A new initiative by Naperville nonprofit KidsMatter hopes to help develop the community leaders of the future. The Teen Philanthropy Initiative gives high school juniors a chance to enroll in a two-year program that will show them the steps to a successful future of charitable service.
What’s the new KidsMatter Teen Philanthropy Initiative?
The inspiration for the program came from the service organization Three Pillars Initiative, a nationwide program founded in Oak Park by Rick and Cheryl King. The concept of the project-based learning initiative was to combine students’ traditional education with real world experience in charitable giving, fundraising, and service projects.
“We really hope that young people have an opportunity to learn about the power of philanthropy and how it can really make an impact. But also if they want to be, when they go to college, help to fundraising in their college, or if they want to serve on the board in the future, we’re hoping that these skills will be able to take throughout their lifetime,” said Menis.
Charity-based learning projects
The first–year of the program introduces students to the business aspects of running a nonprofit organization with students tasked with donating $10,000 to organizations of their choice.
“The students are going to learn about the process. How do you vet those companies? They’re going to be listening to those pitches, they’re asking for those proposals, and then going through that process of having to evaluate the proposals and decide who gets this,” said Teen Philanthropy Initiative coordinator Janet Sommerville.
In year two, instead of being the donors, they will be the fundraisers as they launch their own fundraising campaigns to raise money for the next group of students in the program, creating a systematic process for charitable giving.
Traditionally, charitable giving has been done primarily through volunteer work, an essential component for nonprofit organizations. However, many nonprofits now operate similarly to businesses, with staff members who’d usually only volunteer in their free time now working as full-time employees.
Teen Philanthropy Initiative teaches students business operations
“They just talked about in the class about the philanthropic sector, the nonprofit sector, and how there’s a government sector, business sector, and nonprofit sector. Loaves & Fishes in our community, I think is a great example of that. They started at a local church in a closet. Now they have two buildings they’re serving thousands of people every week and helping them to combat hunger,” said Menis.
Students receive college credit for the program thanks to a partnership with North Central College. They also get the bonus of learning from experienced mentors, who help guide students through planning and implementing their service projects while providing a foundation of business practices.
“I want to be able to impart into them the professionalism and the opportunities that are available through philanthropy, not just from the work or professional side, but also as a philanthropy themselves, as changemakers. Philanthropy intersects all of the business areas, so they have that opportunity to incorporate that,” said Teen Philanthropy Initiative mentor Yashica Weeks.
Through mentorship and hands-on learning experiences, students like Waubonsie Valley’s Divya Date are creating the building blocks for a future in philanthropy.
“I hope to learn a lot, and also, my future goal is to start a nonprofit organization. Obviously, I want to go into health care and the medical field, so I feel like there’s so much opportunity in nonprofit and giving back to our communities,” said Date.
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