Traditional philanthropy has been rocked the past few years by demands for transparency, calls to increase diversity in staffing and grantmaking, and challenged to step decisively away from business as usual and aggressively into the mission.
Foundations have responded to different degrees and on different timelines ranging from deep and quick to shallow and slow. Some are taking decisive action, but others continue to deliberate, wring their hands, and tweak their old systems.
The tsunami of urgent circumstances and societal needs that called down this time of reconning has created substantial changes beyond traditional philanthropy. One such change is the rising tide of giving circles. Concerned citizens of every stripe and income level are throwing up their hands, opening their wallets, and embracing a common theme –“Never mind. We’ll do it ourselves.”
Philanthropy Together, a global initiative that works to democratize and diversify philanthropy through giving circles, reports that there are 2,500 circles engaging over 150,000 people–up from 2000 circles in 2020. It expects the number of giving circles to reach 3,000 by 2025.
Through a giving circle, people with shared values and concerns come together to learn and explore the issues they care about, discuss their vision for change, pool their donations, and make communal decisions about what organizations and initiatives to support. The circles can include hundreds of people and have formal application and decision-making processes or can be comprised of several people who make decisions informally. They can focus on local issues or give nationally or internationally.
The financial support circles provide can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1 million. In addition to providing financial support, circles work to raise community awareness about their target issues and encourage members to volunteer within the organizations the circles support.
It’s interesting to note that not every giving circle is an independent nonprofit. Community foundations and other traditional philanthropic intermediaries often serve as fiscal agents (hosts) for circles as a way to engage a more diverse range of donors, expand and deepen their relationships with their community, and build a culture of philanthropy (Dynamics of Hosting Giving Circles and Collective Giving Groups, 2018, Collective Giving Research Group).
By combining their financial resources, building awareness of issues, and supporting initiatives with time and muscle as well as money, giving circles are an increasing trend in grassroots change.
“Philanthropy Together calls this people-powered philanthropy, and it’s not just for rich folks. Some circles require a minimum donation of thousands of dollars, but others require only a few dollars or whatever an individual can afford,” said Barbara Floersch, grants expert and author of You Have a Hammer: Building Grant Proposals for Social Change.
You can locate giving circles that support your cause, or find a circle to join, by exploring the Global Giving Circle Directory at https://philanthropytogether.org/directory/.
