Narrowing Down Our Options

Hey guys, hope everyone’s break is going well so far.

Sifting through all of these applications was quite a task. However, I believe I’ve been able to narrow it down to a few organizations that have a very similar mission to ours and would really benefit from our donation. There were many that caught my eye during my first run-through, but in an effort to make as big an impact as possible, I was really adamant on focusing on only three organizations for this blog post. I am not going to suggest quantities of money for any of the three organizations because I believe that right now our most important goal is narrowing our view as much as possible. From there we can assess how our money can be distributed most effectively.

The first organization I would like to discuss further in class is the Liberty Partnerships Program. This organization directly targets at-risk middle and senior high school students and focuses on academic achievement and pursuit of higher education. Their budget is relatively small, averaging around $300,000, but their breadth of impact is very wide, encompassing four high-need school districts. They are also affiliated with BU, which I think is very good because we will be able to keep track of how our money is being spent. While their application was not written very clearly and at some points seemed too vague to justify a large-scale donation, maybe further research and a visit to see the program in action would give us all the information we need. It seems to me that this is an organization that is growing very fast and would use our donation to reach out to even more at-risk youth in the greater Binghamton area.

The second organization I would like to highlight is WSKG. Their application impressed me the most because of its specificity. They really made an effort to elaborate on every question as much as possible and I would encourage everyone to go back and read it in detail. Their application reminded me very much of the Saving Philanthropy video because their target audience was very focused and they included data to support many of their claims. Further their annual expenditure devoted to the education program is quite small ($200,000) and has not been stable in the past few years so their events would really benefit from the additional money. Also, they have clearly explained how our donation would be used, and I think it would be very nice to see our money at work.

The last organization that I found deserving of further discussion is the Boys and Girls Club. Their values (academic success, healthy living, and good character) align almost exactly with those that we have been discussing in the past few months. Their application is very detailed in how they would use our donation. This organization does a lot to supplement the public education system and the areas they seek to improve are the same areas that public school districts are unable to fund. Technology, art education, athletics, and extracurricular activities have been on the decline in many low income school districts and it is clear that the Boys and Girls Club is making an effort to provide these important elements to students through the nonprofit sector. As such, I believe that we should definitely support them in this since a majority of us have expressed interest in encouraging technology, art, and athletic education. Lastly, the Boys and Girls Club of Binghamton seems like as much an aspect of the community as a tool to supplement education, with many of their local staff spending several decades devoted to the organization. Since it has proven to be a successful long-term part of the local civil society, I strongly encourage helping the Boys and Girls Club meet its goals and expand its services to the community.

These are the three organizations I believe are most deserving of our money based solely on their applications. I know there are many alternatives available, but does anyone disagree specifically with any of these organizations? Are there any fundamental reasons why you would be reluctant to donate money to any of the three? I think it is important that we start challenging each other so that we can begin narrowing down the applicant pool. I look forward to actually visiting these organizations to see how they work and gain better perspective on the changes they make to the Binghamton community.