Redefining what it means to volunteer
Posted by | raymar | May 22, 2011 | 1 Comment
By: Raymar Hampshire, Founder & CEO, SponsorChange.org
The 20-something generation needs to redefine what it means to volunteer. I came to this realization after I conceived of SponsorChange.org, a Pittsburgh nonprofit organization that helps college students repay their school loans by volunteering.
Surprisingly, some charitable foundation members strongly criticized the idea, saying, “How could you possibly pay volunteers; you are cheapening service!” Some said, “Who would ever want to pay somebody to volunteer!”
I vividly recall the devastation I felt after leaving these meetings. I was being painted as the bad guy for having the audacity to suggest that volunteers could be financially incentivized to serve, and to suggest that private citizens and corporations might be interested in sponsoring their service. To be fair, these foundation members were only sharing their perspective. Indeed, for decades economist and psychologist have reached very different claims on the notion that financial incentives crowd-out the intrinsic motivation of volunteering. No definitive claims have been reached.
But perhaps these foundation experts overlooked something: We’ve long paid people to volunteer. In fact, if you pay taxes, you support government-sponsored paid volunteers.
For example, Peace Corps and similar government programs refer to their field operatives as volunteers. We don’t question the altruistic nature of Peace Corps volunteers even though their commitment to service is rewarded with a modest living stipend, scholarships for graduate or professional school, special eligibility for some government jobs and other benefits. Such financial incentives often factor into decisions to serve, but we tend to avoid talking about them so as not to seem too individualistic or uncaring.
Apparently, as a society we need to see particular tangible acts of serving to validate a person’s propensity to care. We check the care box when we give large donations. We check the care box when we decide to take a lower-salary job with a nonprofit organization. We check the care box when we freely volunteer.
According to Robert Wuthnow, a sociology professor at Princeton University and author of “Acts of Compassion: Caring for Others and Helping Ourselves,” “Those who are most involved in acts of compassion are no less individualistic than anyone else, and those who are the most intensely individualistic are no less involved in caring for others.”
We need to redefine volunteering. We need to abandon the self-righteousness and elitist notion that volunteering should always be purely altruistic.
It is easier to volunteer solely out of altruism if you come from a place of privilege. But what about the millions of people who care but simply cannot afford to volunteer because they are working multiple jobs just to make the ends meet? Financial incentives can help build pathways to volunteer opportunities. And we should think up even more innovative ones so we can better mobilize our generation’s young leaders to volunteer.
Final lap of SponsorChange capstone project
Posted by | Satty | April 29, 2011 | No Comments
Hello all,
Five Carnegie Mellon University students took up the capstone project for SponsorChange four months ago. There were many questions. How do we take care of the static website? How do we get rid of manual processing? How do we connect sponsors, students and non-profits seamlessly across United States of America? How better can opportunities be provided to college students to have a positive impact on the community? How better can opportunities be provided for non-profits to leverage the resources? How better can opportunities be provided for sponsors to track where their money is going and how it is spent? We, the five students believe we have the answer.
We overcame the skill gap, the knowledge gap and worked hard to build a state-of-the art website prototype that will enable all the three user entities – sponsors, students and non-profits to register, create, search and connect seamlessly. In an endeavor to achieve CEO Raymar Hampshire’s vision of ’1 million students, 1 million sponsors by 2015′, we ensured that the website is scalable, sustainable and maintainable.
On April 28, 2011, Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College organized the Poster Day to showcase all the academic projects for the academic year. SponsorChange garnered attention and curiosity coupled with excitement and hope. Tim Zak, the associate teaching professor and Director of the Institute for Social Innovation was mighty pleased with the product and vouched to follow SponsorChange very actively in the future. Prof. Chris Labash, co-founder of LinchPin and assistant teaching professor showed great deal of enthusiasm about the potential SponsorChange has. Finally, Dean of Heinz College – Prof. Ramayya Krishnan shared his recommendation and matching algorithms to better match student skills’ with non-profit needs. Students came pouring in to SponsorChange booth, hoping to get answers about how they can clear off their student debt by working for a non-profit project. To summarize, the poster day was a giant leap for SponsorChange to go viral.
As we stand in the final lap, we are excited to give our final academic presentation on May 2, 2011 where we will talk about our journey, challenges and lessons learnt. We will also provide our recommendation to make SponsorChange a truly global phenomenon. Last but not the least, we will launch the alpha website. Thanks for each and everyone of you for making this possible. Be there to see us touch the finish line.
May 2 2011, HBH A202 from 12 PM – 1 PM, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University.
-Satty on behalf of Team SponsorChange @ CMU.
