Chosen out of 700 applicants as a top performing organization
Philadelphia, PA – 10/17/13 – On Monday, Rock to the Future was officially recognized by the Learning by Giving Foundation as a grant recipient of $1,000 during its most recent grant competition. The Learning by Giving Foundation, funded by Doris Buffett’s Sunshine Lady Foundation, distributes $10,000 grants every semester to over 30 university partners who are teaching students strategic grant making processes in their communities. In order to help anyone learn about philanthropy and achieving their giving needs, the Learning by Giving Foundation created Giving With Purpose, a free, online course offered this past July and August.
Students of Giving With Purpose had the opportunity to follow a more demanding “Giver track” where they could nominate local nonprofit organizations and advocate on their behalf throughout the course. With over 700 nominations and a rigorous peer review process, Rock to the Future made it to the 80 highest performing organizations and advanced to a final round of voting to determine which nonprofits would receive grants. In total, the Learning by Giving Foundation awarded $130,000 to 40 organizations throughout the United States.
Rock to the future provides underserved Philadelphia youth ages 3-17 with free comprehensive music education. Using contemporary music and instruments at a tool to motivate and engage students, the program has seen an improvement in not just musical ability but also academic performance and social skills. As a young organization just starting their 4th year, Rock to the Future has shown strong indications of long-term success and is currently raising money to help more youth this program year. To make donation to Rock to the Future’s year end campaign please visit their Indiegogo Campaign.
“We are thrilled to recognize the work of these organizations,” said Alex Buffett Rozek, Chairman of the Learning by Giving Foundation. “Thousands of students in all 50 states and 111 countries participated in the MOOC. Their commitment to becoming effective givers enabled us to identify outstanding organizations in communities across the nation.”
Additional information on the course and its results are included in the Foundation’s press release from Monday, which includes an infographic that summarizes the course’s impact. The Learning by Giving Foundation will be relaunching Giving With Purpose again in the future and those interested can already pre-register to receive updates about the second course. Take a look at their website to learn more about The Learning by Giving Foundation and to sign up for the next course!