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   Giving
at the
Grassroots:
Stone by Stone
National Press
Club,
Washington, DC (Oct. 24, 2008)
GCN hosted its Second Annual Giving Circles
Conference on October 24th, 2008,
bringing together a national gathering of
Giving Circles, with representation from
the West Coast (State of Washington), Midwest
(Michigan), Southwest (Texas), Northeast/Mid Atlantic region (New York,
Maryland, Virginia and Washington,
DC),
and Southeast (Florida
and South Carolina). The day-long event -- featuring
speakers who are experienced leaders from Giving Circles, foundations, and organizations supporting
the public good --
addressed a range of Giving Circle issues, challenges and opportunities,
including:
The major highlights of the event
are as follow:
"Global Perspective & Remembering that No Circle is Ever Complete Unto Itself":
 Nazir Ahmad, President of GivingWorks, Inc. framed the discussion in global
terms, noting that we are in one of the deepest recessions (and only in the beginning of that) as a
redefinition of the global order and of our
 own government is occurring.
There is a confluence of social and economic challenges, with significantly less
resources available, resulting in weaknesses in our social infrastructure.
We are faced with finding solutions inside a new phenomenon called the "global grassroots", which is small
and intimate but which is not as dependent on one given locale as in the past
with our interdependent communities and countries.
Thus, there is a profound shift in the way we must respond locally within Giving
Circles, given the rise of
global technologies, the diasporas, human rights, and environmental and economic
factors, including food shortages. This reality -- of needing to keep the
global factors in mind when working locally -- is at the same time both
liberating and more challenging for Giving Circles.
One of the roles that Giving Circles can do is
build communities as well as move away from the concept of "charity" to one of
"partnership" in our grantor/grantee relationships. We are moving away from individual donors to "co-investors
towards a common vision", both as a group of givers and in partnership with the
grantees we support, who are catalysts for innovation in our communities. We need to do more
with less as well as find more effective solutions in accountability, impact and social change.
Accountability needs to be less about the "contract and obligation" and more
about "vision, responsiveness and trust." It is as much about sweat as
money, drawing the relationship between intention and results in social
change, promoting risk taking and learning, and achieving impact. Giving
Circles need to look beyond "palliative care" to rebuilding our social fabric
through systemic change. As a social movement of change, Giving Circles
need to pool not only their resources and decisions inside each circle but also
pool themselves as organizations, access "idea banks" for Giving Circles
(such as is available through the GCN website), and leverage knowledge and resources for the
greater good across the U.S. and the world.
National
Challenges & Cutbacks: Growing Need for Giving Circles to Build Community Stone
by Stone. The last several years have presented the United
States with several national and international challenges impacting our nation's
ability to support and strengthen our communities. These challenges
include terrorism related disaster expenditures after 9/11 ($26B for cleanup and
victims), relief after Katrina ($80B) and other environmental disasters,
military expenditures (totaling $10B/mo) towards two wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and market bailouts totaling $850B. These expenditures have
together combined to create what is a projected budget deficit in 2008 of
$454.8B, with potentially more cuts in the future. The result is: 1) more
money diverted for defense and disaster; 2) less federal grant monies for
states; and 3) less state grants for county/local municipalities. The
cutbacks are deep and wide ranging, regardless of the cause area -- social
services, public housing, education, prevention and prosecution related to
violence against women, environmental protection, programs for persons with
disabilities and for the aging, preventative healthcare and mental health, food
programs, development block grants, and urban renewal. In this context,
there is a great need for the existence and continued growth of Giving Circles
in order to not only mitigate funding shortfalls for critical programs and cause
areas -- whether through grants/donations and/or volunteering time and expertise
-- but also strategize for greatest impact in their local communities.
Giving Circles have an opportunity to form strategic relationships with
community foundations, regionally based philanthropic organizations and networks
of Giving Circles to learn about and target needs, build public awareness,
mobilize the community towards effecting social change, and share successes and
lessons.
"Rallying People" for Giving
(Capacity and Confidence to Give):
Colleen Willoughby,
Founder and Former President of the Washington Women's Foundation, addressed the leadership
issues related to motivational aspects of giving. Citing the venue --
the National Press Club -- which is a national center for journalism and the
media, Colleen pointed out the importance of education, news and the media in
our knowledge and understanding of our communities. At the same time, she
referenced the Declaration of Independence (which was coincidentally to be on
display at the NPC) as an inspiring metaphor for Giving Circles, particularly the last phrase: "...and we mutually pledge to each other
our lives, our fortunes and our scared honor." For her, that is the
inspiration for philanthropists -- why we do what we do.
