A harvest of giving: Philanthropy class benefits three local organizations
Imagine philanthropy as a garden. To get the best results, you need to do your research before you grab the spade: Is the plot shady or sunny? What is the soil composition? Which plant species is best suited to flourish?
Students in Associate Professor for Public Administration David Campbell’s Philanthropy and Civil Society course this spring distributed $11,000 in grant funds to two local organizations. But the harvest didn’t stop there: By participating in a summer webinar, three class participants were able to net another $500, which they then donated to a third organization to share the bounty.
For Ezekiel Torres, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, generosity is a family affair. He embraced the opportunity to make a larger impact.
“My mother has always made it a point to instill generosity as a value and she donates annually to specific causes,” he said. “I’m big into volunteer work in my local community, and Binghamton has become like a second home to me. It was a very interesting idea that I would be able to participate in a University class that would have an impact in the local community.”
The Learning by Giving Foundation provides the $10,000 that the students distribute as grants. Campbell’s rules are simple: After evaluating applicants and debate, the class can choose only two organizations to receive grant funds. They can’t donate the same amount to the pair, either; one has to be more than the other.
There are opportunities to earn additional funds for donation, and Binghamton students aimed high. Brendan Hurley, now a junior economics major, wrote about his experience in the experiential philanthropy class for the foundation’s blog, earning the class another $1,000.
The class initially received 70 applications from local organizations. They split into groups to evaluate them, contacting approximately 20 for more information. After that came the tough job of winnowing the many worthy applicants down to two.
After the coronavirus pandemic pushed courses online, students used Zoom to discuss applicants and conduct virtual tours of organizations in the running. The pandemic influenced decision-making in other ways as well, explained Torres and sophomore integrative neuroscience major Nicole McGrath. For example, they decided against donating to a local summer camp for children with disabilities, which canceled its camp this year due to the virus.
The class donated $8,000 to Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments (VINES) due to concerns about hunger and food deserts, and appreciation for the organization’s plans to maintain food distribution even amid the pandemic. While competition was tight, the coronavirus tipped the balance for the second, $3,000 donation to RISE, which provides services to victims of domestic violence. Quarantine may increase the possibility of domestic violence and make it more difficult for victims to escape, the students explained.
Currently, VINES grows vegetables on its 2.25 acre Urban Farm in downtown Binghamton with the help of local teenagers, and then distributes the food through its all-income Farm Share program and to local pantries, said Executive Director Amelia LoDolce.
“The grant provided by the Philanthropy Incubator class is funding vital new infrastructure on VINES’ Urban Farm, which will help us grow more food for our community and meet the ever-increasing demand for our services,” she said. “With this grant, we’re able to finish a new hoop house (a greenhouse-like structure over bare ground) to extend our growing season and to buy and retrofit a shipping container into a walk-in cooler.”
In July, Torres, McGrath and classmate Maggie Wang joined LoDolce for a webinar with the Learning by Giving Foundation. Participating in the webinar netted another $500, which the students decided to donate to Family Planning of South Central New York, a close third in the class’ ranking system.
“That the three students gave to Family Planning shows how much they still respect the concerns of their classmates who advocated for Family Planning but were unsuccessful in persuading the majority of the class to support it as a grantee,” Campbell said.
Participating students appreciated the opportunity to go deeper into the workings of philanthropy. If you do the research, your dollar can go further than you might expect, Torres said.
“Philanthropy comes in so many different shapes and forms. Even donating a dollar to an organization can make a difference, and you can still donate your time,” McGrath reflected. “I learned a lot about the Binghamton community that I didn’t know, since it was my first year.”