Philanthropy isn’t just the process of donating money to worthy organizations.
There is an art, science and business to philanthropy that is appealing to students like Calla Andersen, a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
She is one of almost 70 students from area schools, including Fenwick, Trinity, St. Ignatius and others, participating in the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation’s Future Philanthropists Program, or FPP.
What’s the most important thing she has gotten out of the program?
“I feel like it’s kind of given me power,” Andersen said. “I feel like as a young woman, I went into it initially feeling kind of like, whoa, it was a lot. But I feel like as the program has gone on, I’ve gotten better at advocating for myself, or stepping up, because some people are busy. People have other commitments.
“So I like that I can be someone who is like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it, I can take charge.’”
Like all FPP students, Andersen had to apply ahead of her junior year at OPRF, with the understanding that the program is a two-year commitment. Since the program was launched by Rick and Cheryl King in 2010, 368 students have participated.
“The juniors will learn about the business and science of philanthropy, what a nonprofit is and does,” said Renee Rotatori , FPP program coordinator. “They will evaluate nonprofits they will visit, and a businessperson in the community will mentor them.
“This group of juniors will have a discussion with a nonprofit, how they operate, what they will use the money for. They reach a consensus on what nonprofits will receive grants.”
Last year, Andersen and her junior cohort distributed $100,000, Rotatori said, with funds that were raised by last year’s seniors. That’s what Andersen is doing now.
“Senior year, they engage in a fundraising plan and kind of deciding what events they will have and raise money that the junior class gives away,” Rotatori said. That includes a silent auction in May, so the seniors are soliciting items for that event and will eventually encourage attendance by family, friends and beyond.
Another example is a letter-writing campaign, where the seniors will reach out to past donors as well as family and friends in an effort to raise money. Andersen and her cohort will be working on that in November.
Each school year, FPP selects around 30 student participants after an intensive application process. They are then grouped with six adult mentors, who come from various business backgrounds. Mentors dedicate one weeknight a month to meet with their group.
Long-time mentor Justin Lewis got involved in FPP a couple of years after it launched. He said his role is not only to explain materials to students, but also be a shepherd of sorts – in other words, a servant leader.
“For me it has been a great reminder of what great work our local nonprofits do in the community helping others, how much need there is in the community, and that our future is in great hands,” he said. “These students are eager to learn, are willing to give back and excited to give back and help others. [It’s] leaning into the idea that my wife, Megan, and I tried to impart to our own kids, ‘to whom much is given, much is required.’”
Rotatori said FPP’s endowment currently sits at $1.6 million, with grants that have been distributed over the years to 59 organizations in Oak Park, River Forest and adjoining communities. Funding allows nonprofits to offer new programs, purchase new equipment or support general operations.
Another key is that for a nonprofit to be considered for funding, it has to be “youth-voiced.” Rotatori said youth are defined as those under the age of 21. Examples of youth voice might include programs in which the recipients of services are youth; programs that engage youth in planning and/or organizing the project; or youth that are directly involved in the implementation of the project.
But it’s more than that, she said.
“The kids become very passionate, but it’s also instilling in them that there are a lot of different ways you can participate in philanthropy,” she said, “like strategic volunteerism, like packaging boxes at a food pantry. [It is] being able to identify a need in the community and going out and taking care of it.”
Lewis said he’s seen the results firsthand.
“We have had students study related fields in college, and some FPP graduates have ended up working in related fields and others have returned to take roles with the organizations they funded,” he said. “A program that our students funded several times is Maywood Fine Arts – an incredible organization that teaches gymnastics, dance, art and music to lower-income students in Maywood. One of our graduates returned after college to work for Maywood Fine Arts. It was a full-circle moment.
“A recent graduate was so excited to learn how endowment funds worked that she decided she wants to become a money manager and is now at Boston College studying finance with a goal of becoming an endowment fund manager.”
Andersen is applying to colleges currently, with a goal to go to law school. She’s cognizant that what she’s learning now will benefit her in college and beyond.
“I recommend this to a lot of people,” she said. “Anyone who, I think, has ambition or drive or they know what they want to do, if it’s in any way related to philanthropy, which many things are, this is the place to be.”
If you’d like to donate to FPP, visit https://oprfcf.org/future-philanthropists-program/