Servant leaders are people who practice a leadership philosophy that “enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations, and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” Students write a profile paper about a philanthropist who exhibits "servant leadership."

Servant leaders are people who practice a leadership philosophy that “enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations, and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” For this activity, youth create their own oral history recording by interviewing an individual who they consider a servant leader. Youth will glean lessons from the interview and create and preserve a historical record of a story that is worthwhile knowing.

This activity helps youth discover their giving passion. The first step to meaningful philanthropy is identifying things that really matter to us. In this activity, youth follow their hearts...or rather their heartbreaks to discover what they are passionate about. 

When a crisis upends life or disaster strikes, whether caused by nature or humans, the humanitarian spirit of individuals and communities swells. The lesson plans, project ideas, and links to nonprofit resources here provide opportunities to discuss our response to a crisis and explore actions that young people can take before and after disaster strikes.

Let's explore and connect with ourselves and others by envisioning our community ten years from now. Select a meaningful issue that you deeply care about and visualize it being resolved. Afterward, let's engage in a conversation about the initial actions we can take to turn our vision into reality. Together, we can shape a brighter future!

Krisztina Tury

Definition

Nonprofit organizations are organized for a public or mutual benefit other than generating profit for owners or investors (Salamon 1999). They can take a variety of forms from informal...

Philanthropy in American Indian and Alaskan Native cultures is not a new phenomenon—there is a long and rich history of indigenous giving traditions, and today there is a growing nonprofit sector devoted to social justice and development of Native communities in the United States. This paper examines overarching themes of Native American philanthropy (there are over 500 registered tribal nations in the continental US, and all celebrate their own giving and receiving rituals and traditions specific to their own communities), how the practice of Native American philanthropy has changed over time, and what the nonprofit sector within tribal communities looks like today. Additionally, this lesson will offer specific examples of youth-centric philanthropy and its focus on preserving Native culture for future generations. 

A social reformer dedicated to changing conditions for people who could not help themselves, Dorothea Dix was a champion for the mentally ill and the imprisoned. Through her tireless work of over two decades, Dix instituted changes in the treatment and care of the mentally ill and improved prison conditions.