Learning by Giving at Binghamton University: 2020 Edition

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...

     Feeding America has been in operation since 1979, and has sought to combat hunger in America with a passionate network of food banks in the nation. In the 60s, John van Hengel met a desperate mother who looked through garbages to feed her family and she suggested there should be a location where people could pick up discarded food, and van Hengel decided to start a food bank. Eventually the nation picked this up, and van Hengel grew his possible reach with new banks, and founded Feeding America. Today, Feeding America is comprised of 200 food banks, providing food for over 40 million people. According to Feeding America’s page, over 72 billion pounds of safe, edible food goes to waste yearly here. And 25-40% of grown food is never consumed. Feeding America seeks to change this.      Feeding America targets the three sources of food waste and partners with them in an Avengers-like team to combat hunger. They target farms, manufacturers, and consumer-fac...

Although it may seem like the world has stopped because of COVID-19, there are critical issues that require attention but are being overshadowed by a repetitive media cycle. This is not to say that we should not talk about the pandemic, but we must not lose sight of what happens after we are through this. Philanthropists must consider supporting causes centered around protecting our democracy, there is too much at stake in 2020 and 2021 to put this issue on the back burner. Out of any time a pandemic could hit, this is an especially unfortunate time for our democratic system and institutions. The pandemic will likely have a negative impact on voter turnout for our presidential election in the fall and decrease response rates to the 2020 census. These issues are serious, and the result of both the 2020 election and census will have a meaningful impact on our communities and our country for at least a decade. For those who may be unaware of the importance of the census, the cen...

During our class' discussion with Anita Borkenstein, we learned that women may only be voting members of her giving circle if they put up an $1,100 dollar contribution that goes toward the grants they make and the group's activities. It makes sense logically: they need that money to actually function as a giving circle. It just bothered me to think that people in the community who need support don't get to be part of the decision about where the support goes. As Anita told us, her giving circle offers some scholarships, which I was happy to hear. But the conversation overall got me thinking again about how philanthropy is a bit of an exclusive club, you must have some amount of disposable income, whether it be ten dollars, a thousand dollars, or millions of dollars, to participate. Another thing we have discussed in class and between blog posts is the idea that giving our time can be a source of philanthropy. I like this way of thinking, but again there are people who d...

Harriet Shetler and Beverly Young, two mothers of sons diagnosed with schizophrenia, faced relentless blame for their son’s mental illness. Exhausted by continuously taking the blame for a situation where no one was at fault, the two women found themselves upset at the lack of treatment and understanding regarding mental illnesses. In 1979, both Harriet and Beverly sought out others who felt the same, and decided to hold a meeting to discuss these matters and how to better them. Thus, through a group of families huddled around a kitchen table, an alliance was unknowingly being formed, which advanced further through consistent meetings and a shared passion for spreading awareness about mental illness; this would later develop into the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that is established today.  NAMI is currently the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. Initial...

Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan at the height of the civil rights movement in 1964. The three young men were planning on spending their summer participating in the Freedom Summer project, which sought to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi. Dr. Carolyn Goodman, Andrew’s mother, dedicated her life to activism and upholding the ideals that her 20-year old-son and compatriots died for. Carolyn and her husband Robert started the Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF) in 1966 to keep Andrew’s legacy alive and empower others to become active participants in our democracy.  The AGF is focused on creating systemic change, and does so by supporting, mentoring, and training over 100 Ambassadors on college campuses across the country. Ambassadors are college students committed to bringing down barriers to voting, registering voters, and addressing social justice issues in their communities. The AGF works with campuses across 25...