Billionaire Warren Buffet is offering a free online course in philanthropy, the first ever massive open online course (MOOC) on the subject of giving.

Buffet’s six-class online course, called GivingWithPurpose, will be offered through his Learning by Giving Foundation. The MOOC will feature various guest speakers and allow students to invest over $100,000 of real money in nonprofit organizations in local communities. The course started July 15 and is welcoming new students through the end of July.

Buffet and his older sister, Doris Buffet, will introduce the topic of philanthropy in week one of the course by discussing the historical roots of the American nonprofit sector and the concept of donor motivation. Prominent guest speakers such as Cal Ripken Jr. and the founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will be featured in videos at the end of each week to discuss a specific aspect of nonprofit giving.

Students can pursue either a Learner track or Giver track, according to the website. Those students on the Giver track will play a role in giving away $100,000 of Doris Buffet’s money by nominating a nonprofit organization within 50 miles of the participant’s zip code. Giver track students will then evaluate the nominated nonprofits, following guidelines provided by the course tools. The Learning by Giving Foundation will review the nominated organizations and ultimately decide which one will receive the grant money. Depending on the location of students in the course, grants may be awarded to multiple organizations.

According to the site, both Learners and Givers will complete a total of six classes that last for one week each, each one covering various topics, such as relevance, impact, sustainability, charitable management and tools. Students can take the first five classes at their own pace as long as they finish them by 8 p.m. EST on Aug. 7.

Rebecca Riccio and Greg Witkowski are the instructors for the GivingWithPurpose course. Riccio is the founding director of a philanthropy educational program called Northeastern Students4Giving (NS4G) and teaches nonprofit management courses at Northeastern University.

Witkowski teaches philanthropy at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the first school in the country devoted to the study of philanthropy and offering BA, MA and PhD degrees in the subject.

While Buffet’s course is the first MOOC on the topic, there are universities that offer short-term certification programs in the field of philanthropy. Stanford’s Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders (EPNL), for example, is a two-week long residential program to strengthen the leadership skills of leaders currently working in education, social services, community development and health care.

 

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