Youth as Philanthropists

The Sudbury Foundation is pleased to be supporting the Foundation for MetroWest’s (FFMW) Youth in Philanthropy program, with a session hosted this year at our office at the Grange.

The hands-on grantmaking program walks teens through all the steps a Foundation follows before making a grant to a nonprofit.

Teens learn about the needs of their local community, about how nonprofits operate, how to evaluate grant proposals, and how to work with others to make a difference. The group participates in a few community service days at local nonprofits, and is responsible for raising $1,000 of the $10,000 grant-making budget.

After training, students evaluate requests for grants that support local programs serving children and youth. They visit organizations applying for funding and then decide which ones to fund. After choosing grant recipients, the teens present their decisions to the FFMW’s Distribution Committee, and end the process with a grant ceremony where they present the grants to the organizations.

FFMW Executive Director Judy Salerno discusses the program and the great work of the community foundation here.