About Us

Philanthropy Together

Around the world, people are coming together to create the change they want to see in the world by joining a giving circle. This way of giving enables people to increase their impact and knowledge, have fun, and connect with their local community.

Giving circles have exploded in popularity, growing to more than 2,500 circles with 150,000+ people joining over the last two decades. Philanthropy Together (PhT) is a global initiative, co-created by hundreds of giving circle and network leaders, to scale and strengthen this movement to more than 350,000 people in 3,000 giving circles, collectively giving $1 billion by 2025.

Our mission at PhT is to democratize and diversify philanthropy through the power of collective giving. We envision a world full of passionate, empowered, diverse individuals giving collectively and intentionally to create the world they want to see.

Our model

Strategic Focus Areas

Showcase

Change the narrative of who is considered a philanthropist and how we give

Scale

Encourage the growth and participation in collective giving – giving circles, collaboratives, etc.

Strengthen

Shift practices of existing groups to be more connected, equitable, and rooted in trust

Sustain

Elevate the need for philanthropic infrastructure for collective giving to support a long-term, vibrant field
Check out our most recent impact report

Our commitment

Four Key Values

Lead with Trust & Respect to Support Collaboration

We acknowledge that collective giving has a rich history in our communities that we strive to support.

Continuously Learn & Improve

We will continue to stay close to the circles and networks on the ground doing this work day in and day out.

Create Space for Passion, Joy, and Fun

Giving together is an amazing experience, and can set a new tone for the future of philanthropy. We are building the party we want to attend — join us!

Commit to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

We are committed to building philanthropic infrastructure that supports collective givers, especially those traditionally underrepresented in philanthropy so that more resources are leveraged for communities, issues, and to reduce disparities.
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Our Story

The History

In fall of 2017, alongside the launch of the Collective Giving Research Group’s Landscape Study, leaders from two dozen giving circle networks came together for the first time through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Each network was working diligently with their own circles, chapters, affiliates, and communities, but without many (or any!) cross-field connections. This convening was an eye-opening moment: everyone wanted to connect, learn from one another, and spread the giving circle movement far and wide.

Core Co-design Team: Felicia Herman, Hali Lee, Sara Lomelin, Liz Fisher, Isis Krause, Marsha Morgan, and Paula Liang

Five diverse leaders and networks—representing Asian Women Giving Circle, Amplifier, Community Investment Network, Latino Community Foundation, and Philanos—embarked on a 12-month co-design process with consultant Isis Krause of Knead Partners to take the starting ideas from the convening and turn them into a full-fledged strategy. After dozens of interviews with giving circles, hundreds of hours of Zoom-fueled virtual working groups, and another field-wide convening three times the size of the first, the plan for Philanthropy Together was born.

An additional seed grant from the Gates Foundation enabled the idea to turn from vision to reality, and founding Executive Director Sara Lomelin—a long-time giving circle advocate and leader who started and grew the Latino Giving Circle Network to 20+ circles across California—came aboard to lead this bold vision. Philanthropy Together officially launched on April 1, 2020, thanks to the hundreds of people who co-created this powerful work. We’ve only just begun, and we’re so glad you’re here.

Read more

Commitment to Racial Equity

Philanthropy Together is committed to creating a more just and equitable society. Our vision is a world full of passionate, empowered, diverse individuals giving collectively and intentionally to create the world they want to see.

In order to make meaningful and lasting change towards this vision, commitment to ongoing learning and holding racial equity as core to all our work is necessary. We also accept our vital responsibility in tackling injustice, prejudice, and discrimination head on. Our long overdue reckoning with systemic racism played out in full force in recent years, and we affirm that the continued injustices and pervasive culture of division is unacceptable.

We acknowledge that philanthropy as a sector has been complicit in the unjust treatment and exclusion of Black, Indigenous, people of color, and many other marginalized groups, and we deeply commit to being a force for change, healing, and community building. Although the road is long, we must collectively—staff, leaders, partners, and funders—share in the responsibility to put in the work to transform broken systems and continue on a journey towards liberation. We look to upend white supremacist colonial structures that have used philanthropy to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of few and elevate the deep wisdom and experience of community-based and collective philanthropy. The groundswell of racial diversity within the collective giving movement inspires us, and the opportunity to build on its transformative power in service to the overall field of philanthropy gives us much hope.

Everyone has the ability to lead in this work, and we stand resolute in the belief that the collective giving movement is inclusive and made for everyone. Real change is coming, and we are grateful for all those who wish to join us.

Meet the Team

Kelsey Barowich

Program and Campaign Manager

Kyson Bunthuwong

Development & Partnerships Director

Isis Krause

Chief Strategy Officer

Ilyasah N Shabazz

Senior Operations & Communications Director

Melissa Vargas

Senior Operations Coordinator

Senior Advisor, Collaboratives

Senior Advisor, Collaboratives

Meet Braintrust

A committee of representatives from more than a dozen giving circle networks across the country who inform program development and strategy for the giving circle field at-large.

Beverley Francis-Gibson 

Together Women Rise

Dara Fersel

Amplifier

Emily Rasmussen
Emily Rasmussen

Grapevine

Erin Arnheim

Legacy Collective

Eugenie Harvey

The Funding Network

Ina Breuer

NEID Global

Jessica Rauch

The Giving Project

LiJia Gong

Radfund

Maggie Glasgow

Philanos

Mario Lugay

Social Justice Giving Circle Project

Melissa Walker

The States Project

Mihaela Giurgiu

The Funding Network

Patricia Hamzahee

Black Funding Network

Peter Williamson

Next Gen Giving Circle

Sasha Raskin-Yin

Amplifier

Seiji Carpenter
Seiji Carpenter

Radfund

Shanna O’Berry
Shanna O’Berry

Learning By Giving

Staci Eichelbaum Levine

Honeycomb

Susan Benford
Susan Benford

Philanos

Wendy Frattolin Headshot
Wendy Frattolin

Together Women Rise

Our Supporters & Partners

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Logo
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Delores Barr Weaver Fund Logo
Global Impact logo
Collective Giving Research Group
Google Logo
Wings - Elevating Philanthropy Logo
Grapevine logo
Synergos logo
New Deal Design Logo

Philanthropy Together in the News

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