Sometimes, it is about the money, as students in one Urban Studies class recently found out. As Newsworks reports, the students, investigating the relationship between philanthropists and grant recipients, were given the chance to apply what they’d learned after an anonymous donor supplied them with $100,000, a first for the class. With so many deserving organizations around the Philadelphia area, shelling out money turned out to be a very difficult task.

In the end, nonprofits like the East Park Revitalization Alliance, an urban greening organization, and Play On! Philadelphia, an after-school music group, were awarded the money that had been divvied up between five groups. Well, that’s one way to use $100,000.

Well, now the class of 2011 knows who to hit up for a loan. Or a new car. You can see all the donors, grouped by donation amount, on the neat little piece of viewing technology here. It even goes to years past, so you know who by now probably has a real nice job and definitely wants you to call them for money. Special shoutout to the “Half A Year’s Tuition As A Donation Club,” population two!

What does it take to get an engraved stone on the Locust Walk bridge? Not sure, but we’re guessing a blogger’s salary won’t cover it.

Anyway, we noticed that some of the blank stones on the bridge had last names written on them with yellow chalk. Planning for newly dedicated stones, we guess?

A different kind of Penn Cash.

There’s good news and bad news for Penn. According to numbers released this week, charitable giving at Penn was down, but still exceeded the target adjusted for this year’s economy. Despite a goal of $350 million, the apparently blinged out friends of our fine university donated $440 million this year, the second highest number in Penn’s history. Things ain’t so bad, we guess!

How did this happen? We don’t know exactly. But that Penn Fund sure does know how to get the job done.