‘Kiplinger’s’: Giving Circles

As giving circles — donor clubs that allow people to pool their money — grow in popularity, their members are doing more than just giving money. Some are also contributing free professional help such as legal aid or technology assistance, says Kiplinger’s magazine (January).

The Full Circle Fund, in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, was founded by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who donated $1,000 to $25,000 a year. “The members knew they had more to give than just their checkbooks,” says Amy Lesnick, the fund’s executive director.

One of the biggest challenges for many giving circles, says the magazine, is the process of deciding where to give.

Members of a giving circle run by the Clarence Foundation, an Oakland, Calif., organization, spent 10 days visiting groups in the slums of Nairobi. The members of the circle said they were so moved by the leadership they saw — and the desperation of circumstances they witnessed — that they abandoned their original plan to donate most of the money to one group and divided it among six.

The article is available online.