GREENSBORO—Ask a teenager to help you give away money and you will get the look that says, "No way!"
That was Deborah Winfield's reaction when the 16-year-old Mt. Tabor High School junior was first approached to be a "youth grantmaker" in Forsyth County. "Hey! I was kind of shocked," says Winfield, now 17 and a senior. "Because we're teenagers, and it's not very often that people our age are trusted with $2,500."
No it's not. That is why there's a growing movement to engage young people in philanthropy, and the first ever Youth Grantmakers Summit here brought together 100 students from six such groups in North Carolina. They represented Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Davie, Gaston and Vance counties.
Winfield's Youth Grantmakers in Action, like the others, receives small grants from area community foundations such as the Winston-Salem Foundation. Brittney Forman, program officer with the foundation, says it recruited students through other youth-oriented non-profits and word-of-mouth from "Mom's."
"We were first met with skepticism; they though they would come but adults would lead them," recalls Forman. "The surprise is that this is really a youth-led group, and they really have control and have taken ownership."
Winfield, a Mom recruit, attended the initial meeting last year and learned about youth philanthropy from Eric Rowles, 35, a training consultant in Charlotte for the San Francisco non-profit Youth Leadership Institute. Rowles helped organize the summit with help from NCGives, a Raleigh-based initiative.
"We wanted to bring them together to meet their peers," explains Rowles. "We haven't done that before." The fast-paced and food-packed summit exceeded expectations, especially in teenage energy and interaction, laughs Rowles.
Winfield's group numbers about 14, and members write their own RFP's (requests for proposals) and circulate them in the county's schools. "We [members themselves] give them out, too," says Winfield.
The summit could have been titled Philanthropy 101 because the participants learned the basics of the giving business. There were workshops on fund raising, networking, how to run a meeting and effective leadership.
The training helps the young grantmakers not only prepare and distribute RFPs, but the tough duty of deciding--by consensus--who gets the money. They focus on projects, events, and programs submitted by young people and for young people. "We meet once a month," says Winfield. "It's tedious, but I love it. We had nine applications last year. It's awesome!"
Winfield is a fast learner. To increase the Youth Grantmakers in Action's fund, she and a friend submitted an RFP to the Winston-Salem Foundation for $12,000. It will be matched by $500 that she and her fellow grantmakers plan to raise. Like an experienced philanthropist, she says, "We want to start an endowment."
Trusting Teenagers With Money
