Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement

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Philanthropic Research

Unit of 3 lessons

9th-12th Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

Lesson 1 :	PHIL:	Guidestar.org; Mission Statement; Nonprofit Organizations
	SOC:	Compare/Contrast; Media Genres; Research; Technology
Lesson 2 :	PHIL:	Nonprofit Organizations
	SOC:	Branches of Government; Citizenship/Civic Engagement; Constitution of the United States; Declaration of Independence; Delegated Power; Diversity; Government; Guidestar.org; Inquiry; Presidential Roles; Presidential System; Reserved Powers; Rights/Responsibilities
Lesson 3 :	PHIL:	Community
	SOC:	Compare/Contrast; Economics; Guidestar.org; Income; Inquiry; Nonprofit; Research

Unit Overview:

This unit assists students in conducting philanthropic research using GuideStar and other online sources. Students can select areas of interest for possible philanthropy, read actual mission statements of philanthropic organizations, review their accomplishments and acquire information about their financial status. They will look at the roles of nonprofit organizations and determine whether there is a need for their existence.

Unit Purpose:

Students will use a systematic approach in studying organizations they may wish to support. They will also compare the work of government departments with similar work done by nonprofit organizations and determine the necessity for the third sector. They will research local nonprofit organizations and generalize about their value to the local community and internationally.

Unit Objectives:

The learner will:

investigate various non-profit organizations by comparing purpose, mission statements, objectives and accomplishments.
research the work of government agencies and nonprofit organizations with similar interests.
estimate the value of local nonprofit organizations in the community.

Service Experience:

Although lessons in this unit contain service project examples, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

This unit serves as a preparation for selecting a volunteer activity.

Unit Assessment:

Students will complete a checklist of two organizations they researched, including their mission statements, purposes, objectives, accomplishments, and other interesting features about the organizations. They will produce a poster about a government agency and worksheets regarding nonprofit organizations which carry out the work of the agency or serve as their watchdogs. They will finally write an essay evaluating the importance of local nonprofit agencies in the community and internationally.

School/Home Connection:

How can persons decide which charity is deserving of their help or fits their intended purpose for giving? This can be decided in a systematic way with investigative techniques that will provide clear answers. The bureaucracy of the federal government also provides services for citizens. Yet there are hundreds of thousands of special interest groups in the nonprofit sector of the economy that also provide services for citizens and serve as watchdogs over government actions. Are they needed? What purposes do they serve? Do they provide valued service in the community? These kinds of concerns are addressed in this unit.

Notes for Teaching:

This unit is intended for teachers and classes which have already determined that they wish to perform some type of philanthropy but have not entirely decided what it is they will do or who/what will be the focus of their philanthropy. While it is possible that a teacher will choose to use the entire unit, the individual lessons within the unit can be used as stand-alone research activities. With this unit, teachers and their classes can go from deciding what areas of interest are most appealing, to looking at the purposes and accomplishments of various organizations, to investigating the role of nonprofit organizations in the local and international economy. The highlight of the unit is the use of GuideStar, an online resource with a database of 640,000 nonprofit organizations. With this as a source, research becomes a much simpler task for classes.