From Doers to Donors:Sociology Students’ Perceptions of Experiential Philanthropy

ABSTRACT Service learning is a well-established part of the sociology curriculum in many American universities and colleges. Less well known is student-led philanthropy (also known as experiential philanthropy), a form of service learning that encourages students to donate money to the community partners they are serving. Underwritten by national foundations or regional Campus Compacts, student-led philanthropy (SLP) positions undergraduates as donors as well as doers. In this paper, we ask how sociology students perceive the role of donor and how it enhances or detracts from their volunteer experiences with community partners. To answer this question, we draw on qualitative and quantitative data from 24 SLP students enrolled in an Honors Social Problems course. We find that students overwhelmingly welcome the shift from doer to donor in so much as it affords them a greater perceived sense of purpose and impact, enriching their relationships with community partners. Students lament being donors, however, when they have to collectively decide which organizations “deserve” funding. The award process is especially fraught when organizations become maligned and deemed unworthy by a subset of students. We conclude with a discussion of how SLP can be integrated into the sociology classroom and how instructors might pursue this form of service learning when resources for philanthropic giving are limited.