the “River of Death” because no one had survived drinking its water, they then decided they had to act.  Basically, they aim to provide clean water solutions to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, even if they are the ones who have to construct the clean water systems.    They are quite religious, and state that they are do...

Over the past week, as it became increasingly clear that the primary debate remaining in our class was whether Family Planning or Rise would receive the minority portion of the grant money, I knew I would be conflicted over my decision. It’s unsurprising that this was the case for many members of the class, considering there is a common thread running through both organizations, even though they may appear significantly distinct from one another on the surface. Perhaps it was this shared link that caused me to sway back and forth in my choice, practically based on the last person who spoke. This was frustrating for me because I have possessed conviction in all the decisions I made in this class thus far, and I did not want to be ambiguous in regards to the most impactful one I would make. I felt like I was being forced to mark one of these nonprofits more deserving than the other, when I whole-heartedly believed in both their efforts.  I couldn’t choose between services pertaini...

After a full semester of narrowing 71 grant applicants down to five, and closely evaluating those finalists, we’re nearing the point where we have to make our final decision, and it’s been startling to see how much the COVID-19 crisis has impacted our evaluations of the organizations. It’s raised a number of questions about how much of a role a crisis should have on donations in general, not just with this class. Two important questions that face a would-be donor are: if I were to donate right now, should I only be donating to organizations that help to fight the COVID crisis? And, is it better to wait until after the crisis so I can donate based on merit rather than urgency? Both are legitimate questions, and I decided to give them an interesting perspective by talking to someone who works for a non-profit organization, and could actually provide an insider’s answer. My dad is the manager for email marketing and digital fundraising at the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL is a nati...

            Philanthropy has a way of changing the initiative to help a bigger goal and contribute to a bigger cause. Case in point is our decision-making criterion, before the pandemic many of us did not focus on how these organizations will operate in a crisis period, which is fair because that was not our reality when evaluating these organizations. But as the transmission of COVID-19 picked up, the class switched gears and started to look at how the organizations are reacting and adapting to this pandemic. This can also be seen in terms of education and how philanthropist is rearranging their agendas to fit the now. The now being how the new normal of remote learning is affecting the education system and students directly especially those that come from disadvantaged backgrounds. So, this is when the world elites and the elite philanthropic organizations decided to step in and help bridge this gap.     ...

In the first couple weeks of class, we talked a lot about how what really matters to us and how that affects the decisions we make in the philanthropic world.  We call these things that shape our decisions core values, and it is important to take stock of the few that are most important to us personally before making choices philanthropically.  One of these values that is very important to me personally is doing meaningful work.  In my opinion, if an organization does not consistently provide services that constitute meaningful work, it is not worth donating to. This was a paragraph from my first reflection paper back in February.  Although it can be argued that meaningful work is more of an aspiration than a core value, I stand by a lot of what I said.  Perhaps a better term to frame it as a value would be “making a difference”.  Regardless of standing by what I said, that was written through the lens of our normal world.  Does making a differe...

Every year, thousands of North Koreans risk their lives to escape political and economic oppression. Even if they make it to China, they face grave danger because the Chinese government arrests and forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees. If sent back, they undergo interrogation and are at risk of execution or extremely harsh punishments including torture, forced labor, forced abortions, and internment in a political prison camp. Even if they manage to evade the authorities in China, their illegal status leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by sex traffickers and unscrupulous employers. In these dire circumstances, many North Korean refugees do not have the resources or connections to get themselves out of China. That’s where Liberty In North Korea (LINK) comes in. Liberty in North Korea's team is strategically based in the United States, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. From these locations they work alongside the North Korean people as they affect change inside the country...

Jeff Bezos stands amongst the rest of billionaires by being the richest man of the world. He has net worth has increased during COVID-19 despite it potentially being the worst economic downfall since the Great Depression ( https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jeff-bezos-net-worth-increased-220001911.html ) . He is not known for his philanthropic contributions. He received criticism earlier this year for his contribution to the aid the Australian Bush fires. Bezos is not as astute at giving as other corporations and billionaires such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Warren Buffet, etc. We have celebrated their contributions to philanthropy. Zuckerburg started an initiative, Giving Pledge that billionaires make a moral pledge to donate a large portion of their billions to charity. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation receives high praise. Despite, its origin is a way to work around anti-trust laws. At one point, people wanted Zuckerburg for president. In light of all of his bad pr...