Work with UNO faculty and their students to educate future leaders in philanthropic giving.
Benefits for Community Partners
For community partners, participating in the Maverick Philanthropy Initiative means working together with UNO faculty members and the Service Learning Academy to educate future leaders and practice philanthropic giving.
- Be given an opportunity to expand your organization’s operations and mission through the contributions of students through a service learning project
- Build community connections through student engagement
- Help community members value youth as contributors
- Receive project recognition through social media
- Select community organizations will receive a $1,000 grant
By applying for the Maverick Philanthropy Initiative, your organization will have the opportunity to receive increased exposure on its mission and funding needs and help students become invested in their community (civic attitudes).
Interested in Engaging with MPI Courses?
The UNO Service Learning Academy (SLA) is seeking local nonprofit organizations interested in collaborating with UNO courses to enhance student learning and promote community engagement through a student philanthropy model.
- Eligible organizations must be registered as an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, provide their Federal ID Number, and must provide their non-discrimination policy.
- If you are interested in the initiative and would like to learn more, please complete this form.
Example MPI Courses
CMST 1110 - Fundamentals of Public Speaking (since Fall 2019)
UNO students will develop and present a persuasive speech on a local nonprofit organization, of their choosing, as a call to action to persuade others to donate the $ 1,000-course grant to their organization’s cause. Then, UNO instructors and students will collectively decide which organization will receive their course funds based on a persuasive speech presentation rubric created by the UNO instructors for this course.
CMST 4510/8516 - Persuasion and Social Influence (beginning Spring 2021)
UNO students will work in groups and partner with 3-4 local nonprofit organizations to analyze their social influence. The primary goal of this course is to provide students with a solid grounding in theories, principles, and strategies of persuasion social influence as they apply to everyday contexts in which influence attempts take place. Students will actively learn about and engage the strategies and techniques of persuasion relating to local nonprofit organizations in this project. At the end of their project, these students will collectively decide how to distribute their $1,000 MPI course grant to one of the organizations they are working with.
TED 2400 - Plan for Effective Teaching
UNO students will work with the Refugee Empowerment Center (REC) to learn about the experience of refugee and immigrant communities in the Omaha Metropolitan Area. UNO students will research and educate fellow classmates on 1-5 issues areas identified by REC staff. UNO students will then collectively decide which issue area and which program at the Refugee Empowerment Center could most benefit from their $1,000 MPI course grant based on their research findings.
HONR 3020 - Honors Colloquium - Humanities
Honors colloquium--Humanities is an interdisciplinary course for University Honors Program students. Drawing from multiple disciplines, it provides students insight into the cross-disciplinary study of the humanities, centered around changing themes and/or concepts. UNO students will partner with the Union for Contemporary Arts in this course to connect their course content to real-life experiences in the community. UNO students will collectively decide which program at the Union for Contemporary Arts could most benefit from their $1,000 MPI course grant based on their course project findings.
How to Participate
Step 1: Apply to Participate
- Eligible organizations must be registered as an official 501(c)3 and provide their Federal ID Number as well as a copy of their nondiscrimination policy.
- To apply, please contact us at unosla@unomaha.edu.
- The information provided will help faculty and students identify which organizations best fit their learning objectives for their service learning project. Not all organizations that submit an interest form each semester will be selected to participate.
Step 2: Selection Process
- The UNO SLA completes a list of community partners for faculty to review and determine the best fit for their course learning objectives and student interests.
- Please note that opportunities are limited to the number of courses and students and may differ each semester.
- After organizations apply the UNO Service Learning Academy will provide continuous progress updates to the organizations that submitted an application.
- Organizations will be notified of whether or not they were selected by a student group interested in advocating for the organization through their service learning assignment. For the full list of project stages from interest form submission to students’ selection of organization to final grant allocation, please contact us at unosla@unomaha.edu.
Step 3: Working with UNO
Students will work individually or in small groups on their service learning project. At the project conclusion, students in each course will participate in a selection process to determine how their $1,000 grant will be allocated to the community. Students will draw upon what they have learned within the classroom and their service learning project and engage their understanding of philanthropy to inform their final decision.
PLEASE NOTE: The UNO Service Learning Academy cannot guarantee all organizations who apply will be chosen by a student or student group for a service learning assignment or be selected for a $1,000 grant.
*The SLA is interested in expanding this initiative to other course disciplines across UNO.
Project Timeline
The project timeline can be adapted to other UNO course disciplines. The UNO SLA and faculty will work closely to develop projects and ensure project timelines that honor course schedules as well as the time of our community partners. Community organizations will be informed of their project's timeline at the beginning of the semester and will have access to staff throughout the project for support and to answer any questions.