Expanding Philanthropic Outlook and Contribution

By: Nina
Nina participated in Allowance for Good's 2014 Global Philanthropy Summit program. 

How is it possible to continue to give back to society as we pursue different paths in life? On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to explore the answer to this question: social enterprise. We kicked the day off with an informative and engaging presentation by Elizabeth Coston of the Kellogg School of Management, where she introduced us to the 5 categories on the Social Enterprise Spectrum-we then proceeded to categorize a variety of for-profit and non-profit businesses and organizations into each of the 5 sections as follows:

Traditional Non-Profit: NPR, Smithsonian

Income-Generating Non-Profit: The Girl Scouts

For-profit Social Venture: Jail Education Systems

Socially Responsible Business: TOMS

For-profit Business: Home Depot

This presentation exposed me to the different ways in which you can incorporate social impact into a business model, something that is often overlooked, as we tend to classify businesses as either traditional nonprofits or businesses in a very black-and-white view.

In the afternoon, we went to Design for America, where we were given a variety of problems centered around sunscreen to creatively solve, using Design for America’s problem-solving processes. Such issues included a teenage surfer not applying sunscreen, a professional not being heard on the benefits of using sunscreen, and to help an overprotective mother let her children enjoy the summer. One of the exciting parts of this process especially was to see a number of people working collaboratively together even though we were from different schools, had different interests, and brought different ideas and experiences to the table. We completed the day with an art project based on the classic picture book The Giving Tree-we created our own giving trees in which the roots signified people and things that have guided and inspired us, the trunk represented our passion and goal, the branches represented our own values, and the fruit represented our own talents and assets.

Throughout the day, we were exposed to the idea of using what we have been given in life and how we are able to put it to use in order to make the world a better place. We learned that it is possible no matter what we decide to do in life, whether it be an entrepreneur or a computer scientist, an artist or a musician. These GPS experiences have taught me to expand my own views and look at philanthropy in a different light-one that is not limited to simply volunteering time or donating money, but which includes creating a new generation of smart, successful citizens who incorporate philanthropic acts into their daily lives and work.

A Generation of Dreamers and Catalysts for Good

By: Madison
Madison participated in Allowance for Good's 2014 Global Philanthropy Summit program. 

As students, we are often told to remain in our place of academia.  Students are supposed to learn, to study, to absorb and interpret the knowledge of our elders and our teachers and our society without much thought to the impact each of these characters in our lives has on the world.  And, this has worked for hundreds of years.  Society progressed, mostly as a whole, to as it appears to us today.  In some ways, this system is functional. But, quite cliche, we live in a collective of billions of people, more connected than we ever were before in history.  Social media allows us to interact with people we may not have ever known existed, and mass media allows us to get a narrative of what happens in our world; it is for better or for worse the actual accuracy and detail of these accounts. And most importantly, I believe, we are posed with the ability to choose our impact with which we will leave the world.  Maybe this is morbid and depressing, but we, as a society and a species, are allowed the privilege to make the changes we wish to see in our world.  And as we expose the genius of our young leaders such as Malala Yousafzai, Ann Makosinski, and even the early Steve Jobs, a shift in power and insight begins to take place.  No longer is the political, scientific, or social spectrum simply a battleground of greying, ivy league men, but a fairground of unpassable opportunity.  

Working with a non-profit organization like Allowance for Good is exactly that kind of opportunity. For me, as well as many of my mates from this year’s Global Philanthropy Summit, each day felt only like a minute.  We were immersed in the intricacies of social policy, of business and enterprise, of innovation, but most importantly (and sometimes I feel like most revelled by my peers) the prospect of dreaming. Only a minority of this week was spent on our dreams, but each minute of preparation was exciting and helpful.  They tell us in school to remain realistic, to maintain short term goals that we can accomplish and satisfy.  While this is helpful, it is not always fun. Understandably, when they told us to create a project for one of our Allowance for Good Affiliates, we were ecstatic.

