Giving

It’s a wonderful thing when an individual donates money to an organization, no matter the amount. But when a group of like-minded people get together and pool their contributions to one cause, their donations can have a much bigger impact. Called giving circles, these mechanisms for increasing philanthropy are one of the fastest-growing ways to give in the United States.

A giving circle can be as informal as a group of friends with a bank account who combine their money and decide together where to make donations. A giving circle also can be set up through community foundations or institutions with set dues and a board of directors that meets regularly to make financial decisions. Many people organize giving circles around a shared background or common interest, such as education, environmental issues, or developing leadership skills in women and girls.

Giving circles are making their growing presence known in the philanthropic world. The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers in Washington, D.C., found 200 giving circles in a 2004 survey; in 2006 it located 400 giving circles. The 160 circles that responded to the forum’s 2006 survey raised more than $88 million for community needs, granted $65 million, and engaged 11,700 donors. The forum found giving circles in small towns like Moscow, Idaho, as well as the Twin Cities, Chicago, and New York. They engage men and women of all ages, as well as a diverse ethnic and racial audience, such as the Hmong Women’s Giving Circle in Minneapolis.

The Twin Cities has a wealth of giving circles with varied purposes. At the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development, a giving circle has served as a way to bring alumni closer to the college and help train a new generation of philanthropists. The Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle has been operating for five years and has 50 members.

It functions with the mission to promote networking, leadership, and the involvement of women in philanthropy. In turn, the giving circle financially supports female students, staff, and faculty in the College of Education and Human Development. “The core support has been for graduate scholarships and for promising female faculty toward their research,” says Lynn Slifer, director of development for the college.  

This giving circle works by encouraging donors to give $1,000 a year for three years. A grants committee meets and makes recommendations about how to disburse funds each year—about $10,000 to $20,000 annually. The giving circle not only benefits the recipients, it gives women an opportunity to learn about topics like finance, estate planning, and philanthropy in a supportive environment.

Giving circle members also see their dollars make a bigger difference. “They put their $1,000 with many, many other $1,000 gifts and they have more impact than they would on their own,” notes Slifer. “It’s a type of corporate philanthropy—not in the sense of a business, but in the sense of doing it as a group. These women have gotten to know each other and they enjoy the social part of it as well. They are all working on the same thing and coming from the same values.”

Similarly, the Jewish Community Foundation at the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, an umbrella organization for local Jewish organizations, offers the Women’s Endowment Fund, a 54-member giving circle that has a 20-year history of fostering philanthropy among women. The circle, one of the first of its kind in the country, has supported 30 organizations over the years that serve Jewish women and girls.

“The women really like the hands-on giving experience,” explains Ginny Levi, association director of the Jewish Community Foundation. “They also like the association with each other around philanthropy.”