Charity Proposal
Scenario:
You have been tasked by a wealthy entrepreneur, Mr. Bill FR, to find a worthy charity to which he will donate $500,000. Mr. FR needs this information very soon to ensure his donation is tax- deductible, but he is also sincerely interested in helping a charity that is not only credible but is also working for a cause that is truly in need and/ or giving back to the community in great ways that you and he believe in. However, he is not only asking you to do this, but all of the students in English 205, and he will choose the one best proposal to select as the “winner.”
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is for you to learn about a problematic issue in the world that is being addressed by a charity. Almost all companies, famous persons, and businesses have a charity or philanthropic arm; perhaps, you are interested in this or will have to spend some time in your career working on this. You will develop your research skills in finding credible information and write a clear proposal based on the formatting and tips in BCOM. The proposal is to convince Mr. FR to choose your selected charity to support.
1. Begin with an issue or problem. Some examples are: animal rights/abuse, domestic abuse, drug use/abuse, mental illness, specific diseases, lack of education, lack of food/water, poverty, farm workers’ rights/exploitation, child abuse, food industry/GMOs, etc. Think about things that you know are a problem in the world today and need more attention, or help fixing.
2. Once you have decided on your topic/problem, do research on it to “prove” why it needs to be addressed, and then try to find a charity or non-profit group that is trying to address the problem.
3. If you are unclear, email me to check your charity. Remember, a charity website ends in .org and is required to have a 501c3 certification by law.
4. I highly suggest you pick a smaller charity; for instance, trying to argue that The Red Cross needs more money is hard. However, if you decide to dedicate the money to a certain event such as Hurricane Sandy victims or Haiti Relief by way of The Red Cross, this might work. Speak to me if you are unsure — well in advance!
5. You should begin writing the proposal to Mr. Bill FR that outlines what you have learned about the problem and the charity, and why he should select your charity to support.
6. Things to consider:
• the past, present, and future of charity
• what the charity has done in the community thus far
• goals of the charity (you can improvise and get creative here!)
• how the money will help the charity obtain these goals
• it might help to mention struggles the charity has had and how they can be resolved
with this money
• economic trending
• your role in the charity
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• you will need to do some research for this proposal so please attach a bibliography, works cited, or works consulted list to the page of it if you use sources or used outside information to craft your points
• how you plan to break down the use of the $500,000 – be very clear and detailed here!
The Proposal:
• You have some freedom in choosing the format of your proposal, but you should choose one of the normally accepted standard proposal styles, as referenced in BCOM, chapter 11. A proposal is single-spaced, 12pt font, and has one inch margins. Whichever style you choose, be consistent. In other words, don’t mix formatting of a memo with a letter, or vice versa.
• Carefully read “Strategies of Persuasion” by Ewing (posted on Moodle)
• The proposal should be a minimum of three pages long and not over five pages (single-
spaced), though the length will depend on the format you choose (and if there are any
charts, etc.).
• You will need a references or Works Cited list for this as research is mandatory to
support this proposal. Use APA or MLA format but be consistent with your citations.
You will have in-text citations to support your evidence and proposal.
• Remember that you do want to be convincing in persuading Mr. FR to choose your
charity, so you will want to be thorough.
