FINANCIAL FLAIR ACTIVITY 8:
All the Money in the World (Creating Your Own Nonprofit)

Activity Objective: Girls are introduced to the idea of a nonprofit; girls identify what issues are important to them.

Toward Leadership Outcomes:

Through this activity, girls will:

  • Feel connected to their communities—girls feel that they are part of a larger community and recognize the importance of building diverse, supportive, social networks for their personal and leadership development. (Connect)

Experience Overview:

  • 5 min. Introduction (Talking Points)
  • 45 min. If I Had All the Money in the World
  • 10 min. Reflection/Discussion

Supplies Needed:

  • Paper (or journals) and pens or pencils (enough for each girl)
  • Large pad and marker (or chalkboard)

Prepare Ahead:

Step-by-Step Instructions:

» Introduction (Talking Points) (5 minutes)

  • Say something like this: "Today we are going to begin the exciting journey of going from dreaming about starting a business to the reality of creating a business. Of becoming real entrepreneurs!"
  • "As we already discussed, there are companies that aim to make money in order to make the world a better place, or companies that use profits to help others. Does anyone remember what these types of business are called?" (See callout box below.) "Have you ever thought of 'doing business' and 'doing good' at the same time? For instance, have you ever held a car wash to help raise money for your place of worship? That is a good example of providing a service, or doing a business for the sake of a larger purpose—the purpose of helping your spiritual community thrive. Does anyone know what these types of businesses are called?"

A nonprofit organization is a business not conducted for profit, and whose net earnings are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes. (A not-for-profit organization is often active in environmental issues, humanitarian aid, animal protection, education, the arts, social issues, charities, health care, politics, religion, research, sports, or other endeavors.)

  • "Before we even begin creating our business plan—laying out a plan for starting a real business of our own—we will spend some time thinking about how we want to use our profits to make the world a better place."

» If I Had All the Money in the World (45 minutes)

  • Say to girls, "Think about your answer to this question: If you had all the money in the world, how would you make the world a better place? Who would you want to help? Or what would you want to change? Think about your own community. Or even the entire world."
  • Distribute paper and pens or pencils, or girls can use journals they have created especially for this group. Write on a large pad (or chalkboard) the following: "If I had all the money in the world, I would…" Ask girls to think about how they could make the world a better place and then complete this sentence. Give them three minutes.
  • On a large pad, make a list of girls' ideas and issues that matter to them. (Ask a girl to lead this activity.)
  • Ask girls to decide which issues affect their own community, or which issues they could actually do something about in their community. Circle the issues.
  • Choose one of the circled issues and create a "mission statement" with girls for an imaginary nonprofit company.
  • Distribute copies of the "She's Got Spirit: Hillary's Story" handout. Ask a girl (or girls) to read this story aloud for inspiration.
  • Say to girls, "Hillary identified a need—such as hearing about the victims of the tsunami—and took action to help. How do you think you could identify a need in your own community? What would you do? Who would you talk to?"

» Reflection Discussion (10 minutes)

Ask girls:

  • "Look at the list you created of issues that matter to you. Do you think all girls' lists would look alike? Do you think girls from a different part of the country would create a list that looks like yours? Different? Or how about girls from a different country altogether? That is, what do you think your list of issues says about you?"
  • "Does anyone know of any nonprofit companies or organizations in our community (or any at all)? What do they do? Do you know what their mission is?"
  • "If you had all the money in the world, how would you invest it in your community? How would you like to see your community—your neighborhood, town, or city—improve? What new thing or service do you think your community could benefit from?"

This is a great point to introduce a Take Action component to your club (i.e., starting a nonprofit company). (Click here to go to the "Take Action" section of this guide.)