School Programs – Case Studies

CASE STUDY: MOUNT NOTRE DAME (MND)

Mount Notre Dame HS is a Catholic, all-girl, college prep school in Cincinnati, OH.  

Years: 11
Implementation Type: After School Organization
Program Name: Youth Philanthropy Council
Student Leaders: Executive Board (4 students), Group Leaders (5 – 7 students)
Program Length: September – April
Number of Meetings

Although it varies from year-to-year, MND's Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC) typically consists of 50 – 70 members. Four students serve on the YPC Executive Board, and other girls serve as group leaders. Each group consists of approximately seven members.  The past several years, MND's YPC student leadership selected a theme for the year (ex. Art, Veterans, Disabilities) so all non-profits are researched based up this criteria.

Executive Board members perform inital research and generate a list of 30 – 40 NPOs that fit their theme for the year.  If a non-profit is not on our Qualified NPO page, they invite the NPO to register with Magnified Giving.  Each small group explores non-profits from this master list, and selects three to five non-profits that interest them the most.  After performing initial exploration online by reviewing the NPO's registration on our Qualified NPOs page, each group will narrow down their NPO list to two or three organizations that most interest them.  They will then make site visits to those NPOs and invite one (or two) to complete the Magnified Giving Grant Application – if the NPO hasn't already completed it. They will then review the Grant Applications and decide which 2 or 3 agencies to visit .  During the site visits they will sometimes perform some service at the agency, meet with the Director or Volunteer Coordinator, learn about their work and how they impact the community, take photos (with permission), and ask questions about the program and how their investment would be used.  

Each group presents their agency to the larger group.  Round 1 of voting takes place (YPC members earned voting points for participating in meetings, site visits, and other group activities), and the top three agencies are given the opportunity to come to MND to present to the full YPC.  The top three agencies present to the group, and students vote again (round 2) and taditionally three prizes are awarded – first, second and third place.  Note: MND YPC has secured additional funding sources, so we have increased our giving potential to $5000 per year.

More examples  
See Teacher Resource Manual – Case Studies Chapter for other examples of how schools structure their groups.