Learning by Giving at Binghamton University: 2020 Edition

As we discussed in class, non-profits have been impacted by COVID-19 as well. In our presentation today, we heard about the possibility of budget cuts and less donations from the state and public due to more "essential" causes. This begs the question: what are non-profits doing in response? Upon analyzing the Board Source, a global network of leaders that represent a wide variety of the social sector that aims to provide support to organizations, I have read about several common problems faced by non-profits and potential solutions. Here they are summarized below Problem: Events have been cancelled for many nonprofits which results in lack of revenue and inability to pay staff long term. Board Source solution: Nonprofits need to analyze their financial impacts of keeping and reducing overall hours. They need to do a long term analysis on the costs and benefits of either option and put into scope what they can afford. As we heard from Debra, they are trying to keep and...

The Adirondack Mountains are Mother Nature’s gift to New York, a vast park of beautiful mountains and crystal clear waters teaming with wildlife spanning over six million acres, making it the largest park in the continental United States.  But with such a large park, comes a very large responsibility to protect it, and educate the public about conservation efforts to keep the park beautiful for generations to come. The organization on the front line of these efforts is the Adirondack Mountain Club, more specifically, the Summit Stewardship Program.  The mission of the Summit Stewardship Program is overall to help protect the outdoor experience right here in our backyard, for most of us at least. This protection includes education of the public on Adirondack alpine ecosystems, trail maintenance, and research into conservation research efforts for future ecosystem sustainability. The reason this organization is so compelling to me is because I was practicially raised in the ...

Every news site, radio station, social media page, and headline is talking about the Coronavirus. For so many people, the Coronavirus has a much greater toll than just being bored or missing our friends. Mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety are spreading as rapidly as the disease itself, and many people are finding themselves unprepared. However, 1 in 5 American adults suffer from a mental illness all the time, not just during a pandemic, so why are we only talking about it now?        The Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier , or M-HAST, has made it a point not to overlook those facing mental health issues within the greater Binghamton area, especially not now, when many need their support the most. M-HAST operates with the mission statement of helping improve individuals' lives and community education through a holistic approach of advocacy, crisis management, and long term support for both children and adults. While they offer many important...

  These past few weeks have given all of us a lot to think about. The Corona virus crisis has paralyzed much of the US and the world, and of course have sent most of us home early for the semester. More than just trapping us inside our homes, the virus has had a huge impact on the economy and people's livelihoods. The number of people filing for unemployment has increased drastically since the start of the crisis, and some sources are predicting that unemployment could rise as high as 20 or 30% ( https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/26/us-unemployment-rate-coronavirus-business ). Those are Great Depression levels of unemployment, something pretty much all of us have not seen in our lifetimes. Not only are those out of work struggling, health care workers, grocery store employees, and other employees for businesses deemed essential are working around the clock and constantly exposing themselves to the danger of the virus. The crisis has drastically escalated over the past f...

COVID-19 has placed the world into a health, economic, political, and social crisis. People are unable to get tested for the virus, being laid off or are unable to work, being exiled back to their hometowns due to schools closing down. There is growing concern for the lack of medical supplies and facilities, the stock market plummeted and is causing economic instability. These are times where the public looks to those in power, like government officials, celebrities, and philanthropists. However, unsurprisingly, our government representatives leave us in a standstill, as there have not been much progress made for economic aid and stimulus programs, while there are ordinary people at the frontline of this epidemic who are expected to report to work as an “essential” or “necessity”, but were/are not valued as such otherwise. Celebrities and philanthropists are leaned on during these times to donate, like Rihanna’s $5 million donation or Christian Sirian’s facility switch to help make m...

            Philanthropy is currently at a point where it is susceptible to change and making the correct decisions now will address issues such as billionaire philanthropy and the increase in the inequality between the rich and poor. According to a demographic presented by the Global Philanthropy Report, 890 billion dollars worth of philanthropy foundation assets belong to the United States. 450 billion dollars worth of assets belong to 9 major countries combined. This is a testament to the fact that the current system in which philanthropy operates is not effective. According to the head of policy at the Charities Aid Foundation, one of the most important methods of improvement are to embrace structural change. For many critics, philanthropy is deemed as a part of the issue rather than the solution as it serves as a distraction from the change needed to be made to address the challenges imposed by inequality, such...