Noting that is all about shared giving, she highlighted the fact that
women giving together have leverage to create impact. While there are growing community needs
(as presented by Nazir Ahmad and Celeste Terry), she also cited at the same time
the tremendous growth in women's wealth. Colleen
noted that one observation causing her to begin the WWF in the mid 1990s was the disconnect
at that time between the growing capacity for
women to make grants, on the one hand, and their confidence to give them, on the
other. While
15 years ago, women were not thought of as philanthropists, Giving Circles have changed the
paradigm of who can be a philanthropist, strengthening women's confidence as
philanthropists. Through Giving Circles, we have now empowered 1000s of
women around the country to consider themselves fully as philanthropists.
In her Foundation, they have a saying, "We may not individually all be
wealthy women, but we hold great wealth in common." Results of the
collective action has changed our giving, so that we are not donating here and
there, but we are able to "...engage in transformational giving...making real
change in real time." She explained that as donors, we are not making just a transactional
donation, but rather engaging in an intentional act. At the WWF, they have three
categories for giving -- an emergent need, a bold new venture or a new solution to
a time-worn problem -- which together tend to cover the range of community needs
and innovative solutions. WWF, through their "Discovery Days", invites
people to come advise their Giving Circles members what are the pressing needs
in the local community. As an individual, we cannot learn as much to
effect change, but as a collective, the group provides both the knowledge and social
capital to drive change.
Leadership Strategies for
Giving Circles (Orientation, Responsibilities and Succession):
Deborah Hoffman, Founder and Former President of
the Funding Arts Network, focused on "Who can lead your parade?", what your
leaders need to know and how to best support them.
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Leadership Traits:
Deborah noted that while each circle has their own unique set of valued
leadership traits, it is important for the following traits in good circle
leaders: great inter-personal skills, sell-motivation, confidence in
surrounding themselves with diverse perspectives, empathy, a knack for
creating a collegial atmosphere where there is the freedom for allowing a
diversity of opinions and the necessary vetting of of issues, the ability to
delegate, and the ability to promote fun and delight, as the "celebration" is an integral
part of working together towards a cause.
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Orientation: What do leaders
need to know? Deborah highlighted the importance of creating an
"orientation mindset" that rewards "thinking outside the box", being
flexible, and enabling leaders to have the ability to assess policies,
programs and projects. Leadership orientation should be tailored to
the circle's culture and history and provide the opportunity for the new
leaders to review
policies and procedures, revisit the vision and mission, learn about
successes. It should also include the circle background, an opportunity to answer new
leader questions, and backup data to support the training. Such an
orientation should review the needs of key stakeholders (members/donors,
grantees, community contacts) as well as effectively communicate community
plans, ideas and needs (and the local agencies, organizations and circles
involved in addressing them). There needs to be a "How to Do" workshop
(along with the "What Not to Do") delivered on an inter-personal basis.
Current leaders need to leverage outside sources and organizations on how to orient your
new leaders
(e.g., universities, webinars, local nonprofit events, and the Giving Circles
Network knowledge base). Providing mentoring and "reverse mentoring"
(where new leaders tell mentors what they need to know) can be helpful.
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Succession: A leadership
succession plan should be an integral part of an annual review and
succession planning as well as the development
and application of conflict of interest policies. Recruitment should occur in
advance of people's departure, and the refinement of job descriptions is
essential to understanding expectations (noting that the committees are
stepping stones to leadership positions). In the end, the role of the nominating
committee is critical.
Inspiring Participation in
Giving Circles (Recruitment and Retention): Sondra Shaw-Hardy,
Co-Founder of the Women's Philanthropy Institute, Co-Founder of the Three
Generations Circle of Women Givers, and author of an upcoming book on the "Six
C's of Giving Circles" (Create, Connect, Commit, Collaborate, Change and
Celebrate), addressed the issues of Circle member recruitment and retention.
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 Recruitment (Leaders,
Stories, Involvement, Inclusiveness/Diversity and Choices):
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Leaders: Sondra noted that it is important to have
people at the head of a Giving Circle "who are people that others want
to be with." Giving Circles also need to have not just the
leaders, but also the members do the recruiting. Lastly, it is so
essential that they use a "personal touch" (handwritten notes and
telephone calls).
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Stories (Tell Your Story!):
Stories are so important, and telling them is not always typical in
fundraising. Sondra is writing a book about the stories of women
with the "Six Cs" (above) plus the "Three Cs" that have come out of
giving: Control, Confidence and Courage. The stories inspire
givers, so will greatly aid in recruitment by inspiring new members.
