A giving circle network brings a community of giving circles with shared affinities, interests, and/or area served together to provide networking and resources. There are more than a dozen networks representing close to 1,000 giving circles all across the globe.
Take advantage of the resources, tools, coaching and learning opportunities that networks provide, and gain guidance and connections from giving circles similar to yours!
With more than 650 global chapters, 100+ Who Care Alliance is a network consisting of 100 Women Who Care, 100 Men Who Care, 100 Teens Who Care and many more. Founder Karen Dunigan created this giving circle based model of “chapters” to allow people to quickly meet the needs of their community as simply as possible. Each chapter meets four times a year donating $100 dollars each. 100+ Who Care Alliance is a resource voluntarily compiled by chapter leaders for existing and future chapter leaders of various groups. This forum provides networking as well as aid in communication and ongoing operations of new and existing chapters.
Founded in 2016, the American Muslim Community Foundation’s focus is on creating giving circles, Donor Advised Funds, distributing grants, and building endowments for the American Muslim community. Currently operating seven giving circles, AMCF provides support in getting your giving circle started. With the mission of cultivating donor giving and diversifying funding to advance charitable causes, their network has since donated more than $2.7 million to various organizations.
Amplifier (now housed at Jewish Federations of North American) is a global network of giving circles that ignites, strengthens, and informs giving to transform and grow philanthropy inspired by Jewish values and wisdom. Their commitment to providing guidance with resources and tools to ignite giving has created more than 120 giving circles and supported 4500+ members. With more than 108 accessible online resources having been downloaded 58,000+ times, Amplifier continues to catalyze, connect, and counsel giving circles every day.
With 89 chapters spanning 14+ countries, The Awesome Foundation is dedicated to advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. The size of the giving circle determines the amount of the donation of each member to reach the goal for the monthly grant. Founded in 2009, this no strings attached donation has granted more than $4 million dollars to nearly 4,800 projects. Since each chapter has the luxury to create their own unique definition of awesome, projects range from social issues to cultural and arts initiatives, all reflecting the diversity of The Awesome Foundation.
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy expands and mobilizes resources for AAPI communities to build a more just and equitable society. Currently, 50 giving circles, AAPIP is committed to expanding a National Giving Circle movement that will increase resources to AAPI communities. Since 2005, more than 2,500 AAPI philanthropists have pooled their money and time to award more than $2.7 million to over 500 AAPI nonprofit organizations.
Founded in 2003, Community Investment Network (CIN) was established to inspire, connect, and strengthen African Americans and communities of color to leverage their resources to create the change they wish to see. Seventeen giving circles have since launched and are encouraged to learn the history of philanthropy, generate ideas, and broaden the understanding of the nonprofit sector.
TFN is an open, global network that links potential donors to charitable causes and social entrepreneurs through live crowdfunding. We aim to raise money for small non-profits driving social change and help both individuals and businesses to combine their giving with others, to make a bigger impact.Since our inception in 2002, The Funding Network has helped raise over £15.4 million for over 2,248 non-profits driving social change all over the world. We have funded organizations in the areas of human rights, climate change and the environment, health, education, inclusion and much more.
The Giving Project, based in Vermont, works to radically increase and diversify the nonprofit sector donor base in Vermont by enabling more Vermonters to connect with and give to causes they care about. They have a network of more than a dozen giving circles and counting. In partnership with Philanthropy Together, The Giving Project runs Launchpad Vermont to kick-start dozens of new Vermont-based giving circles.
Giving Projects bring together a cohort of folks across race and class to engage in political education, organize resources – people and money – and make grants to support social justice movements. Giving Projects have been successful at moving money to movements, mobilizing participants as donor organizers and leaders in their communities, and strengthening local social movement ecosystems.
Honeycomb, formerly Jewish Teen Funders Network, serves as a central resource for the rapidly growing field of Jewish teen philanthropy. Currently, there are 100+ Jewish teen philanthropy programs comprised of teen foundations and individual giving programs. Created in 2006 to introduce teens to collective grantmaking, this development building process not only strengthens their engagement in Jewish life but also provides opportunities to learn leadership skills.
Founded in 2001 by Wendy Steele, Impact100 was launched with the goal to empower women to see themselves as activists through utilizing large grants to make an impact within their communities. Since its founding, more than 60 chapters have been created and continue to grow stronger and more impactful each day. Their giving model consists of at least 100 women coming together and donating $1,000 dollars each, to then donate a $100,000 grant to their local community at the end of each grant cycle. Through support from their Impact100 Council that provides guidance, tools, and resources, more women are able to connect to an Impact100 chapter nearby in order to experience the power of giving together.
