Hannah

Hannah Riggs 2/1/09 **Internship Reflection** This week Ben, Adam, and I did a number of things. After we met up on Thursday morning Ben and Adam began working on the Catalog for Philanthropy project, and I worked on setting up a meeting with the Boston Foundation. Since I am so naturally shy and it can be difficult for me to take initiative, I felt very proud of myself for taking the responsibility for getting in touch with the Boston Foundation. I originally was just going to e-mail the Chief Administrator of the Boston Foundation, Beth Llewellym, but the first class for some reason wouldn't process her e-mail and wouldn't let me e-mail her. Thus, I ended up dealing with technical computer difficulties for awhile. Finally I gave that up and worked up the courage to call the Boston Foundation. That also turned into a tiresome process of dealing with different secretaries and workers and being put on hold for long periods of time. However, after playing phone tag for a while I got in touch with Ms. Llewellym, and now we have a face to face meeting with her at the Boston Foundation on February 12th at 10 am. I'm very excited about this meeting since it's downtown, and going into the building itself also turns out to be a pretty big deal. I had to provide her with a bunch of information and we have to bring Ids so that they will even let us into the building. While I was doing this, Ben and Adam continued working on the Catalog for Philanthropy project. What they had to do was order the Average Itemized Charitable Contributions, or the AICCs, of each state in order of most amount of money given to least. This doesn't sound like it would take a lot of time, but it did since there is no easy way to do this ranking except by going through the numbers meticulously by hand and ordering them. Next time we meet we will have to subtract this number from the Average Adjusted Gross Income (AAGI) number of its corresponding state. Then, the number we get will be its number in the Generosity Index for the nation ordered by states. We also made sure to make the announcement at meeting this past week. After reflecting on the work we've been doing and thinking about philanthropy in general, I believe I know what I would like to write my research paper on. I would like to write my paper on what characteristics of a person's life impact charitable giving. For example, people of what political party give the most? Do married couples or singles give more money to charitable causes? Does having kids affect charitable giving? Does religion play a role in charitable giving? Mr. McCully already talked a bit about how political affiliation and religion seem to affect charitable giving in his e-mail to us, so I'm sure there is information available on those topics. I don't know how easy it would be to research all of this since I'd bet that the statistics vary, but I think that these would be interesting concepts to explore in depth if I can. Hannah Riggs 2/5/08 **Social Action: Reflection **  This week during our internship period we had a lot of busy work to do. First off we had to create a PowerPoint on the Make Change Campaign that included all the basic guidelines and directions on the applications. Adam met with Mr. Manning earlier this week to try to figure out if we could present it this Thursday, but Mr. Manning said that there would be no time to present today, so we didn't present. However, we do have a slot for presenting in the near future. After some discussion we also discovered that we have already received some applications for money which is great. After that was done, we started our research on the Boston Foundation since we are visiting there next Thursday. We also brainstormed and then discussed the questions we would ask Ms. Llewellym at the Boston Foundation. After exploring the website, the questions I came up with were these: Why is working with the Boston Foundation rather than directly with a non-profit beneficial for donors? The website talks about how TBF works to make philanthropic work enjoyable and easier. How exactly does TBF do this? I’m really curious about what characteristics of a person’s life impact charitable giving. For example, there is speculation that both Republican states and states with strong religious affiliations give more, do you believe that this is true? Have you noticed any other traits that impact charitable giving? What issues in Boston receive the most attention from donors and grant seekers working with TBF? Besides that, I also did some research on who were some of the first people and organizations that TBF worked with, and I discovered that in the 1980s the Boston Foundation worked with the Boston Ballet so that it could sustain itself as a famous artistic force in Boston. Since I dance at Boston Ballet, this was especially exciting for me to hear. It was also a bit surprising to me: the Boston Ballet is now such a prominent and stable force in the dance community that I never thought of it as an organization that would need help. Hannah Riggs 2/9/09 **Letter to President Obama Supporting Microloans **  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Dear President Obama, <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">I am writing to you today in order to urge you to invest international aid money in microloan organizations. As I’m sure you are well aware, most microloan and microcredit companies provide small loans to women so that they can have the opportunity to start or expand their businesses. Depending on the organization, the women may or may not have to pay back the money with an extra interest fee. Once the money is paid back, then the women can take out more money and expand their businesses once again. From what I have seen in the media and read, these microloans are extremely effective in helping women dig themselves out of poverty. For this reason I am positive that microloans are something worth investing in. Ben Moyer, the CEO of the microloan Organization Pro Mujer which works with poor and uneducated women in Latin America, says that most of the women the organization works with earn less than two dollars a day. The microcredit a woman receives through Pro Mujer can save a woman’s family from poverty, and thus a woman and her family will be spared from starvation, lack of healthcare, lack of education, and living on the streets. Mr. Moyer also says that “we also give them health-care services and business training so that their businesses have a greater chance of success. When women earn more money, it has a huge multiplier effect, since their income often pays for their own and their children’s health care and education” (Surowiecki 2). Equally important is that the microloan companies are a form of business rather than charity. Thus, when people take out loans, they don’t feel as if they are just taking a handout--- they are taking part in a business transaction. This sense of self-sufficiency is sure to increase the feeling of someone’s self-worth. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Unfortunately, microloans are not the perfect solution to all the world’s problems, and for this reason, I believe that some aspects of the microloan should be tweaked in order to provide maximum success. For example, “microloans make poor borrowers better off. But on their own, they don’t do as much to make poor countries richer” (Surowiecki 1). This is because microloans usually do not increase jobs, so the employment rate does not go up. In order to address this issue, there could be some sort of monetary incentive for borrowers who promise to hire more workers. For example, borrowers who hire another worker will receive a larger loan or will have to pay back a smaller interest rate. I’m sure there are plenty of other effective options that can both help individuals and countries and economies as a whole: this is why you should invest in microloans. However, I think it is also important to note that, as Ben Moyer said, “the goal is not to make ‘poor countries richer’; it is to bring desperately poor people out of poverty by helping them to become self-sufficient” (Surowiecki 2). <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Another feature that should be worked with is the aspect that when women take out microloans and start making money, this can create a family dynamic that men do not like which can lead to violence and abuse. This is obviously not an ideal situation, so money should be put into working with the microloan foundations so that this issue can be addressed. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Thank you so much for your time, <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">--- Hannah Riggs <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';"> <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Hannah Riggs <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">2/9/09 <span style="font-family: Times,serif;"> **List of Possible Guiding Questions (Obviously I Cannot Address All of These):** <span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Hannah Riggs <span style="font-family: Times, serif;">2/12/09 <span style="font-family: Times, serif;">**Internship Reflection**
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">People of what political party give the most?
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Do married couples or singles give more money to charitable causes?
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Does having kids affect charitable giving?
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Does religion play a role in charitable giving?
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What are barriers to philanthropy/charity/aid being effective?
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What needs to be done/changed to make philanthropy/aid more effective?
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What different roles do individuals, the government, and nonprofit organizations play in philanthropy?
 * 8) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What role do celebrities and politicians play in philanthropy?
 * 9) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">How is philanthropy portrayed in the media?
 * 10) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What exactly is philanthropy?
 * 11) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">What are the different types of philanthropy?
 * 12) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Which types are most effective?
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Which types are most effective?