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Involvement: Giving Circles
need to directly involve prospects with the Giving Circle organization
and its grantees. For example, taking prospective members to a
domestic violence shelter and doing the necessary follow up will send the
message and inspire potential members to join and give.
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Inclusiveness: Be inclusive
and celebrate diversity.
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Offer Choices: It is important to
meet people where they are and offer them the options to be active or
inactive, to give money or not, and to become engaged in the way that
they want to participate.
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Retention (Communication, Flexibility,
Creativity, Involvement and Fun)
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Communication: Whether
people read information or not, it is critical to provide information
and leverage the media, which like to report these inspirational Giving Circle stories.
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Flexibility: The way that we
first organize is probably not the way that we are now or will be in the
future. We
have to be open to new ideas and think about different approaches as
time passes and with
the younger generations. Therefore, we need to reach out and change our
structure as necessary and collaborate with other organizations.
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Creativity: Develop new
programs and challenges. For example, the Greenville Women's Giving
Circles had a program on "Green Building Techniques" and Dining for
Women offer international trips and expand out.
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Involvement: Offer
opportunities to be involved. For example, the GetSmart Boutiques
where you learn what the grantees are doing.
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Fun: Part of the Six Cs is
"Celebration!", which is essential in the setting up and continuation
of Giving Circles.
Giving Circle Impact: Rebecca Powers,
President and Co-Founder of Impact Austin, approached Giving Circle impact
through the lens of
"high-impact philanthropy",
which is planned, informed, intentional and results focused. The basic
question any Giving Circle or GC member needs to ask herself or himself is "Did
my contribution result in meaningful change in the world?" Impact
in this regard is comprised of impact in
the: 1) lives of your members/donors; 2) nonprofits (grantees and applicants);
3) lives of the ultimate recipients; and 4) the larger community. Rebecca
explained that first the Giving Circle can have impact on its
members/donors by promoting informed personal giving, involving new volunteers,
inspiring new donors, and making new connections. It can impact the
grant applicants by influencing or enhancing their structure, conflicts
of interest, consistency, process, feedback, learning and promotion. It
can also impact the grantees in their tracking of progress,
partnership building through the liaisons the grant fosters, creation of
additional funders for the nonprofits, greater visibility in the community,
additional donors, and more volunteers. Giving Circles can impact the
ultimate recipients through the continuation, creation, expansion
and/or enhancement of the nonprofit advocacy, community services, training and
other offerings of the nonprofit grantees that the Giving Circle funds. It
can impact the larger community by offering more citizen learning
opportunities, establishing new community connections and partnerships, creating
a new breed of philanthropists and volunteers, and establishing the foundation
for the next generation of philanthropists. As Jane Garvey states:
"The future is not someplace we are going to, but a place we are creating.
The paths to it are not found, they are made."
Giving Circle Organization &
Alternatives: Nicole Cozier, Philanthropic Education
Officer of the Washington Area Women's
Foundation addressed various Giving Circle organizational models, from informal
Giving Circles with flat management structures and no paperwork such as
Washington Womenade to circles hosted by foundations (such as WAWF) and other
nonprofits to formal 501c3 organizations such as Impact Austin. She
highlighted the new approach and model utilized by the Washington Area Women's
Foundation for the three Giving Circles it hosts -- African American Women's
Giving Circle, Rainmakers, and the Gather & Give: Let's Eat -- as well as
the new ones it intends to create and support. The strategy used includes
to: 1) support donor education on the Giving Circle program concept; 2) develop
Giving Circles as a programmatic arm of WAWF, which is different from most hosts
because it is a more engaged approach; 3) build consensus between the Giving
Circle and the foundation; and 4) establish some common guidelines and operating
principles across Giving Circles but allow for flexibility and innovation within
each circle. This approach is innovative from a host standpoint
because it leverages commonalities and benefits of a consistent approach yet
enables Giving Circles to achieve independence and fosters creativity.
