Students4Giving

Cynthia Killingsworth, Lead Instructor

students

2011 Sylvania Spring Students4Giving Class

What is Students4Giving?

Students4Giving was created in September 2007 through a Campus Compact and Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund initiative to educate and inspire a generation of engaged citizens, philanthropists, and community leaders. Portland Community College was one of five academic institutions in the nation selected to create a donor advised fund to offer grants to non-profit organizations within their communities.

This past year, the Portland Community College’s Students4Giving participants have accomplished the following: 

  • Spring participants in the Business 208:  Introduction to Nonprofits and Philanthropy course selected homelessness, food and housing as their focus topics and analyzed grants from 27 community organizations as part of their course curriculum.  At the end of the term, four grant recipients were selected and received funding for a total of $12,000. 

  • Winter participants in Dr. Kim Smith’s Sociology 280B: Community Action and Service Seminar course reviewed youth grant requests for community projects and made their recommendations to the Multnomah Youth Commission. A total of $8,000 in grants was given to eleven community youth projects.

  • During the fall term, student volunteers from two Business 212: Principles of Accounting II courses conducted an online fundraising auction. This event, along with a campus textbook drive and individual donations, has raised the funds fo sustain future grants and expand the program. 

Starting this year, the Rock Creek Campus is joining Students4giving! A new Rock Creek section of Business 208: Introduction to Nonprofits and Philanthropy will be offered during the winter term and volunteers from Rock Creek sections of Business 212 are joining Sylvania fundraising efforts for the fall online auction.

How Can I Get Involved?

  • Enroll in BA 208: Introduction to Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Rock Creek Campus during the winter term or at the Sylvania Campus in the spring term.
  • Enroll in Kim Smith’s section of Sociology 280B: Community Service and Action Seminar at Sylvania for the winter term.
  • Business instructors Teri Grimmer, Heather Griffo, and Cynthia Killingsworth conduct fundraising service-learning projects through various business course sections.  Please contact us to learn about the latest opportunities.
  • We welcome auction items and cash donations throughout the year. Please see How can you donate to Students4Giving?.
  • Please contact our lead instructor Cynthia Killingsworth with your ideas and questions.

Students4Giving

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Our Mission

The Portland Community College’s Students4Giving mission is to educate students in the field of charitable giving by identifying and allocating funds to local non-profits that strive to solve social problems, have a strong impact, and demonstrate financial need. By developing sustainable relationships between students, college, non-profits, and community, the efforts of our project will create a lasting impact, beckoning in a new era of philanthropy. 

What Students are Saying...

"The thing that surprised me the most was finding out that this was not your typical classroom and that the majority of the class would be directed by us, the students, and that the focus was on the process and to learn by doing; that and the fact that we had $10,000 in real money that we would be responsible for distributing. That responsibility to something and someone other than yourself and to your own grade in the class really made this a special learning environment. It never felt like a class to me; I enjoyed the experience very much."

Shane Moulder