Giving circle

A giving circle is a form of participatory philanthropy by a group of individuals who form a voluntary association to donate their money or time. The group then decides how to allocate these resources to charitable organizations or community projects.{{cite book |author1= Eikenberry, Angela M. |editor1-last=Glückler |editor1-first=Johannes |editor2-last=Meyer |editor2-first=Heinz-Dieter |editor3-last=Suarsana |editor3-first=Laura |title=Knowledge and Civil Society |date=2022 |publisher=Springer Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-71149-8 |pages=109–130 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71147-4_6 |access-date=December 22, 2022 |chapter=Schools of Democracy? Giving Circles and the Civic and Political Participation of Collaborative Philanthropists|series=Knowledge and Space |volume=17 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-71147-4_6 }} Groups may also seek to increase their awareness of and engagement with the issues covered by the charity or community project.{{cite web |url= https://media.npr.org/documents/2009/may/givingcircles.pdf |title= The Impact of Giving Together: a snapshot of a study on giving circles' influence on philanthropic & civic behaviors, knowledge & attitudes|author1=Eikenberry, Angela |author2=Bearman, Jessica |publisher= Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers|date= May 2009|access-date= April 13, 2025}}

Structure and function

File:Giving Circles Explained.png

A giving circle can be defined as a voluntary association with an "express philanthropic purpose" and a structure that is usually "informal and independent."{{rp|110-111}} According to Angela M. Eikenberry, professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, "Although giving circles come in a range of sizes and foci, these groups' key and defining attributes are that they involve individuals who together decide on support for organizations (and sometimes individuals) through giving money (and sometimes time)."{{rp|110}}

A giving circle is similar to crowdfunding but can be distinguished by how the group collectively decides on where to donate its resources.{{cite news |last1=Borzykowski |first1=Bryan |title=When It's Time for Giving, Some People Circle Around |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/business/giving-circles-nonprofits-political-campaigns.html |access-date=December 23, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 17, 2018}}{{rp|4}} The combined donation of the group can have a larger philanthropic impact on the recipient than smaller individual donations.{{cite news |last1=Fessler |first1=Pam |title=Donors Turn To Giving Circles As Economy Drops |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104151828 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |work=NPR |date=May 14, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Hannon |first1=Kerry |title=Giving Circles: More Impact to Go Around |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/giving/giving-circles-more-impact-to-go-around.html?_r=0 |access-date= December 23, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 7, 2013}}

Giving circles can function as informal groups or be more formally administered by a community foundation{{cite news |last1=Caumont |first1=Andrea |title=Giving Funds Provide Flexibility |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2005/11/06/giving-funds-provide-flexibility/e94d3b45-e979-4efa-850a-2f44ad30c15e/ |access-date=December 23, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 6, 2005}} or hosted by a nonprofit organization.{{cite book |last1=Bearman |first1=Jessica E. |title=A Handbook for Giving Circle Hosts: Tools and Resources for Developing and Sustaining Giving Circles |date=2008 |publisher=Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers |location=Washington, DC, United States |url=https://www.unitedphilforum.org/system/files/resources/A%20Handbook%20for%20Giving%20Circles%20Hosts.PDF |access-date=December 30, 2022}} Giving circles may also be connected by giving circle networks, which offer support and resources.{{cite web |title=Giving Circle Networks |url=https://philanthropytogether.org/networks/ |website=Philanthropy Together |access-date=December 18, 2024}}

