The learner will:

• explain why nonprofit organizations are essential in a democratic society.
• compare and contrast private and public foundations.
• identify contributions of nonprofit organizations.

Anticipatory Set:

Write the word "philanthropy" on the board. Have the students come up with a word or phrase for each letter within the word that directly relates to the concept of philanthropy. For example P = people in action; H = helping one another is a must; I = individuals working together to make a difference, etc. This exercise will review the term so that it can be connected with the government lesson from the day before. Have students share their ideas with the class as time allows.

• Check homework from the previous lesson. Students were asked to bring in one example of government at work, not mentioned in class. Review and check answers.
• Start the lesson with the question from the day before, "How are the needs/ problems/ issues addressed if not by the government?"
• Define nonprofit (a business organization that provides goods and services without seeking to earn a profit) and provide statistics about non-profits from Statistics About Nonprofits (Attachment One).
• Ask students to explain the meaning of this statement: "Nonprofit organizations address minority needs." (Nonprofits address needs of smaller groups in society while government tends to focus on the needs of the majority. As citizens become more involved on behalf of the issue, government will take up the issue.) Have students explain how having a healthy independent sector (nonprofit organizations) supports civil society.
• One example of a nonprofit is a foundation, 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. Foundations receive their own funds originally from individuals, families, corporations, or other nonprofits and usually create endowments, with grants being made from the income earned from investing those endowments. Endowments are funds intended to be kept permanently and invested to provide income for continued support of an organization. A grant is a financial donation given to support a person, organization, project or program. Explain that there are two types of foundations, based on how they get their funds. They are private and public foundations. Ask the learners if they can determine sources of each of these two nonprofits. Use the following chart to provide the information after students have made their guesses.

  	Private Foundations	Public Foundations
  Source of funds	receive the bulk of their support from a single donor or a few donors	receive a significant portion of their support from the general public.
  Types	Family foundations are usually founded by an individual or a family and are generally operated by members of that family. Corporate foundations are created and funded by companies as separate legal entities, but are operated by a board of directors composed of company officials. Independent foundations operate independently from their original donors or original source of funds. They may have been started by a family, but the family has ceased to serve on the board.	Community foundations are operated by and for the benefit of a specific geographic region. They receive their funds from a variety of donors and provide a way for donors to establish endowed grantmaking funds without incurring the costs of starting a private foundation. Service club foundations generally have a somewhat narrower grantmaking focus than do community foundations and may or may not have endowed funds.
  Examples	Family: The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, Inc. Corporate: Dow Chemical Company Foundation, Domino's Foundation, Daimler-Chrysler Corporation Fund and the Ford Motor Company Fund Independent: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation	Community foundations: Battle Creek Community Foundation, Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, Community Foundation for Northeastern Michigan Service Club foundations: local Rotary Foundations

• Working in small groups, have students create a list of nonprofit organizations on a piece of paper, using color. Give the groups about five minutes to do this. Have the students share their ideas and then hang their list on the wall to use as a reference. Refer to List of Nonprofit Organizations (Attachment Two).
• Look at the list on your front board from the day before. Have students identify the types of nonprofit organizations that might address minority needs/problems/issues not addressed by the levels of government
• Have students choose one nonprofit organization from those mentioned in class or assign each student a different nonprofit. Have students go into the computer lab or the library and research the organization and fill in the questionnaire, Investigating a Nonprofit Organization (Attachment Three). It is important that students choose nonprofits related to their interests. See Resource Sheet (Attachment Four) for more information to aid students in their searches. Students will share their research with the class in any manner chosen by the teacher. Encourage kids to research nonprofits of interest on their own time. Consider offering extra credit if learners pursue this avenue.
• Point out career opportunities in the nonprofit sector and compare the requirements and responsibilities for similar jobs that can be done in the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors.
• Complete the assessment.

• Hartley, William H. & William S. Vincent. American Civics. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Austin, 1996.
• Independent Sector, Nonprofit Almanac, 1996-1997. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. ASIN: 1555427464
• Indiana University Center on Philanthropy < http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/ >
• Stevenson, David, Thomas H. Pollak, and Linda M. Lampkin. State Nonprofit Almanac, 1997, p.3.