It’s time to change the philanthropic sector — together
In the middle of March, I got a call with an offer for my dream job: leading Philanthropy Together, a new national organization to grow and strengthen the giving circle movement. It felt like the perfect time for a new beginning, but just a few days after accepting it, I found myself sheltering in place from COVID-19 with my two teenagers and college son who had just flown in from New York City that morning. And it has been a whirlwind ever since.
For the first month on the job, while adjusting to a messy house and seemingly endless Zoom meetings, I felt inundated by news about inequality exposed by the virus, and the unlikely heroes stepping up to help neighbors and strangers alike. Then, as the protests in response to George Floyd’s murder and a national reckoning on racial justice began, more stories of deep inequity and powerful heroes flooded in. Now, as news around the 2020 Election continues to expose America’s most deeply-rooted divisions, communities are coming together to stand up for one another and defend democracy.
The story of America is complicated, but generosity has always been part of what makes this country great. Through crises and challenging times, we show up and fight for each other.
For more than a decade, I’ve been a strong advocate for giving circles — groups with a shared mission to tackle community issues. I believe in the power giving circles have to multiply community generosity: members meet with family, friends, colleagues, and their wider community to discuss how best to contribute to a meaningful cause and, by pooling resources, maximize their impact.
I started my first giving circle, AHOrA, back in 2007 with a group of my Latina mom friends who wanted to give back to our local community in a fun and joy-filled way. That Mother’s Day, we each gave $100 and pooled $2,000 to fund our first grant. We awarded the grant to Avance, a Dallas-based nonprofit supporting education for young children and their parents.
AHOrA is still around today; last year, it gave $83,000 in grants. I’m proud to say that since its inception, AHORA has collectively given $457,000 to nonprofits working tirelessly to improve their communities. This is the power of collective giving.
At the time, I didn’t know that my experience with AHOrA would lead me to a life and career fueled by people-powered philanthropy. While working with Latino Community Foundation, I started the Latino Giving Circle Network™ — the largest network of Latinx philanthropists in the US with 22 circles and 500 members. I’m so proud of the work they’ve done to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the LGCN has mobilized more than $1.7M.
Just giving circle networks were launching new initiatives to respond quickly to the community’s need, my team and I threw our timeline to the wind and began designing our virtual incubator program to start new giving circles across the country and world. With the support of Amplifier and the Community Investment Network (two of the more than a dozen giving circle affinity networks in this growing field), we created Launchpad. This five-week leadership training program brought 50 people together from around the world to help them launch 40 new giving circles — a record number created at once. Of the participants, 70% were women, and 60% were people of color.
Our Launchpad participants’ ideas are brilliant, and their passion is invigorating. Adam Erickson and Irfana Noorani just launched their giving circle Vital Little Plans with six of their colleagues in the creative community development field during the ArtPlace Virtual Summit. Charleton Lamb and Ben Moss are starting a giving circle to empower LGBTQ+ people seeking knowledge and expression from within the safety of their own community. Chad Readey, a Black high school student in Chicago, started his giving circle, Young Men for Change in South Suburban Chicago, to support opportunities in STEM for youth.
Our mission at Philanthropy Together is to democratize and diversify philanthropy, and each of these stories exemplifies what the future of philanthropy can and should be.
In this extraordinary time when collectively lifting up our communities has become more important than ever, I am grateful that Philanthropy Together is helping scale giving circles as a direct way for people to make change. There is still so much work to do: the inequalities remain, and the gap is just getting wider. Giving circles will continue to be a part of the long-term healing so desperately needed. They are a testament to the power that comes when we all act together — power that our future depends on.