According to Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, writing for the Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2012, giving circles can be categorized as grassroots giving circles, sponsored giving circles, or institutional giving circles based on a variety of characteristics, including their resources, group size, objectives, and structure.{{cite journal |last1=Arrillaga-Andreessen |first1=Laura |title=Giving 2.0: Getting Together to Give |journal=Stanford Social Innovation Review |date=Winter 2012 |url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/giving_2.0_getting_together_to_give |access-date=December 30, 2022}} Giving circles may also be identity-based, and a 2016 survey of giving circles in the United States by the Collective Giving Research Group found about 60 percent of circles defined with reference to race, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual identity.{{cite news |last1=Barclay |first1=Akira |last2=Fullwood |first2=Valaida |last3=Webb |first3=Tracey |title=The Sweetness of Circles |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-sweetness-of-circles/ |access-date=December 31, 2022 |work=Nonprofit Quarterly |date=March 29, 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Bearman |first1=Jessica |last2=Carboni |first2=Julia |last3=Eikenberry |first3=Angela |last4=Franklin |first4=Jason |title=The Landscape of Giving Circles / Collective Giving Groups in the U.S. |url=https://www.givingtuesday.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Giving-Circles-Research-Full-Report-WEB.pdf |website=www.givingtuesday.org |publisher=Collective Giving Research Group |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605084552/https://www.givingtuesday.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Giving-Circles-Research-Full-Report-WEB.pdf |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |date=2016}}

History and development

Giving circles emerged as an innovation in philanthropy in the early 1990s{{cite web |last1=Rutnik |first1=Tracey A. |last2=Bearman |first2=Jessica |title=Giving Together: A National Scan of Giving Circles and Shared Giving |url=https://www.unitedphilforum.org/system/files/resources/Giving%20Together%20-%20A%20National%20Scan%20of%20Giving%20Circles%20and%20Shared%20Giving.PDF |website=United Philanthropy Forum |publisher=Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers |access-date=December 31, 2022 |date=2005}}{{rp|7}}{{cite web |last1=Bearman |first1=Jessica E. |title=More Giving Together: The Growth and Impact of Giving Circles and Shared Giving |url=http://givingforum.org/s_forum/doc.asp?CID=22&DID=9565 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122756/http://www.givingforum.org/s_forum/bin.asp?CID=639&DID=5316&DOC=FILE.PDF |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |date=2007}}{{rp|8}} and the number of groups has increased since the early 2000s.{{cite news |last1=Hadero |first1=Haleluya |title=Ramadan drives donations, memberships to giving circles |url=https://apnews.com/article/philanthropy-lifestyle-ramadan-religion-business-afc9521e017a0a0f6b4d1ee676d60012 |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=Associated Press |date=May 14, 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Miller-Stevens |first1=Katrina |last2=Taylor |first2=Jennifer A. |title=Philanthropic Collaboration: A Conceptual Framework for Giving Circles |journal=Public Integrity |date=2020 |volume=22 |issue=6 |pages=575–589 |doi=10.1080/10999922.2020.1719808 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339081254 |access-date= December 30, 2022 |publisher=American Society for Public Administration|s2cid=213693584 }} According to the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, the number of giving circles in the United States doubled between 2004 and 2006 to approximately 400.{{cite magazine |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1857011,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081118161847/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1857011,00.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 18, 2008 |title= Report: Giving Circles |author=Kadlec, Dan|magazine= Time |date=November 5, 2008|access-date= June 16, 2011}}{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Robert J. |title=When Small Donors Get Together |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117945741505807194 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412094901/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117945741505807194 |archive-date=April 12, 2015}} In the United States, preliminary data about giving circles in 2005, 2006, and 2007 indicated membership tended to be female.{{rp|7}}{{cite journal | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249677156 | title=Giving Circles: Growing Grassroots Philanthropy | author=Eikenberry, Angela M. | journal=Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly |date=September 2006 | volume=35 | issue=3 | pages=517–532 | doi=10.1177/0899764006287482| s2cid=143294059 }}

By 2009, giving circles had been identified in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom.{{cite book |last1=Eikenberry |first1=Angela M. |title=Giving Circles: Philanthropy, Voluntary Association, and Democracy |date=2009 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253220851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YQ4e9L-9Y4C |access-date=December 29, 2022}}{{rp|57}} By 2016, the Women's Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University developed a database of about 1600 giving circles.{{cite news |last1=Kadaba |first1=Lini S. |title=Giving circles, where people pool their money for charity, have quadrupled, especially among women |url=https://www.inquirer.com/news/giving-circles-project-w-impact100-women-of-vision-philadelphia-20191029.html |access-date=December 23, 2022 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 29, 2019}} In 2021, the nonprofit organization Philanthropy Together created a searchable global database of more than 2500 giving circles on the Grapevine online platform.{{cite news |last1=Haynes |first1=Emily |title=Charity Creates a Searchable Directory of Giving Circles |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/nonprofit-creates-a-searchable-directory-of-giving-circles |access-date=December 8, 2022 |work=The Chronicle of Philanthropy |date=April 15, 2021}}

