Mays Business School Strategic Philanthropy Course Awards $200,000 to 12 Brazos Valley Nonprofits

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School Strategic Philanthropy Course has awarded $200,000 to 12 Bryan-College Station–area nonprofit organizations this spring, pushing total funds distributed by the student-led program past $1.6 million since its founding in 2016. The milestone caps a decade of growth for the course, which has become one of Mays’ signature experiential-learning offerings and a model for how business education can directly serve the community.

The course, taught by Dr. Kyle Gammenthaler ’11, clinical assistant professor and Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy Faculty Fellow, places students in the role of philanthropic decision-makers. Each spring semester, a competitively selected cohort of approximately 25 students researches community needs, conducts site visits to area nonprofits, and engages in structured deliberation before determining how funds will be distributed.

What began as a single $50,000 grant cycle funded by Fort Worth–based The Philanthropy Lab has grown into a program that regularly directs significant funding to the Brazos Valley, supported by Aggieland Credit Union, The Philanthropy Lab, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, and generous individual donors including Jennifer and Wil VanLoh, Debbie ’76 and John Bethancourt ’74, and Cheryl Mellenthin. Cohorts collectively steward between $50,000 and $200,000 in philanthropic capital per semester.

“From day one, we want students to understand that generosity isn’t just about writing a big check one day far in the future,” Gammenthaler said. “It’s about learning to be thoughtful with your resources, including time, talent, and treasure, right now. This course gives them the responsibility and the tools to practice that in a very real way.”

This semester’s 12 grant recipients represent a range of missions across the Brazos Valley, including education, health and human services, youth development, and community resilience:

• BCS Together
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Brazos Valley
• Brazos Interfaith Immigration Network
• Bryan ISD Education Foundation
• Elizabeth House Maternity Home
• Health for All
• Mercy Project
• OnRamp
• REACH Project
• Sexual Assault Resource Center
• Scotty’s House
• VOOM Foundation

Students presented ceremonial checks by visiting each organization’s location to deliver funds, meet staff and volunteers, and see firsthand how their decisions will serve the community.

The program’s growth over the past decade reflects Mays Business School’s broader commitment to developing leaders who create value not only in the marketplace but in the communities around them. By connecting rigorous business thinking with real philanthropic responsibility, Strategic Philanthropy prepares students to approach giving with the same analytical discipline and intentionality they bring to any professional challenge.

For more information about the Strategic Philanthropy course at Mays Business School, visit mays.tamu.edu.

About Mays Business School
Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School is building a better future through business. By providing leadership-centered, experiential education to more than 8,000 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing, and supply chain management, Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools nationally for its programs and faculty research. Our mission is developing leaders of character who make a positive difference in the communities where they live, work, and serve.