MANDEL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Character education aims to instill basic values in youth such as honesty, responsibility, integrity, caring, respect, and citizenship. Youth service provides the opportunity for youth to experience and understand these values first-hand.

Character Education Partnership

Informed and active participation in addressing issues of public concern, whether political or non-political.

Center for Civic Education

A group of people with something in common. For some, it might be the classroom or the school they attend. It might be the neighborhood, city, state, country, or world. For others, it might be an aggregate of people with special needs (seniors, homeless, disabled, etc.).

A lack of something necessary, useful, or desirable to sustain or advance the quality of life within the community.

This term is often used interchangeably with "volunteering" although it is typically used in reference to an organized volunteer effort by a group (school or organization based). However, it also often takes on additional meaning when used to describe mandatory service required for graduation or service performed to fulfill a court ordered sentence.

An educational component requires a conscious effort to include a direct tie to subject area learning. An educational component can be a classroom based curriculum or a community based education program.

A collection of private organizations who serve some public purpose. Often referred to as the independent sector, not-for-profit sector, third sector, or voluntary sector. Contrary to common belief, nonprofit organizations can make a profit however, that profit must be used to support the purpose of the organization rather than to benefit its owners.

Independent Sector - What is the Nonprofit Sector?

The giving of one's time, treasure, and talent for the sake of another or for the common good.

Service learning is a philosophy, pedagogy, and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.

Content typically categorized for instruction in school. Can include English, math, science, health, history, citizenship, art, music, life skills, foreign languages, physical education, and/or technology.

Someone who, of their own free will, engages in service that benefits their community in some way. Typically individuals are not compensated for their volunteer work. Volunteering focuses on benefiting the service recipients.

Genuine participation by youth in making meaningful decisions about issues that directly affect them.

At The Table

A process which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially, morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent. Positive youth development addresses the broader developmental needs of youth, in contrast to deficit-based models which focus solely on youth problems. (from NYDIC website, see below)

National Youth Development Information Center (NYDIC)

Youth grantmaking involves youth in reviewing proposals and allocating funding in much the same way that a foundation does.