MG – Roger Grein and MG History

OUR HISTORY

Magnified Giving was founded in 2008 by Mr. Roger Grein, an active philanthropist in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. However the foundation of Magnified Giving was built many years ago. In 2001, after having lunch with Roger Grein, then Northern Kentucky University President Dr. James Votruba informally shared a new idea with Roger. He casually mentioned that The Mayerson Foundation had sponsored a class at NKU for students to invest money into local non-profit agencies. The light bulb went off in Roger’s head, and this was the spark that changed his life and has profoundly affected the lives of thousands of young men and women over the past decade! Roger quickly became a champion for this hands-on philanthropy model and shared it with University presidents across the Midwest, pledging his financial support while the program could gain traction and take hold at each institution. Roger shared the story and vision with Xavier University, The College of Mount St. Joseph, and then with more than a dozen other College and University Presidents. Roger’s passion for helping college students truly understand the importance of philanthropy and the power they have in contributing to the fabric of the community has led to 34 colleges and universities embracing his philanthropy education model. The program continues today, fully managed by Ohio Campus Compact and funded by a national grant provided by the National Corporation for Service Learning.

With amazing success at the collegiate level, Roger wanted to give high school students the same opportunity to learn how to become engaged, educated philanthropists. Given the opportunity, he wanted to help teach and inspire high school students to learn that the secret of living is giving, helping young people across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky experience hands-on philanthropy education in their classrooms, or as part of extracurricular programs. In 2008, Roger asked Mount Notre Dame teacher Mr. Todd Forman to help with the leadership and development of this program.

YEAR ONE: HIGH SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM

Roger Grein establishes Magnified Giving as a 501(C)3 and hires Mr. Todd Forman as part-time Program Director. A variety of high schools were invited to participate in the program for the 2008-2009 school year. This list included both public and private schools located in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Teachers at the 8 pilot schools explored how to best implement the program within their schools – as part of a traditional academic class (English, Social Studies, etc…), as part of a community service class, as a focus for an existing extracurricular club or organization, or perhaps as a standalone philanthropy program. Working with Mr. Forman, these teachers developed curricula, created basic educational materials, shared experiences, and worked together to bring philanthropy education alive within their respective schools. Students, teachers, parents, agency representatives and funders gathered together on May 14, 2009 at Hebrew Union College to award grants and celebrate their successes.

With a strong foundation to build on our program grew to 15 high schools for the 2010-2011 school year. The program continued to include both public and private schools located in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The year was an amazing success. Having outgrown the auditorium at Hebrew Union College, on May 11, 2011 we gathered at Mount Notre Dame to once again present the grants, hear from the student philanthropists and the agencies they funded, and to honor a student and a teacher with the First Annual Roger Grein Spirit of Philanthropy award. Over 250 students, teachers, parents, funders, agency reps, and friends of Magnified Giving attended and participated in the Award Ceremony.

22 schools participate in the student philanthropy program and $50,000 in grant money was awarded.

Our program grew to 50 programs for the 2013-2014 year, expanding our reach to new schools in Ohio and Kentucky. Over 1300 people attended our ceremonies where nearly $75,000 was granted to deserving non-profit organizations.

Magnified Giving’s (MG) Board of Directors and Founder, Roger Grein, took the next step toward institutionalizing the non-profit organization for sustainability. The board began a search for the organization’s first Executive Director, resulting in the hiring of Mrs. Kelly Collison. It was a year of “firsts.” Magnified Giving had four summer interns working in development. 53 schools participated and over $100,000 was granted.

Magnified Giving makes a big move – to our very own building! A generous donor, Dr. Joyce Kupfer-Mulderig donated and endowed The Center of Philanthropy on Reading Road, in memory of her parents, so that Magnified Giving could be institutionalized, have a robust staff with interns, host board meetings and offer our meeting space to other nonprofits.

Magnified Giving hosts Camp Give to junior philanthropists in Greater Cincinnati in grades 2-8. We celebrate a milestone – 10 Years of Student Philanthropy and partnered with 83 schools and granted over $161,000 at our awards ceremonies. We hired Director of Programs, Mrs. Alison Kaufman and our first Director of Advancement, Mrs. Carey Kuznar.