Every day I check the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center website ( Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center ) to find out how many people have been affected by COVID-19 globally. Today, the 22nd of March, there are 328,275 confirmed cases worldwide. Even more devastating is the total number of people who have died from COVID-19, which has reached 13,714 worldwide. Reading these statistics, I imagine the grief of families who have lost their loved ones unexpectedly, and who remain without hope as others around them become sick. When I learn that Italy has the highest mortality rate of 5,476 people, I wonder if Italians still believe that they will get through this. Are they terrified? Are they optimistic?  During all of this, I have realized that every disaster has a bright side, or a lesson to be learned. Every hurricane, terrorist attack, or rapidly spread disease teaches us something about ourselves. How do we respond to a crisis? Are people inherently good? Will peopl...

In the midst of the chaos at Binghamton University surrounding Coronavirus, all of our classes have been abruptly interrupted and have been forced to move completely online.  Because this class is almost solely discussion based, this change threw quite a large wrench in our process of determining who we are going to donate to. Although what we are facing is unprecedented, it is very important that as a class, we remain focused on the task at hand.  Without meeting in person and engaging in meaningful conversation about these organizations, it will be very easy to fall into a pit of complacency, where joining Zoom calls or having to rely on messaging each other online feels like more of a chore than it does discussion. I am not innocent of this ideology either, I have found that I struggled to find motivation to put my full effort into determining the best fit for our donation, if we aren't able to see these organizations first hand, then how do we know who we're really dona...

I come from a poorer section of Suffolk County Long Island. My community has faced gun violence and substance abuse. When I was in highschool an ex-teammate of mine was stabbed to death on a busy street corner less than a half mile from his home. Despite all of this, my community has a philanthropic side. We routinely set up donation drives and other charitable events. Our high school clubs are filled with young students bursting with creative ideas on how they can serve their local area. Never before had I even thought of describing my community as philanthropic, but over the course of these last few weeks this class has cemented that belief in me. To be philanthropic, seemed to me, like a champion of the people. Someone who through their power could have significant influence on a population in need or a critical crisis. And, as the saying goes, 'money is power.' How can I make a substantial change on a particular issue without the power to back that cause financially? While...

            We were not prepared for this outbreak. All around the country, there are shortages of cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other necessities. There are also shortages in the medical field including shortages of doctors, face masks and other personal protective equipment, testing kits, and intensive care beds. People are panicking, buying and hoarding way more supplies than they need. Other people are trying to profit off the pandemic by selling things like hand sanitizer for outrageous amounts of money. Most people are suffering. Suffering because they can’t go to work. Suffering because they do not have substantial savings. Suffering because they have a lot of debt. Suffering because they’re 401ks are crashing along with the stock market. Suffering because they can’t afford health insurance. Crises like this highlight the fragility of many peoples’ economic situation in this country. They highlight the enormous inequality in our country and th...

The topic of almost every conversation throughout this week has been about COVID-19; we have discussed it in class because of the impending impacts it has on our education. With the release of Governor Cuomo’s statement that all SUNY and CUNY schools are moving to distance learning it is necessary for us to develop a plan. I think this is especially difficult for our class because of the immense amount of discussion and presenting, in addition to the site visits. In this blog post I want to initiate conversation on how to proceed in the deliberations of decision-making that we have to complete. I want to share with you my suggestions for how to address class time, and I also want to hear from all of you what you agree/disagree with, in addition to your own ideas.  First, I think it is necessary that we have a specific time that we meet for online discussion, and that we all engage with each other through Zoom. We need to hold ourselves, and each other, accountable fo...

When reflecting on the charity pitches that we have presented I see certain commonalities that exist between each pitch. First, I recognize that one may have chosen their charity because it resonated towards their personal beliefs/opinions, or as one might say “their criteria''. Secondly, because of the implications the organization has within a community. So, I’ve come to believe (and I think others can agree) that philanthropy can be both subjective and objective, but only by having a balance of both can we effectively be directed through the process of deciding between organizations.  With our recent reading assignments of discovering charity rating systems and learning what these systems are, I begin to wonder if they could lead us into being too objective when picking our finalist. As stated by Charity Navigator,  “Ratings are given to all organizations that meet our criteria for an evaluation, irrespective of a charity's mission and without bias” ( blog.charitynavi...