Grant-Making in the Midst of a Pandemic

New Strive to Thrive Lincoln logo developed by Michael Severen, Spring 2020 class
New Strive to Thrive Lincoln logo developed by Michael Severen, Spring 2020 class

The last half of the Spring 2020 semester was unlike anything we could have imagined when we began in January. Even though COVID-19 changed nearly every aspect of life, Strive to Thrive Lincoln still had grants to award to local nonprofit applicants.

On Wednesday, March 11, the Spring 2020 class finished the first round of deliberations, determining the 12 nonprofits they wanted to visit on site visits the following week. Small groups met, exchanged contact information, and discussed questions each member would ask.

The very next day, Chancellor Ronnie Green announced that classes would move to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. We quickly worked to modify the processes we would use for site visits (Zoom calls), group site visit presentations (online group presentations posted on Canvas), deliberations (several rounds of discussion boards), and the awards ceremony (a class Zoom call with each winner).

While it wasn't what anyone would have chosen, we found that it still worked! Plus, we all learned important lessons about being adaptable, resilient, creative and cooperative.

More details at: https://business.unl.edu/news/students-award-10-000-to-nonprofits-despite-pandemic-setback/?contentGroup=strive_to_thrive&regionName=tile