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Collective giving circles, primarily led by women and focusing on local, community-based support, are redefining philanthropy, as per Axios. This movement, highlighted in Philanthropy Together's latest report, has seen explosive growth, with the number of circles and members tripling twice over the past decade. With over $3 billion distributed in five years, these circles prioritize inclusive, trust-based philanthropy over traditional metrics. At Gudsy our mission is to expand this space by making it easier for individuals to join forces, democratizing philanthropy further. By enhancing connectivity, streamline decision-making, and broaden the reach of collective giving, empowering more people to contribute to meaningful change. #Philanthropy #CollectiveGiving #Gudsy https://lnkd.in/eVtn5mWj

What happens when a foundation commits to spending down its assets in a way that democratizes decision-making? A philanthropy abolitionist reflects on the bold choices and lessons learned in our latest article on Inside Philanthropy. Discover how this approach has challenged traditional philanthropy and what it means for the future of giving. #MikeScutari reports: Insights into the process and impact of a democratized spend-down Reflections on how this approach challenges traditional philanthropic models The legacy and future implications for foundations considering similar paths Tagging Chorus Foundation Quark Highlander Research and Education Center #SpendDown #SocialImpact #DemocratizedGiving #FoundationLeadership #AbolitionistPhilanthropy #FutureOfGiving #DemocratizedGrantmaking #CommunityLedPhilanthropy #EquityInPhilanthropy #PowerShift #Grantmaking #CommunityEmpowerment #InsidePhilanthropy #Philanthropy

"Trust-based philanthropy" has been a term that has come to mean a lot of different things over the years. My colleagues Kathleen Fleming, Jeff Bradach, Preeta Nayak, and Zachary Slobig unpack this notion of trust, which is often interpreted as an all-or-nothing binary... and therefore can make it feel inaccessible or “non-strategic” for many donors. Our fear is that this chills, rather than encourages, broader philanthropic experimentation with #powershifting (a topic I care deeply about!). This essay and series of responses is more of a provocation (than answers) to help think through: 🕹️ What explains philanthropic behaviors that remain #stuck in a paradigm of #control? 🧠 What #beliefs and #assumptions can donors examine to build greater trust with grantees? The hope is that this encourages more #curiosity, #vulnerability, and openness to greater #experimentation. Feel free to comment and engage!

Trust is the connective tissue of human relationships. In its absence, there’s no community, no economy, no collaboration, no collective flourishing. So why are “control and compliance” donor practices the default- despite evidence that they often undermine impact? In this essay, we looked to other fields to shed new light on trust-based #philanthropy and how a more nuanced understanding of these dynamics can help build the range of relationships that drive the most #SocialChange.   📄 Read the essay and responses: https://lnkd.in/eRTbF_2F 🗨 We invited a range of other voices to critique and expand on the topic in a series of response essays. Thank you for your contributions: Shaady Salehi (Trust-Based Philanthropy Project), Jara Dean-Coffey (she/her/hers) (Equitable Evaluation Initiative and jdcPARTNERSHIPS), Kathy Reich (Ford Foundation’s BUILD Initiative), and Aaron Horvath and Micah McElroy (Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS).

Great findings on the power of giving circles from Inside Philanthropy, featuring findings from Philanthropy Together. Some key stats: ⭐️ 60% of collective giving group leaders report that they intentionally embed racial and ethnic equity in their circles ⭐️ 83% of respondents said that their groups prioritize giving to marginalized communities.  ⭐️ 91% said their giving circle participation had a “positive impact” on their sense of belonging in the community Last year, Parkes Philanthropy launched the Giving Black Fund (link in comments) on Grapevine to harness the transformative power of Giving Circles for Black-led nonprofits. This report serves as a testament to the incredible potential of collective giving and reaffirms our commitment to nurturing and expanding our Giving Circle program. #GivingCircles #CollectiveGiving #SocialImpact #CommunityEmpowerment #NonprofitLeadership https://lnkd.in/e3g2qwEH

The Johnson Center's 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024 is now available - and this year's version poses a set of questions rather than answers - with each trend posing a number of moral, economic, equity-related, tactical, and other questions that the sector will have to answer ... #philanthropy hashtag#foundations hashtag#grantmaking hashtag#endowments hashtag#privatefoundations hashtag#donoradvisedfund hashtag#socialprofit hashtag#notforprofit

From local impact to personal transformation, collective giving circles are revolutionizing philanthropy in America. With tripled growth since 2007, experts see these groups as democratizing and diversifying philanthropy while fostering community. https://lnkd.in/eVtn5mWj

"For us, giving is more than just a financial transaction, it’s an investment of love and resources." That is why our #LatinoGivingCircleNetwork harnesses our collective power to address funding gaps to create lasting change for Latino-led nonprofits. Read about how giving circles facilitate meaningful conversations, education, and decision-making while tackling socio-economic disparities in Anais Amaya, LGCN Director's article co-written by Sara Lomelin of Philanthropy Together in Alliance magazine. https://lnkd.in/gP4Wy3yn

At CEI, we are a part of the "helping industry" this piece outlines. We encourage and support our philanthropic partners to apply the principles of trust-based philanthropy, and we know that change can only happen if it's happening at every level—including ours. That's why our mission isn't just to serve philanthropy. Our mission is to partner with them in ways that advance racial and other forms of equity and create channels for historically and structurally excluded people to participate in and influence decisions about the interventions and systems affecting their lives. Our work will never serve to uphold an inequitable and unfair status quo. https://lnkd.in/gZ-9w2iC

5T Giving is Transforming Trust-based Philanthropy and Communities for the Better As a veteran researcher in global business, government and society field, I have closely followed trends in #philanthropy for decades. And since I often am publicly speaking about topics like #issueframing & #trendsetting, there are some fascinating #trends that are growing here in the US worth sharing about. One of the key ones is coming into clarity. For much of the 21s century, we've seen the continuation of billionaire and corporate-led foundations lead the way. Several of these have already achieved productive impacts across a range of educational, health and social sectors -- as they were envisioned by their funders to do. But not everyone has experienced their impacts, and others want to be impactful in different ways-- including being "closer to the ground" and wanting to see the change in their own neighborhoods. Recently, new groups of philanthropic founders and funders are playing a different kind of effective game with their resources. Relatively smaller groups of individuals, common;=ly referred to as "giving circles," and in a majority of cases comprised predominantly of women-- and frequently women of color, are now working to impact the communities they live within. In addition to wanting their resources to be impactful, they are focused on achieving aims such as equity, inclusion, authenticity, opportunity and fairness. Sometimes referred to as #5T or #TrustbasedPhilanthropy, this kind of collective and democratically-driven giving brings people together to pool their resources, including time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties. And just because they may be smaller in size doesn't mean they aren't having major impacts! See: https://lnkd.in/em-fQaPb This growing force in giving promises to help shape communities one donation at a time. It also gets the donors more invested in working in & on behalf of their communities-- instead of just writing checks and making donation from a far. I am a big fan of this movement and working in my own life to put it into practice. Have any of my network members had experiences with this form of collective philanthropic giving that they'd like to share about? Is anyone seeing this make a difference in their communities? What is working, and what isn't?