NS4G in the News
Students from Strategic Philanthropy & Non-Profit Management and Human Services Professions Courses Engage in a Community Dialogue on NS4G
Students from two Northeastern classes utilizing Service-Learning, Strategic Philanthropy & Nonprofit Management and Human Services Professions, welcomed a wide range of local community-based organizations from the Stony Brook communities to campus on October 5. Together with members of Northeastern‟s student philanthropy club, they engaged nonprofit leaders in a discussion about “community-informed philanthropy,” a model of charitable giving driven by real community needs and respectful of the many challenges facing nonprofit organizations today.
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The lessons learned from the Community Dialogue will find very practical applications in the classroom. During November and December, students will select this year‟s funding priority, update application materials, and release a new request for proposals (RFP). Local nonprofits are encouraged to visit the NS4G web site in mid-December to determine if they are eligible to apply for a grant this year.
Read the full article from Serive-Learning Newsletter November 2009,"NS4G" here.Service With An Urban Edge
Being engaged in the community is not just what we do, it’s who we are.
Northeastern is an urban university; therefore its commitment to service is amplified. With more than half the world’s population living in urban areas-all grappling with common problems like affordable housing and environmental pollution-we recognize that partnering with our communities locally has relevance globally.
This partnership begins with Northeastern’s Stony Brook Initiative, a collaboration born of a series of dialogues with local community leaders that president Joseph E. Aoun initiated shortly after his arrival in 2006. Through Stony Brook, Northeastern and community leaders have committed to addressing top community concerns. And students continue to be a driving force in this effort- whether they’re participating in one of the many programs out of our Center of Community Service, or fulfilling the service requirement built into our new Civic Engagement Program for full-tuition scholarship recipients
”Community engagement at Northeastern is by no means a one-way street,” adds President Aoun. “Our students get as much as they give by serving our communities. They develop leadership skills. They learn how to collaborate with diverse groups of people. And they graduate better prepared for life.”
Read the full article from Northeastern Impact Vol 3 Issue 2 Fall 2009,"Service With An Urban Edge" here.Student Fund Managers Award
Student fund managers award grants to local nonprofits
Future philanthropists get hands-on training — and community-based nonprofits receive much-needed funds — through Northeastern’s Students4Giving program. Through the program, human services students become experts in evaluating local nonprofits’ needs and decide where to award grants.
Northeastern is one of several academic institutions around the country selected in 2008 to participate in the program, which is financed by Fidelity and co-administered by Fidelity and the Campus Compact, a coalition of college and university presidents dedicated to building civic engagement, of which Northeastern's president is a member.
Under the program, Fidelity gives participating institutions $15,000 in seed funding to be managed by students involved in service learning. At Northeastern, the fund’s managers are students in a course called “Strategic Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management.”
With guidance from teachers, professional fundraisers, alumni, and community service-learning experts at Northeastern, students determine grant criteria and fundraising priorities, work to manage and grow the Students4Giving account, and identify community organizations for grant awards. They support nonprofits that address critical economic and social challenges facing the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Mission Hill, Fenway, and the South End, such as affordable housing, homelessness, community development, public safety, education, youth violence, public health, and elder services.
Read the full article Service-Leaning Newsletter, October 2009 here.Stony Brook Initiative Community Discussion
The Stony Brook Initiative and the Human Services Department of Northeastern University participated in a Community Dialogue about Northeastern Students4Giving (NS4G) and community-informed philanthropy. During this three-hour workshop, nonprofit and community leaders, faculty, and students will discuss strategies to ensure that NS4G, a new student-led philanthropic initiative, is responsive to real needs in Boston’s urban neighborhoods and to the many challenges facing nonprofit organizations today. Among the questions to be discussed will be:
-What can NS4G student grantmakers learn from community members and nonprofit leaders regarding funding priorities in the target neighborhoods of Mission Hill, Fenway, Roxbury, and the South End?
-How can NS4G student grantmakers and nonprofit organizations work together to make the grant application, review, and reporting processes as manageable and meaningful as possible?
-What kinds of grants are most likely to help nonprofit organizations achieve impact?
-NS4G Grants generally range from$1,000 to $3,000 but can, in special cases, be for as much as $7,500.
-How can lessons learned by NS4G students through their dialogue with community members and nonprofit leaders be shared with Boston's broader nonprofit and philanthropic communities?
Learn more about Northeastern's Stony Brook Initiative here.
For philanthropy courses, students become the givers
Sunday Boston Globe June 25, 2009Students at other schools have taken what they’ve learned in the classes and spread the philanthropy movement campus wide. Northeastern students started an extracurricular club last fall that operates as a de facto board of directors charged with overseeing, and growing, the pot of money students disburse through the philanthropy classes.
Missy Elumba, a health sciences major and ice hockey player who founded the club, also started a spinoff for NU student athletes. The group granted about $8,000 to local youth sports organizations, including helping bring tennis to impoverished Boston elementary schools.
“The class inspired me to make a difference and build something that could go on year after year,’’ said Elumba, who graduated last month.
“In the future, these student athletes could go on to be professional athletes and make money with philanthropy instilled in them.’’
Read the full article here.
Northeastern athlete named college hockey’s finest citizen
April 13, 2009
Northeastern’s Missy Elumba was named the 2009 recipient of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award on Friday in a ceremony at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. during the NCAA Frozen Four. The Humanitarian Award is given to college hockey’s finest citizen and recognizes accomplishments of personal character, scholarship and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger community.
“I am blown away by being named to this award,” Elumba said. “I don’t even think I deserve it, but being recognized for this honor is merely a testament to the importance of putting others before yourself. That is a value I live my life by."
Elumba is the 14th recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award and joins Husky All-American Chanda Gunn, who won the award as a senior in 2004. Northeastern is the only school with two Hockey Humanitarian Award winners.
Elumba has been consistently involved in a number of volunteer, humanitarian and philanthropic efforts throughout her five years at Northeastern. As part of the health science major’s many volunteer experiences, she spearheaded the creation of Northeastern Students4Giving, an on-campus group focused on teaching Northeastern students how to be philanthropic.
Elumba also ventured outside the Northeastern campus to provide extensive help to individuals and communities in the greater Boston area. At MOMS and MORE, a substance abuse program for Latino and African American mothers, Elumba ran a holiday toy drive to benefit the women's families.
With the Boston Medical Center Grow Clinic she assisted with patient home visits and public relations work, managed donations, planned child activities and improved patient compliance through building professional and trusting relationships with the patients and their families.
Upon graduation, Elumba plans to continue her community service work before enrolling in medical school.