Students4Giving

College students have a long standing reputation of being change makers. In the 60s, students protested the Vietnam War by holding rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins as a way to vocalize their opinions and mobilize action. Today, students are as engaged as ever but have a different approach that involves impacting change by participating in the decision-making process. They want to take a business approach to create change and be part of the action. A recent initiative announced by Fidelity, Students4Giving, is a perfect example of this trend.

Several schools already allow students to invest “a piece of the endowment pie.” Through Students4Giving, five colleges are engaging students to actually give money away in an effort to get young people involved in philanthropy.

Here’s how it works:

Fidelity Investments will provide $15,000 in a donor-advised fund to five schools - Boston University; California State University, Fresno; Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Students participating in nonprofit and philanthropy courses will oversee the funds, solicit grant applications from charities in their communities and recommend donations.

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