OBERLIN - A new club at Oberlin College will soon decide which Lorain County groups will receive portions of an anonymous $10,000 donation the college received last spring.

The donation stipulated that a student-run organization must disburse the funds to charitable organizations, and the Oberlin Student Philanthropy Club was born. The group is expected to raise $10,000 on its own this year, and if it is successful, the same donor will match that amount next year, giving the philanthropy club $20,000 to give away in 2009.

Fourth-year student Graham Johnson, 22, is a co-chair of the club. Johnson is majoring in music history/theory and economics, with a concentration in mathematics. He is also a member of the Oberlin Student Finance and Investment Club, which is where Jim Howard, director of principal gifts, went to find students to oversee the $10,000 donation.

“It`s a perfect fit for Oberlin,” Howard said. “Oberlin is so committed to community service and so many of our students are out in the community helping others. It`s a great opportunity for students to learn about philanthropy.”

And it gives students an opportunity to work within the nonprofit field.

“Grant-making is another part of the nonprofit world that I wanted to see,” Johnson said. “It`s a great opportunity for Oberlin students because so many of us want to work in the nonprofit sector. It`s been a great learning experience.”

The students set deadlines for charitable groups applying for the money, which will be passed out in the form of grants. Grant applications are in two parts, Johnson said; club members will meet with each group applying for the money and hope to make their final decision by February or mid-March. So far, 14 groups have applied.

“We will probably be giving out the whole $10,000 this year,” Johnson said. “Eligible groups must have tax-exempt status and have some kind of cause they are supporting. So far, we have applications from music education groups, some health organizations, youth and historical and environmental programs.”

Co-chair J.J. Hepp, 21, a junior economics major, also came to the club via the Oberlin Student Finance and Investment Club.

“It sounded like a great idea, and no one was doing anything on it yet,” Hepp said. “We met with a local foundation in Lorain County for guidance on the grant-making process. I like it. We get to go and meet these people and hear their ideas. There are so many good ideas. It`s going to be hard to say no to some groups, or to tell other groups we can`t give them as much money as we want to.”

Fundraising may help alleviate that problem during next year`s grant cycle, which will start in September 2008, when the anonymous donor will provide matching funds.

“Eventually, we hope to have the program endowed,” Johnson said. “The Student Finance and Investment club currently manages the school`s endowments and hopefully will do this one, too.”
Groups throughout Lorain County are eligible for the grants.

Hepp said the OSPC is now open to all students for membership. Fundraising efforts so far this year have been mostly limited to campus students and faculty, but the club hopes to broaden its efforts next semester.

Johnson, for one, plans to take this experience beyond graduation. He hopes to work with a nonprofit educational organization after graduating. Johnson and Hepp and a few other students worked hard to get the OSPC chartered and running in time to start this past September`s first grant application cycle.
Help from the Lorain County Community Foundation and Oberlin faculty were much appreciated by the students as they waded into unfamiliar territory.

“There are so many groups out there with so many wonderful programs that I didn`t even know about,” Johnson said. “I`ve really enjoyed seeing what they`re all doing. Hopefully we can help out a lot of these groups in other ways besides money. Volunteer for them, perhaps. There are some really terrific charitable groups out there that need support.”

Anyone interested can check out the philanthropy club`s activities by visiting its Web site at www.oberlin.edu/stuorg/ospc. People interested in making gifts to the college can visit www.oberlin.edu or contact the development office at the college.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7155 or metro@chroniclet.com.

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