News

University of Montana Students Award $10,000 To Local Nonprofits

School of Business Administration students at The University of Montana recently learned about philanthropy firsthand when they awarded $10,000 to five local nonprofit organizations.

The Individual and Corporate Philanthropy class is an opportunity for students to learn about the relationship between nonprofit and for-profit organizations and individual and corporate philanthropy. They also take part in a philanthropic experience funded by the Learning by Giving program. With a generous grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation, students learned about the importance and practice of philanthropy by disbursing grants to Missoula-area nonprofits serving needs related to youth or hunger.

The students issued a request for proposals in April and received 25 submissions from local nonprofits requesting $83,384 in funding to support a variety of programs and services. With only $10,000 to award, the students implemented a rigorous in-class review and scoring process to determine which projects to fund.

In the end, five Missoula nonprofit organizations received funding: Garden City Harvest, Missoula Aging Services, Watson Children’s Shelter, Missoula Food Bank and Friends to Youth. Grants ranged from $1,000 to $3,500.

Doris Buffett, sister of Warren Buffett, is the benefactor of the Sunshine Lady Foundation, which provides the grant money for this opportunity to integrate curriculum focused on philanthropy.

Bambi Douma, a UM business professor, and Andrea Vernon, director of the University’s Office for Civic Engagement, wrote the grant to bring the Learning by Giving program to UM. They are excited about offering the new Individual and Corporate Philanthropy class this semester.

“The students brought a great deal of enthusiasm,” Vernon said. “They learned firsthand about the important role of corporate and individual philanthropy in helping our community meet and tackle its most pressing needs. The response and interest level of local nonprofits was equally impressive.”

Students will reward the winning proposals and celebrate community engagement during a special campus ceremony on Monday, May 10.

http://news.umt.edu/2010/05/050710phil.aspx

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.