Alone And Invisible? Life As A Defaulter
Posted by | cjohanns | April 9, 2011 | No Comments
If you have defaulted on your loans, I would like to hear from you. While much has been done for prospective and current students, there has been little, if any, headway made to assist defaulters. It is a perfect case in which the ‘moral hazard’ argument is made, and that is why defaulters are simply invisible. More and more individuals are defaulting. Each day, I hear from at least two or three people who tell me that they have defaulted. In many cases they are not the only ones that are affected by the status of their loans. There are the co-signers as well. Defaulters express deep anguish about their financial circumstances. They tell me stories of how their families have been ripped to pieces. Broken individuals. Broken families. Broken cities. Broken states. Broken nation. All of it adds up to an intellectually bankrupt nation, one which has turned its back on professionals and a robust middle class. These people have been turned into indentured educated zombies. Default, or so it seems, infects the mental health of a person. What sort of place has this country become? It’s frighteningly distorted. Is it beyond repair? Will we continue to wage wars, and simultaneously impoverish Americans who pursue higher education? Can we bring back defaulters from their hell? What about the educated who are delinquent on their loans? What about the educated who fear that if something happens (a car wreck, a serious health problem), they too will be ruined? As of today, total outstanding student loan debt is over $902 billion (I presume that when you click on that link, it will have increased).
There is scant data about defaulters, and that needs to change. Furthermore, I want to explore it from a perspective that illuminates the human condition of a defaulter. Let’s build a database with your personal stories. AEM will force policymakers to think about defaulters. The banks are demanding money. While the lenders have disturbing tactics,such as seizing money from people’s bank accounts, they can’t assume ownership of the education and knowledge inside a person’s mind. How can they possibly seize that?
You are living with all that knowledge, but you are also in default. Tell us, what is that like?
If you wish to share your story, please email me (ccrynjohannsen@gmail.com)
Cryn Johannsen is the Founder & Executive Director of All Education Matters. She has written for The Huffington Post and The New England Journal of Higher Education, and currently writes for USAToday.
Mixture Of Happiness And Dread: “My son just got accepted into UC-Santa Cruz, but . . .”
Posted by | cjohanns | March 23, 2011 | No Comments
A woman wrote to me last night and let me know that she has mixed feelings about her son’s acceptance letter from UC-Santa Cruz. I think her note speaks volumes about the fears that many parents are now having about their kids going off to school, especially when they are aware of the student loan debt crisis. Perhaps I am being presumptuous, but I think it is safe to assume that the kids who are currently sitting with me in this great coffee shop, that’s a few blocks from Brown, aren’t too concerned about student loan debt. (Although, I will say that I overheard a young woman complaining about her debt – it sounds like she’s in med school at Brown. Graduate students are a different crew of people).
For most parents, I am sure many of them are fretting about sending their kids to school, and wondering how they’ll be able to help them manage tuition (which continues to go up and up and up – oh, well, as long as no one asks why), the cost of living, and so forth. On another note, a friend of mine, who is leaving Korea soon, just let me know that he’s going to grad school in the fall. When I inquired about the school’s whereabouts, he said, “it’s in the U.K. It’s much more affordable than the U.S.” I am glad to hear that he is going to pursue further education but at a much more reasonable price than most schools in the U.S. Any knowledge of the current situation points to how crippled the system has become, at least for student borrowers.
As for the mother I mentioned already, here’s what she had to say in her email that was entitled, “A mixture of happiness and dread:”
Hi Cryn, well my son was just accepted to UC Santa Cruz, his second choice to UC Berkeley. He is an extremely brilliant kid, 19 and a Chem major . . . I am excited yet I am fearful about his future debts to this backwards educational system (future indentured educated citizen). . . Sometimes I wish we would have stayed in Finland where the Universities are virtually free. Anyway, thanks for all your insight and your writings.
I exchanged several emails with this mother, and first replied, “Have you read my piece about ways to minimize student loan debt? I am happy to help you brainstorm on how to avoid accruing too much debt. Obviously, you are aware of the situation, and really that is winning half the battle at this moment. Any awareness is a great thing, because so many are not, and that is what pains me for those who are soon-to-be-students.”
Are you preparing to see your child leave for school? If so, are you concerned about the amount of debt s/he is going to accrue while in school? Are you fearful, like this mother, that your son or daughter will become part of the indentured educated class? Of, do you think your parents are worried about the amount of debt you’re taking on for your schooling?
“Yes, darling! That’s wonderful news! It’s simply wonderful that you are going to school . . . but what about the cost? Oh, darling! Yes! Yes! I am so happy, but . . . I fear . . . I fear that you will become an indentured educated citizen, my dear.”
