Giving circles and fundraising in the new philanthropy environment

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 2008

Publication Title

Nonprofit Management and Leadership

Volume

19

Issue

2

First Page

141

Last Page

152

Abstract

This article reports on an exploratory study to understand the impact of the new philanthropy on funding recipients by asking nonprofit professionals about their experiences working with giving circles. Giving circles are growing in number across the United States. They are attractive to new philanthropy donors who pool their resources and then decide together where to give them away. They also frequently include social, educational, and volunteer engagement components. Giving circles seem to be an important source of new and expanded resources for nonprofit organizations, but there are both benefits and challenges to working with giving circles that reveal several problematic tensions for nonprofit funding recipients, the philanthropic relationship, and society more broadly.

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