Getting the Message out and Understanding Your Grantee's Message (Branding):
Larry Checco, President of Checco Communications (and Author of Branding for
Success: A Roadmap for Raising the Visibility and Value of Your
Nonprofit Organization) addressed the importance of and means for Giving
Circles to understand the concept of "branding" in getting their messages out,
promoting their causes, and enhancing their fundraising. Larry explained
that a nonprofit's or Giving Circle's "brand" is not simply the logo, tagline or
the vision of what the Circle wants to be, but rather what the Circle is and
represents to people at the moment -- i.e., its reputation, culture and core
values, Circle participants, and philanthropic work. In other words, the
brand stands for "who we are, what we do, how we do it, and why anyone should
care enough to support us." It is reflected in everything that the Circle
does (from website to newsletters to events) and through every member of the
Circle (not just the leaders). Since the Circle's brand is their story, a Circle
does not have to expend a lot of money on creating it but rather should leverage
the good brand it already possesses. Good brand represents trust,
relationship building, and cooperative collaborative progress towards meeting
common goals and objects. Since everyone in the Circle communicates that
brand to the public, it is advantageous for the Circle members to define or
revisit the definition of the Circle's "message" including its "elevator
speech" and "talking points". Once members are educated as
to what the brand messages are, and understand the important role they play as
"brand ambassadors", they can then more effectively promote their Circle's brand
to external audiences. Equally important is protecting a
Circle's brand by carefully recruiting members, ensuring common values,
educating members what is at risk, ensuring transparency and confidentiality,
and managing expectations.
Fundraising
Alternatives: Annual vs. Legacy Planning: Scott Lyons,
President of Living Legacies Philanthropic
Services, addressed the issue of stability and sustainability. On
stability, he outlined how Giving Circles can leverage
resources and generate operating support. Leveraging resources includes
volunteer support, pro-bono assistance and in-kind gifts -- along with the need
to follow a tight budget. Operating support includes funds raised through
special events, a corporate patrons fund, membership gifts, and endowment
earnings. For sustainability -- beyond having members commit an an annual
or multi-year basis -- there is the option and opportunity for "legacy giving".
Legacy Planning is about preserving one's wealth, values and memory, and that
can be applied to Giving Circles as with any nonprofit. Such legacy
planning and related giving builds endowment (bringing sustainability, impact
and flexibility) as well as expands access to those with assets but not income.
The reason why Legacy Giving is such an important topic now is the
intergenerational transfer of wealth that is occurring. While the current
economic crisis is having an impact on both net worth and giving, estate gifts
are still sizable and should be considered for any Giving Circle's long-term
planning. Such endowment building is possible by various tax deductible giving
options, including bequests, trusts and common life income vehicles (Charitable
Gift Annuities and Charitable Pooled Funds), and simple property gifts. In
promotion and outreach, Giving Circles can easily remind potential members and
donors -- via newsletters, websites, etc. -- to remember their Giving Circle (or
host organization's account name for their Giving Circle) in their will,
assuming that their host or Giving Circle is a 501c3, as many such donors are
considering tax deductible giving.
Questions & Answers:
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The
Economic Crisis: How Giving Circles Will Respond to the Situation
Today? There is no "one formula", but Giving Circles need to
adjust their funding pool and the expectations in the community on what
Giving Circles can give. In some Circles, they pay the invoices for the
events or programs only after the event or program has taken place.
In others, there is a desperate need that is supported immediately. There is
not one formula, so the approach depends on what the Giving Circle thinks is best for the
community while recognizing that the Circle has fiduciary responsibility
to see that money is well spent and goes where it should. At the same time,
the economic situation may project Giving Circle members to act instead of detract
people, given the great need. "A crisis is also an opportunity" and can bring people
together in ways that you might not expect.
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Confidentiality - How Should Giving Circles Approach it?: As
grant makers, we are privileged to learn a lot about the organizations we
are considering to fund. Members must treat this information with
utmost respect and build a culture of confidentiality among all circle
members.
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 Diversity of
Giving Circles & How they Achieve It?: Statistically, the
Forum of the Regional Association of Grant makers in their 2006 study found
that 8% of all donors were African American, 3% were Asian American and 2%
were Hispanic American. Organizationally, there are several different
ways to approach diversity. Some Circles make a concerted or strategic
effort towards diversity (because while they all have good intentions, they
feel the need to take specific steps to actually achieve diversity).
In that case they might establish a "Diversity Initiative", hold
workshops with ethnic groups in the community to generate an awareness that
all the groups exists as not all groups know each other, promote the Circle via publications reaching a
diverse audience, or formally underwrite membership for
people who bring talent or diversity. Others, such as Impact Austin,
have a membership that seeks to expand diversity simply through the cause
(the common ground) and by telling their friends, not necessarily through a
formal diversity program and because individual members do not feel the need
that they must "represent their ethnic
group" formally and actually prefer an informal approach. Still other Giving Circles are diverse/mixed from the start
such as the Fondue Fund in North Carolina and the "Partners for Artisans",
which promotes giving to artisans from the Caribbean and offers a diverse
board in ethnicity, religion, geographic area and background. Finally,
others are focused on and comprised largely of one ethnic group such as the
African American Women's Giving Circle or the Asian American and Pacific
Islanders' in Philanthropy (AAPIP) Giving Circles, or the various
Latino Giving Circles. Even as complex as diversity is within a
normal nonprofit structure, when you get into smaller Giving Circles, there
are a range of issues that must be considered, such as who is participating,
how decisions are made, how you incorporate different giving cultures and
practices, and how giving affects people differently, including the
recipients. For example, at the the Washington Area's Women's
Foundation, the African American Women's Giving Circle was a concerted
effort on the part of WAWF as a host to create a African American Giving
Circle. With that Circle, there became a sense of "taking care of our
own." Therefore, the choices on approaching diversity are broad and
numerous, and all can work effectively depending on the nature, needs and
composition of the Circle or host organizations seeking to drive or support donor
diversity.
