Class #10 Post

Tyler White
Experiencing Philanthropy

November 20^th (Assignment #10)

Week 10 Class Summary and Photos

Prior to class on November 20^th, our mock nonprofit groups were tasked with creating grant proposals. Under the assumption that we would be seeking $10,000 in start-up funding for general operations, each group was required to complete a common application form, which was ultimately turned in to Professor Lippe. Professor Lippe gave each groups proposal to an outside source for further review, and we are awaiting their decision on which group “won” the $10,000 grant. We also did another exercise prior to class, which involved individually exploring the 990-tax form for the Greater Lowell Boys and Girls Club. We were required to answer multiple questions regarding that tax form, pertaining to revenue versus expenses, employee salaries, yearly growth, etc. Both exercises were designed to prepare us for Mondays class.

During class, we discussed the 990 form in greater detail. We identified what implications an organizations finances had on our decision to fund that nonprofit, and ultimately concluded that tax forms are an excellent tool to thoroughly evaluate a viable grantee. Based on our experience with the mock grant proposals and the tax form, we split into two separate groups to discuss what criteria we look for in a nonprofit’s grant proposal. Since we created our own proposals and shared ideas as class, we knew exactly what we were looking for in a real proposal. In our separate groups, we brainstormed ideas for a rubric that would be used to grade incoming proposals. After a half hour or so, we reconvened as a class, and combined the ideas from both groups. With the guidance of Professor Lippe, we were ultimately satisfied with the quality of our rubric by the end of class. Each student was able to contribute and share their opinions on what criteria are most important to identifying a worthy nonprofit. Looking forward to next class, we will use our rubric as a benchmark to score incoming applications. Each student will review an application(s) individually, and then discuss our grant proposal scores more thoroughly during next weeks class. This will ultimately give us the opportunity to examine our favorite organizations in greater detail, and select “finalists” who will receive our grant.

Two groups discussing what to include in our rubric (pictured below):