Join Lake Institute’s Summer Learning Challenge
Introducing Lake Institute’s self-paced Summer Learning Challenge! This isn’t your typical summer reading program. Instead, it’s a curated collection of Lake resources designed to help you strengthen donor relationships, spark meaningful conversations, and develop strategic plans for your congregation or organization.
Over four weeks, from July 6 through July 31, you’ll explore practical tools, insights, and activities that can enhance your fundraising and leadership efforts. Move through the challenge at your own pace while engaging with resources that inspire reflection and action.
After completing all four weekly challenges, you’ll be invited to submit a brief completion form for a chance* to win a copy of Madam C. J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow by Tyrone Freeman, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis.
*One winner will be selected at random and contacted by the Lake Institute team via email after July 31, 2026.
Ready to learn, reflect, and grow? Let the Summer Learning Challenge begin!
- Week 1: July 6-10, 2026 | Philanthropic Autobiography
- Week 2: July 13-17, 2026 | Constituency Model
- Week 3: July 20-24, 2026 | Faithful Generosity Story Shelf
- Week 4: July 27-31, 2026 | Philanthropy & the Black Church
- Summer Learning Challenge Completion Form | Enter for a chance to win a book!
Week 1: July 6-10, 2026
Philanthropic Autobiography
Here’s a question for you…who taught you to be generous? The Philanthropic Autobiography is an opportunity for you to reflect on who you are and to think consciously about your involvement in giving and volunteering. It is also an opportunity to recall how you came to experience and learn about charitable giving and what in your story motivates you to volunteer your time and give your money as well as your expertise for the benefit of others.
Challenge:
Answer two or three of these questions. Take it a step further and ask a colleague to respond to a few questions with you!
BONUS Challenge:
Think of one way you might use these questions in your setting with a smaller group of individuals connected to your organization or congregation.
Week 2: July 13-17, 2026
Constituency Model
Give it a try! Identifying and successfully engaging potential new donors or funders is never going to be flipping a switch; it takes time, trust, and relationship to find meaningful points of connection and partnership. This article highlights one tool to help you identify potential new donors.
Challenge:
What’s one step you can take today to start building your organization’s constituency model?
BONUS Challenge:
Choose one group of individuals for whom you could create something special, like a personal note, an event, an invitation to participate, etc.
Week 3: July 20-24, 2026
A Story from the Faithful Generosity Story Shelf
Settle in for story time! In this story, you’ll read about trust built by a church that is translating into better access to treatment at a free clinic staffed by health care providers and housed in former Sunday school classrooms.
Challenge:
Read this story with a group of colleagues or volunteers, using this guide to help spark your conversation.
BONUS Challenge:
Keep it going and explore the Shelf to see what other stories might spark your imagination!
Week 4: July 27-31, 2026
Philanthropy & the Black Church
It’s movie day! This short video highlights one AME congregation’s creative partnership with philanthropy and nonprofits to address environmental injustice, by easing the heat for communities of color and low-income neighborhoods through a “smart surfaces” coalition.
Challenge:
What is one part of your work that is currently benefiting, or could benefit in the future, from a creative partnership?
BONUS Challenge:
Identify one existing partner, or potential partner, with whom you could share this video and have a discussion about what makes creative partnerships.
Summer Learning Challenge Completion Form
Thank you for participating in Lake’s self-paced Summer Learning Challenge! We hope you found this challenge engaging and informative. Please fill out the required information below to be entered into a chance to win a copy of Madam C. J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow by Tyrone Freeman, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis.
*One winner will be selected at random and contacted by the Lake Institute team via email after July 31, 2026.