Giving Circles Knowledge Center

Throughout history, passionate individuals have joined together to make life better in their communities. Today, thousands of donors pool their money, energy, and ideas to create giving circles.

Want to start a giving circle? Read the 10 Basics Steps to Starting a Giving Circle!

Host a giving circle! Tools for community foundations, nonprofits, or other organizations considering or currently hosting giving circles.

Read the Forum's latest research on giving circles, "More Giving Together: The Growth and Impact of Giving Circles and Shared Giving." Posted May, 2007.

 

In This Area

  • The Basics: Giving Circles
    Overview of giving circles, their benefit to donors and communities, whether a giving circle is right for you and why the Forum works with them.
  • Set Up a Giving Circle
    Tips and sample documents: size, structure, focus, recruit members, how much members should contribute, where to keep the circle’s money, administrative costs, host organization decisions.
  • Manage a Giving Circle
    Management tools and sample documents: grantee identification, proposal requests and assessment, site visits, promotion, member education, endowment, giving circle impact.
  • Host a Giving Circle
    Tips and sample documents: definition of a circle host, host organizational readiness, possible services to offer, host agreement templates.
  • Connect to Giving Circles
    Resources for networking: Forum’s Giving Circle Listserv, what other circles are doing, nationwide giving circles directory, and read success stories from giving circles across the country.
 

Materials