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Techniques for
Encouraging People to Engage in Collective Giving in an Economic Crisis?:
Colleen Willoughby noted that so far -- member response has been
encouraging. Some members may have to delay their annual contribution,
and the foundation will accommodate that request with flexibility. Sondra Shaw-Hardy pointed out that whenever there is a
dire need, society and women have responded: at end of the 18th
Century, there were relief societies for migrants; at the end of the 19th
Century, there were settlement houses in big cities to help women and
children; and at the end of the 20th, there were women's fund, and now the
women's Giving Circles. Women are not going to need to be inspired. We
are participating because we have a means, even though we might not have the
same need as one year ago. Deborah Hoffman and Linda Strup noted
that the point is not so much the money that is raised but what is done with
it, and there are also several ways to give through volunteering, capacity
building and other services. As found by the Giving Circle of Hope,
there are many creative fundraising activities such as "Alternative Gift
Markets" where people can come and learn about the nonprofits and shop for
"virtual" gift cards that will result in donations. The Washington
Area's Women's Foundation has an article on its website: "Feeling Financially Strapped: Try Giving Your
Money Away" which notes that the act of giving itself changes the message
that you tell yourself about where you are financially.
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Grant Management
(How to Track the Application and Use of Grants)?:
The panelist responses were diverse, depending on the size and approach of
each Giving Circle. Colleen Willoughby advised that, with respect to
tracking application and grants, WWF has 500 members, so there are a lot of
funds to keep track of, and their funding to grantees is not paid out in one chunk but
over a three-year period. As a result, their Circle needs a lot of
management for keeping track of the donors, years, grantees, payments.
This tracking is made easier by employing databases. On tracking the use of grants, the WWF
engages an
"Assessment Committee". The assessment starts after the award and the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) are issued by the Grants Committee.
The Assessment Committee works out with the grantees what are the metrics by
which they will know that they have been successful, and then helps the
grantees
along that path by ensuring that there are adequate tracking tools such as
progress reports, annual reports and visits. Deborah Hoffman advised
that, with respect to the use of grant funds, FAN visits the grantees and
attends the arts events, using pre-defined forms and questions that must be
answered during the year. No perquisites (favors) are allowed in the
Circle donor/grantee relationship at any time. She also noted
in the Partners for Artisans, they are experimenting with forms of giving,
including to give a grant the first year but award a micro-loan the second
year, because grantees typically need the money the first year to get the organization
established. Once established, the grantees can help give back to the Giving
Circle so there is a revolving fund. Sondra Shaw-Hardy's Giving Circle employs a one-time annual
assessment approach, requiring grantees to complete a self-evaluation form
at the end of the year.
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Sustainability of the
Giving Circle (Paid vs. All-Volunteer Staff): While
there is a lot of pro-bono assistance that a Giving Circle can leverage, it
becomes difficult to retain volunteers in this economic climate.
Sustainability is an issue -- it comes with growth, and depends on the size
of the organization. Normally, a Circle starts as all volunteer, but
when it gets to a certain size (e.g., several 100), the Circle may need help
with administrative staff. If one considers all the transactions of
receiving, recording and tracking the grants and money outflows, it requires
a level of sophistication that is not possible with volunteer staff.
Giving Circles may require professional assistance to achieve the ethical,
transparent and responsibility level that they should have. Transparency among
the membership is important, because it gives the
membership a true ownership and understanding of the Circle's organization.
Circles often don't have the funding in the early stages of an organization.
If the members do not want paid staff, then the Circle might want to limit the size
of the organization. There does need to be an administrative or
fee-paid arrangement (whether the Circle pays a percentage to the host
organization or the membership pays extra for administration, such as the
$100/member which might be required or optional). The panel noted that
women sometimes gets caught up with the feeling that everyone should be
volunteering their time, but that should not always be the assumption.
It also depends on the information and how you send it out to members; at
some point, it might require paid staff to develop, produce and deliver it.
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