When we think of how schools engage students in making the world a better place, most of us think of service learning or community service. Occasionally, students write letters to legislators or circulate petitions through school. But rarely do teachers introduce students to philanthropy. Certainly, such lessons are uncommon in schools in high-poverty areas.
Last year, I set out to change this fact by creating a set of lessons and learning activities centered on philanthropy and aimed specifically at low-income urban youth. As director of youTHink, a program of the Zimmer Children's Museum in Los Angeles that conducts workshops in schools and other settings, I realized that teachers often overlook philanthropy education in equipping students to work for social change. YouTHink uses art to foster critical thinking, promote literacy, and encourage social action. We give students strategies to take action for social change, doing everything from creating public service announcements to analyzing legislation. But we had not found any education resources that teach students about individual giving or that offer them tools to make their own decisions about how to donate within their communities.
I wanted low-income youth, particularly, to think critically about the role of the nonprofit community and to have an opportunity to experience the power of philanthropy as a tool for social change. As part of the project, youTHink gave each student $25 (provided by a grant we received) to donate to the organization of his or her choice. I hoped that this introduction to philanthropy would make these youth more likely to get involved in their communities and donate some of their discretionary money in the future.
Students from low-income families are more often on the receiving end of philanthropy than on the giving end. This project gave them an opportunity to be givers and to appreciate how their money and time can make a difference through community organizations, even if they have limited means. Through this experience, they came to see themselves as potential volunteers, staff members, or donors, a powerful experience for disenfranchised youth. Interestingly, research indicates that adults from the low- and middle-income brackets donate larger percentages of their salary to charitable causes than wealthy people do. For example, people who earn less than $25,000 give an average of 4.2 percent of their household income to charity, whereas people who earn $100,000 or more contribute only 2.7 percent.
The Curriculum in Action
In spring 2007, youTHink implemented our new philanthropy curriculum, called Pay It Forward, with a 9th grade English class at Chandler High School in North Hollywood, California, and a 10th grade English class at Western High School in Los Angeles. The majority of students at both schools receive free or reduced-price lunch and come from Latino backgrounds.
In each school, students learned about philanthropy and how nonprofit organizations operate through four class sessions led by facilitators from youTHink. We began by exploring students' understandings of the role of nonprofit groups in society and the different ways people can give. Each student identified a cause that was important to him or her and researched groups that address that cause. Research included identifying the organization's mission statement, the size of its budget, the number of employees and volunteers working there, and other information.
This activity gave the students an opportunity to compare different organizations that address similar issues and consider different approaches to providing service. It also helped them realize how few nonprofit organizations they had heard of previously. Those that they did know were large national organizations like the American Red Cross or Goodwill, not smaller local agencies serving people in their communities. Many students were surprised to find out how many agencies existed in their communities and how badly these agencies needed financial support.
The curriculum helped students see that philanthropy is an integral, although often unseen, part of community life. Students initially said that they didn't know of any philanthropists except for a few celebrities or businesspeople who gave to charity and received media attention. Through our lessons, they learned that many average people donate in large and small ways but often don't get high-profile attention for their actions. The fund-raisers students met with when they visited nonprofits emphasized that nonprofits need large numbers of such individual donations to raise enough funds for their annual expenditures.
Writing Projects and Community Mapping
We integrated writing assignments into the Pay It Forward lessons. Students wrote up their notes about the nonprofit organizations they researched, generated questions for their site visits, composed cover letters to the organizations they donated to, and wrote several personal reflections.
For their collaborative art project, students created a mural-like map of their community. With black construction paper, they made roads representing the main intersections near their school. They added local landmarks, such as the places where teenagers like to hang out, significant businesses, popular restaurants, and a nearby park. After researching local nonprofit groups, students added these institutions to the map. The map project helped personalize the curriculum for students and enabled them to express their thoughts visually as well as through oral and written assignments.
A Glimpse of Nonprofits
- How do you know your work is making a difference?
- What is the biggest need in this organization?
- Have you ever had to turn someone away who needed your help?
- How are you funded?
- Do you plan to expand?
Students did far more than simply view the facilities during site visits. At the Coalition for Humane Immigrants' Rights of Los Angeles, students participated in a workshop about the immigrant experience and community organizing. At Para Los Niños, a preschool that serves families living below the poverty level, students worked with the children and interviewed the director to learn about running a preschool. Students picked up litter from a beach as part of their visit to the environmental organization Heal the Bay. In addition to performing hands-on work, students met with members of the development staff at each organization to get a broader picture of each agency and to ask questions about budgets, fund-raising, and sources of revenue.
Choosing to Give
After the site visits, students decided which organizations they wanted to contribute to. Students considered which social issue they cared about most, thought about the different agencies working for that cause, and examined the varied approaches that different agencies use to have an influence. They weighed the pros and cons of giving to large organizations compared with small ones and of earmarking a donation as opposed to leaving spending decisions to the discretion of the organization. After visiting an agency that served immigrants, for example, students in one class had an extensive discussion about the state of the facilities. Some students were disappointed that the offices smelled bad and the carpet was worn and tattered. A few students wanted their donations to go specifically to improving the space, whereas others argued that perhaps the organization had more pressing needs.
Many students gave to an organization that they had visited. Like adult philanthropists, these students were more likely to give to an organization with which they had some personal or emotional connection.
Students completed check request forms, including composing statements explaining why they wanted to donate to particular organizations. Each student also wrote a cover letter to accompany his or her donation. Some students pooled their money so they could give one organization a larger donation. Others wanted to apply their money to the cause that mattered most to them, regardless of whether or not they were the only donor.
The check presentation ceremony was an important event culminating this project. Agency representatives came to the schools so students could present their donations and receive thanks in person. I was struck by how many high-level professionals from the various agencies took time out of their schedules to come receive what was sometimes just a $25 or $50 donation. Clearly, they understood the importance of this project to the students.
Martha, the teacher we worked with at Western High School, reflected,When asked to say a few words at [the end of the ceremony], I cried. My students had learned so much about the community, themselves, and each other—and I got to see them grow before my eyes.
An Enduring Effect
Both teachers we collaborated with believed that participating in this project had lasting effects on their students. After their participation, many showed interest in further involvement with local nonprofits. Students who participated in Pay It Forward last school year led a schoolwide canned food drive this fall, and three student participants were accepted as student interns with youTHink for the 2007–08 school year. At the site visits, students asked specific questions about volunteer and career opportunities. A number of students also asked the site director at the preschool which early childhood education courses they would need to take in college to be able to work there.
Student comments like these show that Pay It Forward nudged students to reflect on their own actions and potential:After participating in this project … I see how many of us complain about things but we never do anything about it. I really do want to help my community. Thank you for helping me realize this.I am 15 years old, and in my 15 years of life, I have never volunteered doing anything like what I did with youTHink.
Holly, the English teacher at Chandler, noticed how the project changed her relationship with her students:It's interesting how much I learned about my students through this process. I'd known them since October, but we never really had the type of discussions we had when the youTHink staff were visiting. I learned a lot about what my students found important in life.
Holly also noticed that her students' views of community service, and their own role as potential contributors, changed:[Our] students tended to associate community service with "trash pick-up" or "graffiti removal"—punishments for breaking some rule or violating probation. They hardly connected it with something more positive, something voluntary. … I think that as a result of this project, they will be able to shift their paradigms and begin associating philanthropy with exactly what it should be—the love of humankind.