Committed to unleashing the power of Latinos in California, Latino Community Foundation prides itself on building a movement of civically engaged philanthropic leaders. Since establishing in 2006, LCF has created 22 giving circles with a total of 500 members and has become the largest network of Latino philanthropists. In 2018, Latino Community Foundation granted more than 2.3 million dollars to Latino nonprofit organizations and strive to continue to harness the collective power of paying it forward each day.
Founded by Doris Buffett, Learning by Giving Foundation supports a new generation of philanthropists and local nonprofits through experiential philanthropy high school and college courses. To date, more than $4 million grant dollars have been provided teaching a total of 5,100+ students more than 300 philanthropy courses. Passionate about students being thoughtful, effective givers through real grant dollars, their high school program and other initiatives have more than 90 percent success rates in creating awareness for students to make a difference in their communities.
Legacy Collective works to solve systemic issues by funding the most sustainable, innovative efforts through partnerships with nonprofit organizations locally and globally. With giving circles led by individuals, companies, and cities, members give in monthly amounts ranging from $35 – $1000. Then, they nominate nonprofits addressing systemic issues with innovative sustainable solutions for grants. Since 2015, Legacy Collective has raised $5MM+ for more than 120 grants to 90+ nonprofits across 15+ issue areas globally.
The Network of Engaged International Donors (NEID Global) is a unique peer-to-peer learning network based in Boston that serves a community of passionate and dedicated international philanthropists across the world. For more than 10 years, NEID Global has been creating community among internationally focused donors to help address the world’s big problems. At NEID Global we start with humility. Through strategic networking, educational opportunities, and information sharing we strive for transformational social change. NEID Global members foster equitable partnerships, learn from each other, connect deeply with one another, inspire each other, and act together to build a world where everyone can thrive.
Philanos is the largest collective giving network for women’s giving circles and other collective giving groups. With more than 70 affiliates and 17,500 women involved in one or more circles. Since 2017 Philanos has offered more than 350 programs focused on strengthening collective giving organizations through education and collaboration that promotes impactful grantmaking to inspire women’s philanthropic leadership.
With 3,400+ engaged partners and 40 affiliate organizations, Social Venture Partners International is the largest network of donors in the world. Their goal is to have their principles and practices be globally recognized to emulate transformational change in philanthropists. Their strategies focus on investing in their local community, but is connected to the global movement woven together by SVPI. Since establishing in 1996, SVPI cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions – building powerful relationships to tackle communities’ social challenges. Collectively, partners at SVPI have supported more than 900 nonprofits and provided more than 70 million dollars in grants and volunteer hours.
The States Project connects the importance of state legislatures to every aspect of our lives and brings together giving circles to help build a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for all. They identify competitive state chambers and game-changing districts where giving circles can make the biggest difference. Giving circles engage with materials from The States Project, learn a ton about our democracy, pool contributions, select a state, and make it possible to elect majority-making candidates committed to improving millions of lives.
Through collective giving circles, Together Women Rise, formerly Dining for Women, inspires, educates, and engages people to invest in grassroots programs that make a meaningful difference for women and girls living in extreme poverty in developing countries. Together Women Rise has a model that has average donations of $35 dollars. Since being founded in 2003, more than 100 chapters, with more than 32,000 individuals have gathered around dining tables and kitchens around the world to pool $6+ million dollars in grants.
Learn about Chicago’s rich Black history in philanthropy and collective giving with this look at Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited (TSOP)
Rebecca Darwent is one of Philanthropy Together’s newest Senior Advisors and the co-founder of Foundation for Black Communities. Learn about the shifts she’s seeing in community-led philanthropy.
Sarah Zak Borgman has just joined the Philanthropy Together team as we expand our focus to include all forms of collective giving, including collaborative funds. Read this post from Sarah as she shares lessons she’s learned about building community.
On April 1, 2023, Philanthropy Together is celebrating 3 years! Check out this blog post for a sneak peek at our next chapter.
Check out this list of BIPOC-led nonprofits in North Carolina’s Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) to support this GivingTuesday and beyond.
Co-creater of The Tanna Fund and a member of Next Gen Giving Circle, guest writer Shannon Jeffries shares her personal giving circle journey.