A giving circle is a form of participatory

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

by a group of individuals who form a

voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteering, volunteers, to form a body (or organ ...

to donate their money or time. The group then decides how to allocate these resources to

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

s or

community project A community project is a term applied to any community-based project. This covers a wide variety of different areas within a community or a group of networking entities. Projects can cover almost anything, including the most obvious section of conce ...

s. Groups may also seek to increase their awareness of and engagement with the issues covered by the charity or community project.

Structure and function

A giving circle can be defined as a

with an "express

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

purpose" and a structure that is usually "informal and independent." According to Angela M. Eikenberry, "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)." A giving circle is similar to

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

but can be distinguished by how the group collectively decides on where to donate its resources. The combined donation of the group can have a larger philanthropic impact on the recipient than smaller individual donations. Giving circles can function as informal groups or be more formally administered by a community foundation or hosted by a nonprofit organization. Giving circles may also be connected by giving circle networks, which offer support and resources. According to Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, writing for the ''

Stanford Social Innovation Review ''Stanford Social Innovation Review'' (''SSIR'') is a magazine and website that covers cross-sector solutions to global problems. ''SSIR'' is written by and for social change leaders from around the world and from all sectors of society—nonprofi ...

'' 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. 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.

History and development

Giving circles emerged as an innovation in

in the early 1990s and the number of groups have increased since the early 2000s. 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. In the United States, preliminary data about giving circles in 2005, 2006, and 2007 indicated membership tended to be female. By 2009, giving circles had been identified in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia, and Great Britain. By 2016, the Women's Philanthropy Institute at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

developed a database of about 1600 giving circles. In 2021, the nonprofit organization Philanthropy Together created a searchable global database of more than 2500 giving circles on the Grapevine online platform. 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,

Colleen Willoughby Colleen S. Willoughby is an American philanthropist and the founder and former president of the Washington Women's Foundation, and the director of Global Women Partners in Philanthropy. Early life and career Colleen Seidelhuber was born around 1 ...

founded the Washington Women's Foundation with a collective giving structure, and by 2007, the group grew to 460 members. The Kew Giving Circle in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, south west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, started meeting in January 1999.

Impact100 Impact100 is a nonprofit philanthropic organization with local chapters in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, that was founded by Wendy Steele in 2001. History In 2001, Wendy Steele founded Impact100 in Cincinnati ...

was founded in 2001 by

Wendy Steele Wendy Steele is an American civil activist, social entrepreneur and philanthropist who is best known as founder of Impact100, a nonprofit organization with over 60 chapters across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand ...

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. The Funding Network is a UK-based giving circle that began in 2002 and runs ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

''-style events for donors and charities. Womenade began in the Washington, D.C. area in 2000 after six women began hosting

potluck A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared. Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, ...

parties with a $35 attendance fee that was collectively used for charitable purposes. After the group received media attention in 2002, independent Womenade groups were created in other parts of the United States. In 2003, Marsha Wallace created a similar group, Dining for Women, which by 2009, had 177 groups in the United States. 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, founded in 2005 by Hali Lee. AAPIP has also created a national giving circle network, and a Queer Justice Fund to support AAPI LGBT organizations. LGBTQ-focused giving circles include Beyond Two Cents in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, Kavod in New York, 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 , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

and the Muslim principles of

Zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...

and

Sadaqah or Sadqah ( ar, صدقة , "charity", "benevolence", plural ' ) in the modern context has come to signify "voluntary charity". According to the Quran, the word means voluntary offering, whose amount is at the will of the "benefactor". Etymolo ...

. 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. Amplifier is a giving circle network for Jewish giving circles that maintains a database of organizations, and the Community Investment Network is a giving circle network for African-American giving circles. The Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network is a women's giving circle network that by 2013 had 38 member groups in the United States.

References

External links

Philanthropy Together Giving Circle Directory
(Grapevine.org)
United Philanthropy Forum
(Giving Circles resources) Giving Charities Philanthropic organizations Fundraising Community organizing Community organizations

Structure and function

History and development

Examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links