What if I told you...
...that while in college, you and 26 other classmates were given $130,000 and were simply told to "do good" with it?
Well, that was the challenge Dr. Ron Pitcock gave us in the Spring of 2018, and we discovered that giving, when done correctly, is not an easy task.
My Philanthropy Story
Before I was a student at TCU, I heard Dr. Pitcock talk about this course in a preview weekend and knew that I had to come to TCU and take this course and others like it. I waited until my senior year to take it, and I am so glad that I did. This course has changed my life and my perspective when
it comes to philanthropy.
The first step in this process was each student writing a one-page paper on 5 non-profits. This gave us a total of 135 non-profits to start with, which we were soon tasked to narrow to 35. Given little structure, our class got to decide how to proceed and which organizations to pick. We made plenty of mistakes in our process and discussion, but we somehow ended up with 35 great organizations.
After a few more classes, we narrowed it tried to narrow it down to 15 non-profits. The difference in the substance of our conversations between our first debate and our second was obvious. It was then that we started seeing our growth as a class. We finally reached 15 non-profits, and we were told that we needed to assume the responsibilities of a foundation that we were.
Having $130,000 of real money incentivized our class to take this challenge seriously and do our research. Additionally, the non-profits that we met with treated us as potential donors and provided any information that we needed instead of simply seeing us as the college kids we were.
For the final debate, we discussed our final 15 organizations for 11.5 hours (see photos of us in the debate chamber). We did not leave that room until 3:30 a.m., but, when we did, I experienced the greatest feeling of joy and elation that we had picked an incredible group of six non-profits to donate our money to.
I have already seen how this class has changed my life. Through the Philanthropy Lab, I have pledged to give 12 percent of my income after college to philanthropy. Because I am learning all of this while I am college student, I will be able to immediately set aside an account for philanthropy and begin the habit of giving.
This was my favorite course that I took at TCU because it taught me real-world skills when it comes to philanthropy and helped me develop my personal values as a giver. Moreover, I know I will start giving this year because of the standard that this course challenged us to meet. This class fits in exactly with TCU’s mission “[t]o educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community.”