A study conducted in 2005 by Angela M. Eikenberry found giving circles generally bring both long-time and new philanthropists to organized philanthropy. Research by Eikenberry and Jessica Bearman, published in 2009, and largely based on a survey of giving circle members compared to a control group, found that giving circles influence members to give more and to give more strategically.

Examples

In 1995, American philanthropist Colleen Willoughby founded the Washington Women's Foundation with a collective giving structure,{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Samantha |last2=Kelley |first2=Tina |date=November 30, 1998 |title=Charity Belle |url=https://people.com/archive/charity-belle-vol-50-no-20/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=People}} and by 2007, the group grew to 460 members.{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Linda |date=April 30, 2007 |title=Washington Women's Foundation – Getting more women into the ranks of givers |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-womens-foundation-getting-more-women-into-the-ranks-of-givers/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=The Seattle Times}} The Kew Giving Circle in Kew, south west London, initiated by British charity chief executive Judy Weleminsky, started meeting in January 1999.{{Cite news |last=Bibby, Andrew |date=April 23, 2000 |title=Squaring the Charity Circle |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2000/apr/23/charitablegiving.observercashsection |access-date=December 12, 2022 |work=The Observer}} Impact100 was founded in 2001 by American philanthropist Wendy Steele as a giving circle composed of women who each give $1,000 and then decide together where to give the collective donation, and has since grown into chapters throughout the United States as well as outside of the US.{{Cite news |last=Cain |first=Cindy |date=March 16, 2018 |title=Impact100 brings women together to create philanthropic power |url=https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/carol-cain/2018/03/16/impact-100-nonprofit-wendy-steele/426024002/ |access-date=January 19, 2022 |work=Detroit Free Press}} The Funding Network is a UK-based giving circle that began in 2002 and runs Dragons' Den-style events for donors and charities.{{Cite news |date=December 18, 2014 |title=The Funding Network: Welcome to the Dragon's Den of charity |url=https://www.cityam.com/welcome-dragon-s-den-charity/ |access-date=30 December 2022 |work=City A.M. |location=London}}

Womenade began in the Washington, D.C. area in 2000 after six women began hosting potluck parties with a $35 attendance fee that was collectively used for charitable purposes.{{Cite news |last=Schulte |first=Brigid |date=March 20, 2004 |title=Womenade:Women turn potluck party into charity |url=https://journalstar.com/lifestyles/womenade-women-turn-potluck-party-into-charity/article_713c64ac-4f35-5111-8fce-ee08b6d28ab7.html |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=Lincoln Journal Star}} After the group received media attention in 2002, independent Womenade groups were created in other parts of the United States.{{rp|1}} In 2003, Marsha Wallace created a similar group, Dining for Women (now called Together Women Rise{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2021 |title=Dining for Women Amplifies Gender Equality Mission with New Name |url=https://philanthropywomen.org/activism/dining-for-women-amplifies-gender-equality-mission-with-new-name/ |access-date=March 14, 2023 |website=Philanthropy Women |language=en-US}}), which by 2009, had 177 groups in the United States.{{rp|1}}{{Cite news |last=Ballard |first=Michaele |last2=Dennis |first2=Alicia |date=September 5, 2013 |title=Marsha Wallace's Nationwide Dining Club Helps Women Around the World |url=https://people.com/human-interest/south-carolina-womans-dining-club-helps-women-and-children-worldwide/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=People}}

Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1990 with chapters and giving circles throughout the United States, including the Asian Women Giving Circle,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZleBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Giving+circle%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA89 |title=Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia |date=2014 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781452281896 |editor-last=Danico |editor-first=Mary Yu |page=89 |access-date=December 24, 2022}} founded in 2005 by Hali Lee.{{Cite news |last=Veridiano |first=Ruby |date=January 28, 2016 |title=Asian Women Giving Circle: Sisterhood, Service, and the Game-Changing 'Geh' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-women-giving-circle-sisterhood-service-game-changing-geh-n500731 |access-date=December 24, 2022 |work=NBC News}} AAPIP has also created a national giving circle network, and a Queer Justice Fund to support AAPI LGBT organizations.{{cite news |last1=Blancaflor |first1=Saleah |title=Asian-American LGBT Groups Find Support in Growing Community Giving Circles |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-american-lgbt-groups-find-support-growing-community-giving-circles-n621776 |access-date=December 24, 2022 |work=NBC News |date=August 2, 2016}} LGBTQ-focused giving circles include Beyond Two Cents in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kavod in New York,{{cite news |last1=Ferrannini |first1=John |title=LGBTQ Agenda: Giving circles draw attention to Give OUT Day as Pride Month ends |url=https://www.ebar.com/story.php?306445 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |work=Bay Area Reporter |date=June 29, 2021}} and The Dinner Guys in New York City.

Other examples of the giving circle model of fundraising include The American Muslim Community Foundation, which hosts giving circles with a focus on Ramadan and the Muslim principles of Zakat and Sadaqah. The Latino Giving Circle Network was created by The Latino Community Foundation to support giving circles in California, which between 2012 and 2020 gave more than $1.7 million to Latino-led nonprofit organizations.{{cite news |last1=Di Mento |first1=Maria |title=Latino Community Foundation Builds a New Generation of Donors |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/latino-community-foundation-builds-a-new-generation-of-donors |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=The Chronicle of Philanthropy |date=October 19, 2020}}{{cite news |title=Latino Community Foundation Invests Philanthropic Dollars In Businesses, Future Leaders & More |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/latino-community-foundation-invests-philanthropic-dollars-in-businesses-future-leaders-more/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=CBS Bay Area |date=April 7, 2021}} Amplifier is a giving circle network for Jewish giving circles that maintains a database of organizations,{{cite news |last1=Franklin |first1=Jason |title=Raising Funds From Giving Circles: Opportunities & Challenges of a Rising Collective Giving Model |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/raising-funds-from-giving-circles-opportunities-challenges-of-a-rising-collective-giving-model-2/ |access-date=December 31, 2022 |work=Nonprofit Quarterly |date=July 23, 2020}} and the Community Investment Network is a giving circle network for African-American giving circles.{{cite news |last1=Travers |first1=Julia |title=We Are Unstoppable: How Female Philanthropists are Turning Giving Circles into a Movement |url=https://msmagazine.com/2019/07/23/we-are-unstoppable-how-female-philanthropists-are-turning-giving-circles-into-a-movement/ |access-date=December 31, 2022 |work=Ms. |date=July 23, 2019}} The Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network (now called Philanos{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Melanie |date=March 10, 2020 |title=CATALIST, The Network of Women's Collective Giving Groups is now PHILANOS |url=https://www.greenvillewomengiving.org/catalist-the-network-of-womens-collective-giving-groups-is-now-philanos/ |access-date=March 14, 2023 |website=Greenville Women Giving |language=en-US}}) is a women's giving circle network that by 2024 had more than 90 member groups in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.{{Cite web |title=What is Philanos? |url=https://womensimpactfund.org/what-is-philanos/ |access-date=December 30, 2024 |website=Women's Impact Fund}}

References

External links

[https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle-directory Philanthropy Together Giving Circle Directory] (Grapevine.org)
[https://www.unitedphilforum.org/resources United Philanthropy Forum] (Giving Circles resources)

Category:1990s establishments

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Category:Community organizing

Category:Fundraising

Category:Giving

Category:Philanthropic organizations