Philanthropy, and Learning to be Philanthropic

Fresno State, and Dr. Matthew Jendian, have created a bit of genuis: the American Humanics program which prepares students for careers in the nonprofit sector. The course that I am privileged to teach, "Philanthropy and Grant-Making" is not a capstone course, but, it does provide students with an inside look of how Philanthropy works in America, and, in real-life terms, gives them a real experience with being philanthropic. Fidelity Funds provided the program with a grant, and it was matched by Campus Compact and by the Fresno Regional Foundation. The students formed 3 boards, did research, and site visits to determine what organizations would receive their funds. Some of the nonprofits never made it past the first cut, and many organizations lost out on the funding because their websites were incomplete: blatantly incomplete. On some of the nonprofit sites (if they had one, which was the first cut), did not have the name of the excecutive director or phone number, fax number or other pertinent information that would have assisted a potential funder, much less a normal donor, to find them, ask questions, and make a contribution. The websites were fuzzy on information, mission, purpose, what they actually DO, how many people they serve, how long they have been around, the names and titles of staff members (or, if they have staff members), and even with nonprofit "sunshine" laws in CA, some information on their budget. Some of the phone numbers were incorrect, and many had no way to contact them by email. Searching for information was like fishing in the dark: you KNOW they will want the bait, but, they made the process very difficult. Dr. J. and I searched for the information along with the students, and we were surprised (and somewhat embarrassed for the organizations) that had such a shoddy public face. THEN, as the students sought to make appointments with the Executives, they wer given the run-around, had unreturned calls, had changed and missed appointments, and were treated with little deference: certainly NOT treated as potential donors nor volunteers. The students deserved better from the nonprofits, and, gratefully, they were gracious to the nonprofits. The students narrowed their choices down to a smaller number, and those organizations were invited to do oral presentations before the students made their final choices. The organizations were not very well prepared for the presentations, and did not take the opportunity seriously, and provided no handouts, did not prepare any specialized powerpoint presentations, and even seemed clueless when the students asked the questions. One agency, a battered women's shelter, told the students that she "could not do evaluations of the outcomes because of issues of confidentiality." Hogwash (or BS) is exactly how the students read it--accurately. After hearing the presentations, I'm not sure I would want to send any volunteers to any of the organizations, and definitely will look for other options to donate. Apparently these nonprofits do not see these students as vital to their future, do not recognize the importance of social networking and their reputation in the community. These students will not "bad mouth" the agencies, but, when these students complete their nonprofit certificates, I don't believe they will look to these agencies to find employment, since the agencies, with few exeptions, were not organizations where they would want to invest their careers. The agencies were focused on their need, and few could demonstrate measurable outcomes. Even fewer were interested in building and maintaining a partnership with these students and the American Humanics program. I am not sure if this is due to poor leadership, lack of preparation, poor communication: really, it doesn't matter. These students ARE donors, and, no intelligent, professional organization should treat donors (or potential donors) or volunteers, in the way that these students were treated.
All of these nonprofits and their staffs (especially the executive directors) should enroll in the American Humanics program at Fresno State: maybe then they will make the grade.