New MOOC gives away Warren Buffett’s sister’s money

Rebecca Riccio, the Northeastern University professor who will teach the course, said the MOOC will focus on individual decision-making in giving and will teach strategies students can use to make sure their donations are effective.

“It’s an experience that gives profound insight into deciding how we meet the needs of our society,” Riccio said.

Charitable gifts should be relevant to whatever people are passionate about, Riccio said. But this class will teach people how to judge what kind of impact a nonprofit makes and how well-run the charity is based on how much it spends on administration.

Doris Buffett’s grandson, Alex Buffett Rozek, organized the online course, and he said he hopes this will be the first of many times it is offered.

In addition to what students learn in the course about effective giving, the nonprofits involved are also learning because usually the classes focus on smaller local charities. As students review organizations that might receive grant money, the charities learn about the process of winning grants.

“These grants are huge to the organizations that receive them,” Rozek said. “And because they went through the process, they do understand how to fill out a grant application and get funding.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.