Giving Circles: Selected Readings

We are glad so many of you were able to join us this past Friday for the New York Library/Learning Center's second annual open house. For those of you who missed the event, we distributed a brief reading list on giving circles that we'll share with you here:

Bearman, Jessica. More Giving Together: The Growth and Impact of Giving Circles and Shared Giving. Washington, DC: Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, 2007. 36 p. Subject File Number: 458 (full text)
Reports on a survey of 160 giving circles, with a focus on groups that have existed for more than five years. This second report from the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers updates basic giving circle data from the 2004 study, describes how giving circles sustain themselves, and encourages the formation of more giving circles.

Clohesy, Stephanie J. Donor Circles: Launching and Leveraging Shared Giving. San Francisco, CA: Women's Funding Network, [2004]. 58 p. (The New Wealth, Women and Philanthropy Project). Call Number: 580 CLO (full text)
Describes best practices for giving circles and provides guidance on evaluation.

Eikenberry, Angela M. Giving Circles and Fundraising in the New Philanthropy Environment. Center for Public Administration and Policy, Virginia Tech, 2007. 20 p. Subject File Number: 703 (full text)
Eikenberry interviewed fundraising professionals to determine how they are responding to new funding mechanisms such as giving circles.

Eikenberry, Angela M. Giving Circles and the Democratization of Philanthropy. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2005. 254 p. Call Number: 458 EIK
Eikenberry collected data on giving circles through a survey, identifying 188 groups that qualified for inclusion. Information that was gathered includes membership fees, size and structure of the group, number of participants, and types of activities. Different types of groups are illustrated by case examples.

Krotz, Joanna. Giving Together: The Guidebook to Giving Circles. Washington, DC: Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, 2005. 12 p. Subject File Number: 458
Provides direction for those who would like to create giving circles, as well as profiles of four well-established groups. According to the publisher, there are approximately 220 such groups, and more than 80 percent were founded in the last five years.

Robinson, Kim. Collaborative Grantmaking: Lessons Learned From the Rockefeller Family's Experiences. Washington, DC: National Center for Family Philanthropy, 2001. 88 p. Call Number: 454 ROC ROB
Relates the experience with six funding collaborations, sometimes called "giving circles" as practiced by members of the Rockefeller family, and housed at The Philanthropic Collaborative. The specific collaborations described are Population, Development and Environment Collaboration; Northern Forest Lands Collaboration; Youth, Community Gardens, and Urban Environment Collaboration; Rockefeller Preserve Collaboration; Genetically Modified Foods Collaboration; and Corporate Social Responsibility Collaboration. For each issue, indicates date of inception, amount distributed, grant range, family members who are sponsors, partners, staff, and current status.

Shaw-Hardy, Sondra. Creating a Women's Giving Circle: A Handbook. Madison, WI: Women's Philanthropy Institute, 2000. 67 p. Call Number: 450 SHA
Giving circles are groups of people who combine their donations to fund projects in their communities. This booklet provides a blueprint for establishing such a group, from determining its purpose, giving it a name, recruiting members, establishing giving guidelines, meeting routines and other issues. Includes worksheets and resource list.

For complete a bibliography on the topic, search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature by entering “giving circles” in the Keyword search field (click here). Visit the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers’ Giving Circle Knowledge Center to find a giving circle or to learn how to start one with sample templates and documents.