Giving circle

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Form of participatory philanthropy

title: "Giving circle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1990s-establishments-in-the-united-states", "charities", "community-organizations", "community-organizing", "fundraising", "giving", "philanthropic-organizations", "social-groups"] description: "Form of participatory philanthropy" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_circle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Form of participatory philanthropy ::

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

Structure and function

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Giving_Circles_Explained.png" caption="According to Philanthropy Together, giving circles follow these five steps: Gather, discuss, decide, give and engage."] ::

A giving circle can be defined as a voluntary association with an "express philanthropic purpose" and a structure that is usually "informal and independent." 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)."

A giving circle is similar to crowdfunding 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. The circle can function as an informal group or be more formally administered by a community foundation or hosted by a nonprofit organization. It 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 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 philanthropy in the early 1990s and the number of groups has 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 that membership tended to be female.

By 2009, giving circles had been identified in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom. By 2016, the Women's Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University 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, American philanthropist Colleen Willoughby founded the Washington Women's Foundation with a collective giving structure; by 2007, the group had grown to 460 members. The Kew Giving Circle in Kew, south west London, initiated by British charity chief executive Judy Weleminsky, started meeting in January 1999. 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; it 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-style events for donors and charities.

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. 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 (now called Together Women Rise), 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, gay men's giving circle Kavod in New York City, 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. 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 (now called Philanos) 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.

References

References

  1. (2022). "Knowledge and Civil Society". [[Springer Publishing]].
  2. (May 2009). "The Impact of Giving Together: a snapshot of a study on giving circles' influence on philanthropic & civic behaviors, knowledge & attitudes". Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
  3. (November 17, 2018). "When It's Time for Giving, Some People Circle Around". [[The New York Times]].
  4. (May 14, 2009). "Donors Turn To Giving Circles As Economy Drops". [[NPR]].
  5. (November 7, 2013). "Giving Circles: More Impact to Go Around". [[The New York Times]].
  6. (November 6, 2005). "Giving Funds Provide Flexibility". [[The Washington Post]].
  7. (2008). "A Handbook for Giving Circle Hosts: Tools and Resources for Developing and Sustaining Giving Circles". Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
  8. "Giving Circle Networks".
  9. (Winter 2012). "Giving 2.0: Getting Together to Give". [[Stanford Social Innovation Review]].
  10. (March 29, 2019). "The Sweetness of Circles". [[Nonprofit Quarterly]].
  11. (2016). "The Landscape of Giving Circles / Collective Giving Groups in the U.S.". Collective Giving Research Group.
  12. (2005). "Giving Together: A National Scan of Giving Circles and Shared Giving". Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
  13. (2007). "More Giving Together: The Growth and Impact of Giving Circles and Shared Giving".
  14. (2020). "Philanthropic Collaboration: A Conceptual Framework for Giving Circles". [[American Society for Public Administration]].
  15. (May 14, 2021). "Ramadan drives donations, memberships to giving circles". [[Associated Press]].
  16. Kadlec, Dan. (November 5, 2008). "Report: Giving Circles".
  17. (May 18, 2007). "When Small Donors Get Together". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
  18. Eikenberry, Angela M.. (September 2006). "Giving Circles: Growing Grassroots Philanthropy". [[Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly]].
  19. (2009). "Giving Circles: Philanthropy, Voluntary Association, and Democracy". [[Indiana University Press]].
  20. (October 29, 2019). "Giving circles, where people pool their money for charity, have quadrupled, especially among women". [[The Philadelphia Inquirer]].
  21. (April 15, 2021). "Charity Creates a Searchable Directory of Giving Circles". [[The Chronicle of Philanthropy]].
  22. Miller, Samantha. (November 30, 1998). "Charity Belle". [[People (magazine).
  23. Shaw, Linda. (April 30, 2007). "Washington Women's Foundation – Getting more women into the ranks of givers". [[The Seattle Times]].
  24. Bibby, Andrew. (April 23, 2000). "Squaring the charity circle". [[The Observer]].
  25. Cain, Cindy. (March 16, 2018). "Impact100 brings women together to create philanthropic power". [[Detroit Free Press]].
  26. (December 18, 2014). "The Funding Network: Welcome to the Dragon's Den of charity". [[City A.M.]].
  27. Schulte, Brigid. (March 20, 2004). "Womenade:Women turn potluck party into charity". [[Lincoln Journal Star]].
  28. (March 11, 2021). "Dining for Women Amplifies Gender Equality Mission with New Name".
  29. Ballard, Michaele. (September 5, 2013). "Marsha Wallace's Nationwide Dining Club Helps Women Around the World". [[People (magazine).
  30. (2014). "Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia". SAGE Publications.
  31. Veridiano, Ruby. (January 28, 2016). "Asian Women Giving Circle: Sisterhood, Service, and the Game-Changing 'Geh'". [[NBC News]].
  32. (August 2, 2016). "Asian-American LGBT Groups Find Support in Growing Community Giving Circles". [[NBC News]].
  33. (June 29, 2021). "LGBTQ Agenda: Giving circles draw attention to Give OUT Day as Pride Month ends". [[Bay Area Reporter]].
  34. (October 19, 2020). "Latino Community Foundation Builds a New Generation of Donors". [[The Chronicle of Philanthropy]].
  35. (April 7, 2021). "Latino Community Foundation Invests Philanthropic Dollars In Businesses, Future Leaders & More". [[CBS News]].
  36. (July 23, 2020). "Raising Funds From Giving Circles: Opportunities & Challenges of a Rising Collective Giving Model". [[Nonprofit Quarterly]].
  37. (July 23, 2019). "We Are Unstoppable: How Female Philanthropists are Turning Giving Circles into a Movement". [[Ms. (magazine).
  38. Dixon, Melanie. (March 10, 2020). "CATALIST, The Network of Women's Collective Giving Groups is now PHILANOS".
  39. "What is Philanos?".

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1990s-establishments-in-the-united-statescharitiescommunity-organizationscommunity-organizingfundraisinggivingphilanthropic-organizationssocial-groups