Bonner Partners
Welcome!
Welcome to the NEW Bonner Partners Wiki page! On this page you will find information about the Bonner Partners Program that is specifically oriented towards Partners--new and old. Please take a look at the information here and also explore the rest of the Wiki to learn about other parts of the Bonner Foundation. Help us build a stronger relationship between your organization, Bonner students and the Bonner Foundation! If you have any questions regarding any of this information, please email partners@bonner.org or contact Erin Foster or Ariane Hoy at (609) 924-6663.
Q & A
Partner Information
The Bonner Foundation is a non-profit, privately funded, service-scholarship organization located in Princeton, New Jersey. Started by Corella and Bertram F. Bonner, the original purpose of the Foundation was to help those who, like Mr. and Mrs. Bonner, grew up in underprivileged areas and have a high financial need. In 1989, the Foundation began working with colleges and universities, seeking a way to provide both scholarships to students who could not otherwise afford to attend college and to drive students and institutions of higher education to service in their own communities.
Since the Bonner Scholars Program was piloted at Berea College in 1990-1, the Foundation has worked with colleges and universities to support students to attend college and to be active and involved in community service while in school. In the first few years, an initial group of schools were identified to participate in this service-based scholarship program. The Bonner Scholars Program now operates on 24 campuses and supports 1,500 students annually to be actively involved in community service and social justice issues. The students receive a scholarship in exchange for 10 hrs/week of volunteer work and summer internships. Each school supports a director and a coordinator who oversee the general operations of the Bonner Program and has between 30 and 100 Bonner Scholars.
In 1997, the Bonner Leader Program was added and these campuses work in partnership with the Bonner Scholar Program campuses. There are now more than 60 campuses operating Bonner Leader Programs, bringing the total number of campuses in the Bonner network to more than 80.
The Bonner Program is designed to transform not only the students who are directly supported by the program, but also the campus and community in which they serve and learn. The goals of the program are identified in four areas: students, community, campus and higher education. The Foundation addresses social justice issues by encouraging students and volunteers to become aware of the problems and issues of their communities. Additionally, the Foundation encourages students to become aware of the way policies are created and how those policies affect people on a local level.
Learn more:
Bonner Program
Bonner History
Difference between Bonner Scholar and Bonner Leader Programs
Bonner Campus Profiles
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The Bonner Partner Program seeks to forge a relationship between the Bonner Foundation, Bonner Scholar/Leader students, "Bonner campuses," and select service organizations (Bonner Partners). The Bonner Partners are local, national and international organizations that engage in a wide range of service, from grassroots organizing and field service to education, public policy and research. There are over 200 Bonner Partners organizations representing nearly every state and 5 continents.
The Bonner Partner Program envisions many ways in which Partner organizations and our community can benefit one another. The program offers Bonner students an excellent opportunity to fulfill their scholarship requirements with some of the best service organizations that already have an established relationship with the Bonner Foundation. The students receive training and have considerable experience in the service sector and are leaders on their campuses. These students in turn become a valuable resource for the Partner organizations. The Partners gain access not only to hundreds of capable volunteers, but also to a network of other service organizations.
Finally, if we think of the Bonner Foundation as a student movement and strategy for investing the resources of colleges and universities in work that creates significant change in both our communities and our country, cooperation with the nations' non-profit networks and organizations is paramount. Connections with these different Partners can benefit students, Partners and the national community in many different ways.
There are five primary opportunities within the Partners Program:
ALTERNATIVE BREAK SITE
Many schools sponsor week-long service projects outside their local community during school breaks. This is a great opportunity for Partner organizations to host larger, short-term service projects. All first year Bonner students are required to participate in an alternative break project, and all students are encouraged to seek out service opportunities during their breaks. Particularly for alternative breaks, provision of housing is appreciated but not required.
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Scholars/Leaders will use their experience and training to contribute to a service organization inside or outside their local community. Internships primarily occur during the summer, but year-long internships may also be made available. The students receive scholarship money from Bonner towards their tuition, but the Partner organization may also provide an additional stipend. Or, Partners may help the student by compensating housing, food and/or transportation.
- Summer internships are a great way for for students to engage in medium-term, meaningful summer service. The Bonner students will do 2-3 summer internships throughout their college career. It is an opportunity for students to serve outside of their immediate community.
- Year-long internships offer students an opportunity for sustained, local service with an organization through the academic year.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Some Partner organizations are able to offer service-education opportunities. Sometimes students will be able to earn college credit for the work they do with the Partner organization. Other service options simply offer a significant amount of practical education in a particular area.
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Post-graduate jobs are a good opportunity to expand service beyond the Bonner Foundation's model. Partners may extend full-time staff positions or internships to Bonner alumni. With four years of significant social service experience, Bonner alumni make ideal employees.
RESOURCE PROVIDER
If a Partner does not have service positions available, there are several ways that a Partner can still help students.
- Training: Students are provided with enrichment opportunities, such as leadership trainings and retreats. Bonner Partners can organize, lead or participate in these opportunities to help enrich the student's experience.
- Bonner gatherings: Partners may be invited to attend regional or national gatherings of Bonner students to network and share experiences.
- Information: With years of hands-on experience in many service fields, partners are a great resource for students. They can share other service opportunities, information about the field or other ways to get involved.
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A Bonner Partner is a non-profit service organization (local, national or international; grassroots to governmental) that has partnered with the Bonner Foundation in an effort to better serve local, national and international communities by providing meaningful service experiences to Bonner Scholars and Bonner Leaders.
