Students’ completed posters will be placed on exhibit in the school so that other classes may learn about the work of foundations.

Anticipatory Set:
Using the home assignment from Lesson One: Limits of Power, ask students to share the adults’ (guardians’) experiences of when they asked for advice before making a decision. Survey the class quickly to see if it was advantageous or not to ask for advice before making a decision.

• Ask the students the following question, “If something needs to be done, is it always better to do it yourself?” Put students in teams of three and let them mull over the answer to this question. After three minutes, let the teams share their answers with the whole group. Put a T-chart on the board and record students’ answers according to the appropriate category:
  Advantages of Doing it Yourself    Disadvantages of Doing it Yourself
  
   
• Have the learners reach a conclusion to the question. The answer will probably be that sometimes it is best to do it yourself, whereas at other times it is better to have someone else take action. Reasons might include: more skill, more funds, better incentive, more private, knows how to do it right, etc.
  
   
• Distribute Who Should Do It? (Attachment One). Once again working in three- person teams, have students indicate their preferences as to who should have responsibility to do the action listed. Give ten minutes for this exercise. Share answers and allow students to give the reasons behind their selections.
  There will be more than one possible answer for several of the examples. For example, schools are the responsibility of (state) governments, but churches and religious groups operate parochial schools and corporations and nonprofit organizations also run schools. The University of Michigan is a public university run by an elected board but the University of Detroit/Mercy is a private college operated by two religious organizations.
  Sometimes the responsibility for a service is a shared one, depending on the reasons behind why something is done. While there are a lot of things that governments (city, state, national, school district, etc.) take responsibility for, they cannot do everything; nor should they. For example, state governments take responsibility for the care of children who cannot continue to live with their families for one reason or another. Even though states maintain “child welfare” and other programs, other groups also maintain these kinds of programs for children (Catholic Social Services, Children’s Defense Fund, Jewish Relief Fund etc.). This is an example of a special reason why a nonprofit group maintains a service which is already being carried out by the government.
  There are also some things that are done by nonprofits because the government is not doing a good job of carrying out its responsibilities. Can the learners give examples of this (soup kitchens, animal shelters, homeless shelters, etc.)?
  
   
• Explain the difference between a “for profit” and a “nonprofit” organization. “For profit” businesses seek to earn a profit for their shareholders who have invested in the business or for their owners who make their living from it. The income of “nonprofit” organizations is not used for the benefit or private gain of stockholders, directors, or any other persons with an interest in the company. It is used to provide a needed service for the common good. Since its employees are giving of their time and talent, and are probably making less money than they could in the “for profit” area, they may be considered philanthropists if their motivation is to help people. Brainstorm a list of nonprofit organizations. (Nonprofit organizations are numerous and fit into nine major groups: arts, culture, humanities; education; environment and animals; health; human services; international, foreign affairs; public societal benefit; religion related; mutual/ membership benefit. The examples given by the learners will fit into these categories.) Definition and Examples of Nonprofit Organizations (Attachment Two) will provide helpful information for the teacher.
  
   
• One type of nonprofit organization that exists in all states and many communities is a foundation. Define foundation as an organization created from designated funds from which the income is distributed as grants to not-for-profit organizations or, in some cases, to people. Make sure students understand that a grant is money given to support a person, organization, project or program within guidelines. It is not a loan and does not have to be repaid. Ask students to name a foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, National Science Foundation, etc.).
  
   
• Put the term “mission statement” on the chalkboard. Ask the learners to define the “mission statement” of a school. Once students have decided on this, ask them to make an inference (going from a specific example to a generalization) about the definition/purpose of a mission statement. Explain that foundations have a mission statement or focus for what they do. Ask students what they would expect a mission statement for a foundation to look like. Give your school’s mission statement as an example to help students decide what a foundation mission statement might look like.
  
   
• To give students the experience of learning about various foundations, split the group into small teams. Have the teams go to the Learning to Give Web site at http://learningtogive.org/resources/foundations/foundations.asp where they will find information on foundations. Let teams select a foundation to investigate. Distribute poster boards or large sheets of paper, Foundation Poster Rubrics (Attachment Three) and allow teams to design a poster that will show the work of their foundation. OPTION: Students may opt to research other foundations that are not listed on this Web site. Use http://www.guidestar.org to find other foundations for study.
  
   
• When posters are completed, exhibit them in a hall display case or media center display for other classes to view.

• www.guidestar.org GuideStar
  
  
• www.independentsector.org Independent Sector
  
  
• www.nonprofits.org Internet Nonprofit Center
  
  
• www.mnaonline.org Michigan Nonprofit Association
  
  
• www.ncna.org National Council of Nonprofit Associations
  
  
• www.not-for-profit.org The Nonprofit Resource Center