University of Mary Washington students enrolled in a philanthropy class are seeking applicants for $10,000 in grant money to be awarded to local nonprofit organizations.

Each fall, UMW’s philanthropy course awards a total of $10,000 to area nonprofit agencies.

The students have formed a foundation called the University of Mary Washington Philanthropic Society (UMWPS), and hope to fund programs that promote social justice through community development, including, but not limited to, career training, educational programs, and health services according to their mission statement.

The class will award a total of $10,000 to one or more nonprofits on Wednesday, December 4. The deadline for electronic applications is Friday, November 1 and the deadline for paper applications is Monday, October 28.

Eligible applicants must come from the City of Fredericksburg; the counties of Spotsylvania, Orange, King George, Stafford, Caroline, Culpeper and Prince William; the Middle Peninsula or the Northern Neck region. This year, the primary interest of the Economics of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector class is in projects that foster community development, and they are willing to consider a wide variety of alternatives..

Since 2005, classes under the instruction of Robert Rycroft, professor of economics, have provided grant money to local nonprofit organizations. The funding comes from philanthropist Doris Buffett’s Learning by Giving Foundation.

The Learning by Giving Program has supported similar undergraduate courses in philanthropy at institutions across the country. The success of the program led to the recent creation of the Learning by Giving Foundation.