Philanthropy and the Fourth Grade

My daughter's fourth grade has a classroom economy.  Students have jobs that pay different amounts, they owe rent on their desks, and they earn bonuses or fines depending on meeting (or not) goals and expectations.  It's a real-world way for them to talk about money, responsibility, and how economics works. 

We talk about the classroom economy a lot at dinnertime and I'm fascinated by the aspects of it that stand out for my daughter.  She already wonders about fairness and how to be ethical in her role as one of the classroom bankers.  Being the classic only child of a fundraiser, she also wonders how to incorporate giving.  I offered to go into her class and talk about it.

Ms. van Bueren had written the word philanthropy on the chalkboard when I arrived.  It was fun to watch the students pour into the room and immediately try to pronounce it.  A few had heard the word and associated it with giving and sharing, but for many it was a new term.

What struck me, however, was that there was nothing new about the concept.  Keeley's class is definitely very diverse socioeconomically, yet every single student lit up as I asked for examples of ways they have given or shared their time or talents or treasures (thanks to this wonderful website: http://learningtogive.org/ for that great phraseology).  They all blurted out real examples of how they had helped a neighbor, donated food for the food drive, or volunteered at a community event.  One girl shared how proud she was to donate to a horse rescue operation for her birthday.  They all agreed it feels really good to give and that this feeling lasts for a long time. They might not know the word philanthropy, but they definitely know what it is.

Our kids are the seeds for philanthropy and at the ages of 9 or 10 at least, they see it as a good and wonderful thing.  But, because we don't purposefully and directly talk about it, kids aren't thinking of themselves as philanthropists. When we teach about something it becomes worthy and important.  Mrs. van Bueren's class was already a room full of philanthropists in their own ways, but they didn't know it until we talked about it. 

Now they do.  And, apparently, they spent the next hour after I left discussing what they want to do as a class to help the whole school. I love the idea of a whole 4th grade of philanthropists and I wonder how can we nurture this feeling that philanthropy is fun and meaningful in the grades beyond.

People often ask me what our organization is doing to help get kids involved – and I'm sure by that they mean how are we teaching kids directly about our mission of conservation in the Methow Valley.  But, maybe in addition to the important conservation-based educational and fieldwork opportunities we can provide, we have a responsibility to get kids involved in our philanthropy.  Giving them a voice in protecting a place they love might be the most empowering conservation message we could teach. And, maybe, by empowering them to be philanthropists, we'd learn a thing or two about how to ensure our messages and mission stay relevant over time.  Who knows…we might even spark the fire for a future fundraising professional.

Do you think nonprofits should engage youth in philanthropy or does that somehow feel manipulative? What can I do with Keeley's class as a follow up to empower them as philanthropists?