Alumni Pam and Pierre Omidyar checked up on their $10 million donation to the University during a visit to campus last Monday to receive Tufts' annual Light on the Hill award. The Omidyar's involvement in monitoring the use of their grant, which went to the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS), illustrates the unique style of philanthropy practiced by their nonprofit foundation.
The two met with faculty, staff, and students involved with UCCPS during their daylong visit, and addressed the Tufts community during the award ceremony. They praised the initiatives that UCCPS has begun with their donation, specifically the Omidyar scholar program, which selects students to be peer leaders on the issue of community service.
"We're most excited and enthusiastic about the positive things that we hear," Mr. Omidyar said.
He went on to say that programs such as the Omidyar Scholars, create a "leveraging effect" and inspire others in the community to become active citizens. There are currently 22 scholars who have spent the fall semester planning programs for Tufts and its surrounding communities.
"Not only are you going out there are doing public service, but others are seeing it and seeing how easy it is," he said.
The Omidyar foundation is unique in that it attempts to apply business practices to the nonprofit world and closely oversees the use of the grants it gives out. Mr. and Mrs. Omidyar explained that they do this in an effort to find solutions and not just quick fixes for community problems.
"We want to make a measurable difference. In order to do that, you have to be accountable, and the people you give money to have to be accountable," Mrs. Omidyar said.
"Coming from the business world, when you make an investment, you want to follow up on that investment," Mr. Omidyar said. "Even though a nonprofit is not bottom-line driven, we can make non-profits more effective by borrowing from the business world."
Students and administrators alike praised the Omidyar foundation's approach to charity during the Omidyar's visit to Tufts. University President John DiBiaggio said that the couple is "setting a new standard in philanthropy," and Omidyar scholars said that they were impressed by the couple's participation in the use of their grants.
"They want their projects to promote the right things. They want to be active in their projects' progress," freshman Nikoo Paydar said.
"[Mrs. Omidyar] said that the wealth that she and Pierre have accumulated is a great fortune but also a responsibility. Just by meeting them, you can tell that they're people who are really sincere and who really care," freshman Tara Heumann agreed.
Besides the Omidyar Scholars program, UCCPS has used the Omidyar's donation on a variety of seed grants to enable Omidyar scholars and University professors to pursue their own community service projects.
With the Experimental College, it offered a class this semester that trained students to develop curriculums that incorporate public service, and it is offering an encore of its popular class "Leadership for Active Citizenship" next semester.
