giving circles

1. Innovations in Fundraising
Giving Circles
engaging your donors through
story-telling and collaborative giving
Liza Kellett | Chief Executive of the Community Foundation in Wales
October 2015 | liza@cfiw.org.uk | @cfinwales

2. 1. DEFINITION
A giving circle "is formed when individuals come
together and pool their dollars, decide together
where to give the money (and other resources
such as volunteer time), and learn together about
their community and philanthropy." Forum of
Regional Associations of Grantmakers (USA)

3. The Funding Network (TFN), founded in 2002,
enables individuals to join together to
crowdfund social change projects. We are the
UK’s 1st public open giving circle and have
been described as the ‘Dragons’ Den’ for
charities. We are a community of givers who
have together raised well over £8 million for
over 1200 diverse local, national and
international projects.

4. 2. CORE CHARACTERISTICS
Connecting people who care with causes that matter
•Informal, informative, collaborative and fun
•Event, club, membership
•Regular or one-off
•Engagement for donors/philanthropists
•Better giving and better asking
Philanthropy stories
•a local needs advocate
•a local/positioned philanthropist
•local/themed projects

5. 3. WHY?
• Promotes local philanthropy by highlighting
local/themed needs
• We follow good leadership
• Stimulates immediate giving
• Matching passion
• Dovetails with complementary organisation
strategies, staffing and programmes
• Creates a new network of local/themed donors
• Engages existing and new contacts with
philanthropy and the work of the charity
• Builds the capacity and profile of the charity

6. 4. BENEFITS
• New allies, supporters & pipeline
• Positioning
• Re-engaging
• Donor development
• Bring a friend/introduce new supporters
• One-off or ongoing
• Sponsorship & partnership opportunities
• On-going engagement with a community of donors
• Link to online giving
• Oomph up existing fundraising and development
activities
• You can’t fail (unless you fail to plan)

7. 5. WHY NOT?
• Positioning, profile & timing considerations
• Costs & resources - staff, event management,
match funding
• Risks
• Donor migration
• On-going stewardship & expectations

9. 6. HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR
YOU?
• Know yourself
• Position it right
• Resource it well
• Have fun
• Follow up
• Do it!

10. Further Resources
• TFN - www.thefundingnetwork.org.uk/
• Prof. Angela Eikenberry -
http://unomaha.academia.edu/AngelaMEiken
berry
• Dr. Beth Breeze at University of Kent -
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/philanthropy/
• Community Foundation in Wales
sam@cfiw.org.uk