It was with this idea that our dreams began.  Ideas for how to support worthy causes were thrown each and every way possible until we could not think of any more that would be governed by the laws of physics. Finally, we made a decision.  Our ideas were scattered with a bookmark sale, to a simple donation request (With a bookmark as reward), and an art supply drive for students in Nicaragua.  We were creative and quick in our thinking, and even though it was fairly improvised and small scaled, for my peers and I this opened doors to our own philanthropic potential.  It was no longer simply about these bookmarks now, or these school supplies, but about our own ability to decide where the funds were delivered and our independence in our efforts.  While we collaborated, it was by our own will and talents that we were able to raise over two hundred dollars (over the course of only a few hours) and a hefty art supply.  We are the change who will sit in the desks previously occupied by stuffy, bureaucratic, businessmen, creating progressive policies that utilize our world’s resources, create peaceful international policy, guarantee the education of every child, and learn what the world wants before we try to give it to them.  For the time being we are students, making our way into the world, but we will all be catalysts for change in our own ways, obstructed by no barriers that we cannot surpass.

Different Perspectives = Broader Philanthropic Lens

By: Rebecca
Rebecca participated in Allowance for Good's 2014 Global Philanthropy Summit program. 

We all came into GPS with different expectations of what the experience would be like and different ideas about what philanthropy means to us. On the first day of the summit we were able to bring those different perspectives together to better understand philanthropy through a broader lens. 

After discussing these topics as a whole, our first major activity involve making a video in small groups about what philanthropy means to us and how we engage in philanthropy. The videos ranged from slam poems to skits, all discussing the various definitions and aspects of philanthropy.

Later on we learned about GlobeMed from Alyssa Smaldino. GlobeMed is an organization that runs through universities across the country. Each college forms a partnership with their chapter and a community health organization, supporting them through training, research, fundraising, and volunteering. The Northwestern chapter is paired with one of our global affiliates, Adonai child development centre. Learning about GlobeMed was interesting to me because I became aware of how my involvement with programs like AFG could continue through college. 

Another activity we participated in was creating our own business plans for social enterprises or nonprofits in small groups. This project allowed us to choose social issue that we cared about and think about ways that we could either solve those problems at the source or provide funding to solve them. Ideas included Cows for Care, a restaurant chain that used its proceeds to provide livestock to impoverished communities as a source of food and income, and Dogs for Jobs, a hotdog cart chain that gave jobs to at-risk people (Like felony franks).

These activities were a great introduction to the king of things that we would be doing and learning about for the remainder of the summit, they also allowed us to create our own definition of philanthropy based off of our own talents and experiences. 

Inspiration and Fresh Perspective at Google Chicago

By: Riley
Riley participated in Allowance for Good's summer 2014 Global Philanthropy Summit program. 

I was lucky enough to take part in the Global Philanthropy Summit last week.  It was a riveting and insightful experience, and I now feel like a more engaged citizen!

Thursday was definitely the most exciting day of our week, with several important activities in downtown Chicago.  After taking the train in from Evanston, we trekked downtown and settled in our destination.  Soon after we arrived, so did our presenters: representatives from A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy group, and one of its funded programs.  They told us all about the great projects they were involved in currently, and where they hope their programs will be in the future.  The impact that these programs had made on the community of Chicago and its young people was obvious.  It was inspiring for us to be presented with some of the greatest philanthropic work going on in Chicago!

After the presentation, we walked to Google's Chicago headquarters, probably the highlight of our week at the GPS.  This was definitely my personal favorite place we visited in our two days downtown.  Besides taking a tour of Google's progressively-designed workplace and its fascinating employees, we participated in a Google+ Hangout with an AFG affiliate at Liger Learning Centre.  We also learned about all of Google's philanthropic work, which was simply amazing.  Google already has a reputation as a very socially responsible business, and its philanthropy was no exception to this principle.  The company has helped get thousands of people out of slavery, donated technology, and otherwise helped people in ways big and small.

I cannot describe how personally inspiring the visit to Google was for me.  The trip taught me that philanthropy can truly be on any scale and that even helping a few people is great philanthropic work.  Google's work with spreading technology and knowledge about it showed great promise for the future of the world and technological progress in it.  Google has encouraged me to be more aware of the world around me and to use my skills to help the people that I can.

I'd like to thank everyone who worked to make the GPS happen and my classmates for making the entire week a great experience for us all!