Foundations: Unit Two of Establishing a Student-Run Foundation
What is a foundation? How do foundations improve communities?
Photo Credit: Class Pres. and Olive by Aaron Proctor is licensed under CC by 2.0
Students investigate the needs in the community, their interests and resources. They learn about foundations and set up a student-run foundation to address the issue they investigated. In finding a direction for their own foundation and planning its activities, students practice their leadership team-building skills. Through small group and class discussion, they resolve differences and create a plan of action. They determine a name for their organization, a purpose, and elect the officers.
Students imagine they were given $500,000 to award to a nonprofit organization of their choice. They explore options and discuss how to determine which is a good issue and organization to donate their funds.
Students learn about the history of foundations and the role individuals played in their development.
Students learn about the different types of foundations and how they differ from other nonprofits. They collaborate to explore what needs their own foundation will address.
Students research what nonprofit organizations are in their regional community and study their purpose and what is in their annual reports. They clarify the differences between a nonprofit and for-profit organization.
Timelines show progression of events and may be used for planning, to learn from history, or to document events in a life. Students examine different timelines and create a timeline to plan the life of their student-run foundation.
Students identify needs in the school and community and have a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the areas of focus for their foundation open or defined to a narrow focus (e.g., addressing environment or poverty). The advantage of an open foundation is the ability to fund a variety of projects based on the varied interests of students. The advantage of a focused foundation is to concentrate money and efforts on one specific area of problems, and students propose a variety of ways to address it.
What is the value of a name? Students discuss the meaning and purpose that is communicated in the name of an organization and the names of people.
Students learn the purpose and roles of leadership. They examine other leaders and determine which traits they value for their foundation. They use a decision-making model to select leaders.