<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">This week we visited the Boston Foundation and talked to Chief Administrator Beth Llewellym; we asked questions both about the Boston Foundation, her job, and about philanthropy in general. Ms. Llewellym seemed extremely knowledgeable, organized, and confident, and to be completely honest, I was a bit intimidated by her at first, especially since all her answers to our questions were so well formulated and articulated. One question I asked was: why is it beneficial for donors to work with the Boston Foundation rather than dealing directly with a nonprofit organization? Her answer to this was basically that the Boston Foundation helps donors to invest their money in the way that will be most beneficial to organizations or in the most cost-effective manner possible. The Boston Foundation also organizes events that allow its clients to learn more about different organizations and events in an enjoyable fashion. One thing she said that was particularly interesting to us was this: nonprofits are often separated from businesses, but this perception is wrong. Nonprofits, just like businesses, need managers to oversee workers, accountants to crunch financial numbers, and a great deal of overall work and effort. I think this is a very important concept to come away with. A few other things we talked about were how the financial crisis is affecting nonprofit organizations, what she does on a day to day basis, and I also learned that she had seen me dance in the Urban Nutcracker last year--- of course she didn't recognize me, but she came to a show that I performed in which I thought was pretty cool!

<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Hannah Riggs <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">2/19/09 **<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times','serif';">Final Internship Reflection ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times','serif';"> This week for our final internship period Ben, Adam, and I met with George McCully. He came to Beaver and then we had the opportunity to ask him questions and discuss what we had been doing for the past few weeks for the Catalog for Philanthropy. Since my paper is on the profile of a philanthropic donor, I asked him if there were any characteristics of people who gave a lot of time or money to charities. He told me that all types of people give, but statistically speaking, the generosity index shows that religious, Republican states give more than secular, Democratic states. This can also be seen in the generosity index that we created during our internship. I then asked how a person’s age impacted charitable giving. He said that usually the older set invested money into large institutions that either had or would affect them. For example, they often gave money to the colleges or universities they had attended, hospitals that might be caring for them in the future or were taking care of them now, or any other large, well-known organization that they felt connected to. However, he also said that youth are now getting very involved in philanthropy: many young people come to him to ask how they should get involved in philanthropy. He tells them not to join a large institution, but instead to start up a new organization that they think will work most effectively. As a result, many young people have been starting their own successful philanthropic enterprises recently. He also said some things that were very relevant to today’s world: “It is easier to make change in a changing society” and “It’s already easier to change things today because everything is in flux.”

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