Step 4: Connect and Volunteer with a Nonprofit

Overview: The purpose of this phase of the process is to allow the youth to take their research of the non-profit of interest and social cause to a deeper level. The youth connect with nonprofit organizations, conduct site visits to interview staff about their role and experience. When possible, students volunteer to serve with the organization. Service to the organization could include direct service, indirect service, advocacy, or research.

Grade: 6-12

Phases Leader Guide Youth Guide
Objectives The youth should take advantage of this phase to learn more about the non-profit organization they wish to advocate for. The objective is to gather plenty of information for their persuasive argument. This phase will also foster their passion for the cause and the non-profit. The objective during this phase of the project is to learn even more and to develop a relationship with the non-profit you wish to receive the $1,000.00.
Explanation Connecting with the non-profit should be completed after reviewing the registration page found on the Magnified Giving program website. The registration page should be their first source of information and connecting with a non-profit representative should be done to gather more information for the advocacy project.

As the facilitator you will need to determine how do you want the youth to connect: phone call, email, site visit, or virtual call. It is important for you to be engaged in this step to ensure communication is managed professionally and respectfully by the youth to the adult non-profit representatives. Communication templates are provided to suport setting an appointment with the non-profit.

If this is a small group project - ensure there is one point person for setting up appointments and to manage the communication between the group and the non-profit* 		During this phase youth should reach out to the non-profit to seek additional information about their organization. During this phase youth are looking to gather information beyond what is provided in the initial registration form found on the MGPrograms.org website. Youth need to ensure they are asking questions that are not already being answered with in the registration form.

Get creative - youth should approach this phase with the idea “If this was MY 1,000.00 that I plan to give to an organization; What is important to me to know about it.”
Verification Pulling from the Initial Research Guide completed by the youth what else do they wish to learn? Have the youth develop a list of additional questions for the non-profit organizaiton to answer. Provided in the RESOURCE list below is a list of potential questions to be asked by the youth to the non-profit.

Verification comes as the youths’ research goes deeper and wider into their understanding and knowledge of the social issue, the non-profit organization and how their programming is community. Youth should provide the list of questions to be asked and notes from their contact or email response from the non-profit representative.		 By developing an additional list of questions the youth wish to learn you wil be able to verify their level of knowledge about the non-profit. Utilize the resources provided below to support the youth in this process.

Be prepared with the questions to be asked , take notes and be prepared to review/share the answers with the facilitator.
Activity 1. As a group: Consider the information provided on the registration page from the Magnified Giving website. Create a list of additional questions they would like to ask the nonprofit representative.
2. Individually or small group work: Have the youth discuss whatelse they wish to learn. Recommended to share the individual or small group questions with the entire class.
3. Share the Magnified Giving list of additional questions to be asked by the student. Encourage the youth to identify 4 - 8 additional questions, not discovered, on the registration page to be asked of the non-profit
4. OPTIONAL: Request a grant application to be completed by the non-profit to provide additional information such as financials, donor groups, and budget information. This is no longer a required step in the process however it is still available to strengthen the research, especially useful if the youth cannot connect directly with the non-profit. 		1. Youth will participate with the rest of the group to brainstorm additional questions to be asked of the nonprofit representative. Based on the questions shared by the group youth should pull out the questions most intriguing to them.
2. Individually or small group work: What additionally is important to the group. Again considering “if this was my personal money, what matters to me?”
3. After reviewing the list of potential questions provided by Magnified Giving, which questions do I want to ask.
4. A communication template is available to be used when requesting a grant application is completed. This is an optional portion of the program.
Reflection Allow the youth to identify what they learned during this section of the process. Reflection questions:
1. What surprised them about the non-profits connection in the community.
2. After connecting with the non-profit are they more passionate about advocating on behalf of the organization.
3. How do they think they could support this non-profit going forward.
4. Why do they believe this non-profit is important to our community. 		Youth should be able to identify the additional information they learned to help in the development of their argument.

Resources

Notes

7 Defining Characteristics of a Good Essential Question:

  1. Is open-ended; that is, it typically will not have a single, final, and correct answer.

  2. Is thought-provoking and intellectually engaging, often sparking discussion and debate.

  3. Calls for higher-order thinking, such as analysis, inference, evaluation, prediction. It cannot be effectively answered by recall alone.

  4. Points toward important, transferable ideas within (and sometimes across) disciplines.

  5. Raises additional questions and sparks further inquiry.

  6. Requires support and justification, not just an answer.

  7. Recurs over time; that is, the question can and should be revisited again and again.