See a listing of current Bonner Partners
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- With the relationship established through the Bonner Partner Program, Partners gain access to experienced student volunteers who will bring a strong work ethic and enthusiasm for service to the organization. Bonner Scholars and Bonner Leaders receive training, have considerable experience in the service sector and are leaders on their campuses. These students become valuable participants to the Partner organizations and expand the commitment to service beyond their schools.
- When Partners offer service opportunities to Bonner students, they will help these students to have meaningful service opportunities. Also, the partnership can help the students find their voice within the service community and seek out their place as a citizen in a world of need.
- Through the Bonner Partners Program, Partner organizations enter into a network of service organizations that can help forge connections with the larger service community and potentially move towards collaboration on various service initiatives.
- Being a Partner doesn't cost anything and it is not part of any fundraising effort on our part. If so desired, an organization can discontinue its connection at any time.
If you are interested in becoming a Bonner Partner, please send an email to partners@bonner.org or contact Kathleen Buttolph at (609) 924-6663.
Dear potential and current Partners!
The Bonner Foundation invites you to actively participate in building a partnership between our organization, Bonner students and your organization. If you are not currently a Partner, we'd love to establish a partnership to better serve our communities (see How do I become a Bonner Partner?). For current Partners, we invite you to continue working with us and Bonner students to strengthen our partnership. Towards that end, we invite you to take a more direct role in offering opportunities to students by using our online resources: the Bonner Wiki and Google maps (see Resources for Partners). These are two fantastic tools to help you reach out to students with information, internships and more. Finally, we would like your feedback on how to better serve you so that we can help reinforce our partnership (email us at partners@bonner.org).
Welcome to the Bonner Team!
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BONNER NETWORK WIKI
Partner organization’s materials are made available to our Bonner students and other members of the service community through our Bonner Partner Wiki pages (a website that allows for easy editing by many). Each Partner has its own Wiki page that can be accessed via alphabetical, location, issue area or opportunity type listings. Here individuals will have a chance to explore an organization's mission, internship details, post-graduate opportunities, alternative-break options and more. Partners can edit the information themselves to keep the information up-to-date and add links, videos and photos!
Keeping Wiki Information Up-to-date
GOOGLE MAPS
The Partners Program has created a Google Map (Bonner Partners Map) with the location and a brief description of each Partner organization. This is a great way for students to search different Partner organizations geographically.
How to use our Google map
OTHER
You can also find the Bonner Foundation on the following sites:
In addition to using the Bonner Partners Wiki pages, some other service networking sites are:
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If your Partner organization is not already on the Bonner Partners Google Map, you can add it by following the instructions below. The first downloadable document (Adding site to Map.doc) is a general set of instructions. The second downloadable document (Adding site_unique address.doc) is a set of instructions if Google does not already have your organization's address tied to your organization.
If your Partner organization is already on the Bonner Partners Google Map, but you would like to edit the information, use the Adding site to Map.doc instructions to help guide you.
Finally, if you would prefer to have us edit the map for you, please email us at partners@bonner.org and we will edit it for you.
Adding site to Map.doc
Adding site_unique address.doc
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There are five primary opportunity areas within the Partners Program--the partnership can consists of one or all of these components.
ALTERNATIVE BREAK SITE
Many schools sponsor week-long service projects outside their local community during school breaks. This is a great opportunity for Partner organizations to host larger, short-term service projects. All first year Bonner students are required to participate in an alternative break project, and all students are encouraged to seek out service opportunities during their breaks. Particularly for alternative breaks, provision of housing is appreciated but not required.
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Scholars/Leaders will use their experience and training to contribute to a service organization inside or outside their local community. Internships primarily occur during the summer, but year-long internships may also be made available. The students receive scholarship money from Bonner towards their tuition, but the Partner organization may also provide an additional stipend. Or, Partners may help the student by compensating housing, food and/or transportation.
- Summer internships are a great way for for students to engage in medium-term, meaningful summer service. The Bonner students will do 2-3 summer internships throughout their college career. It is an opportunity for students to serve outside of their immediate community.
- Year-long internships offer students an opportunity for sustained, local service with an organization through the academic year.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Some Partner organizations are able to offer service-education opportunities. Sometimes students will be able to earn college credit for the work they do with the Partner organization. Other service options simply offer a significant amount of practical education in a particular area.
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Post-graduate jobs are a good opportunity to expand service beyond the Bonner Foundation's model. Partners may extend full-time staff positions or internships to Bonner alumni. With four years of significant social service experience, Bonner alumni make ideal employees.
RESOURCE PROVIDER
If a Partner does not have service positions available, there are several ways that a Partner can still help students.
- Training: Students are provided with enrichment opportunities, such as leadership trainings and retreats. Bonner Partners can organize, lead or participate in these opportunities to help enrich the student's experience.
- Bonner gatherings: Partners may be invited to attend regional or national gatherings of Bonner students to network and share experiences.
- Information: With years of hands-on experience in many service fields, partners are a great resource for students. They can share other service opportunities, information about the field or other ways to get involved.
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If you have any questions regarding any of this information, please email partners@bonner.org or contact Kathleen Buttolph at (609) 924-6663.
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We'd like to get your feedback! If you have thoughts on any of the following, please email us at partners@bonner.org. Thanks!
- Have you hosted a Bonner student before? If so, tell us about the experience.
- What other resources can we offer that would help you?
- Do you have suggestions for how we can improve the Bonner Partners Program?
- Is there any way we can help you better understand the goals and objectives of the Bonner Foundation and the Bonner Partners Program?
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