YOUR PHILANTHROPY | Giving Circles

A Great Way to Invest in Your Community

Historically, when a Minnesota woman referred to her “circle,” she was more likely to be talking about a group of women who were seamstresses than philanthropists. Oh, how times have changed!

Today, women continue the popular model of forming circles to work together for a common cause, but the work they are doing has evolved. In recent years, women’s Giving Circles have become an increasingly popular model for learning about and practicing philanthropy.

The Giving Circle model recognizes that there are many women who are willing to share their financial resources to transform their communities. These women have a desire to work together, learn from one another and pool their resources to leverage their effectiveness. And they want to do more than give money. They want to research issues, identify specific needs, and address them, head-on.

At the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Giving Circles are a strategy to promote and build women's philanthropy, especially among women of color.

Hmong Women's Giving Circle

In 2004, Hmong staff at the Women’s Foundation was instrumental in developing the nation’s first Hmong Women’s Giving Circle (HWGC) to promote philanthropy within the community, encourage activism and create social changes for Hmong women and girls in Minnesota. With the help of the Foundation and donors, the 16-member circle raised $23,000 in two years to make social change grants in the Hmong community.

In 2005, the Women’s Foundation and HWGC were recognized by Nonprofit News with a Nonprofit Mission Award for Responsive Philanthropy. Today, the organization has evolved to become a Donor Advised Fund of Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and is a recognized catalyst for change in the Hmong community.

According to Mala Thao, a founding member of the Hmong Women’s Giving Circle, grantmaking is only one way this circle is changing lives. It is also changing the lives of the women who are members of the circle, their world view, how they raise their children, and how they interact at work. The circle is becoming a legacy.

Women of African Descent Giving Circle

Also in 2005, Women’s Foundation launched its second Giving Circle for women of color and the first Giving Circle for black women in Minnesota. By December 2007, the Women of African Descent Giving Circle had raised $10,000 in funding to advance equality for black women through education. It hopes to make its first grants in 2008 and envisions eventually creating an endowment with a guaranteed revenue stream from investments.

Joanne Green, an accounting manager at Securian Financial Group and trustee of the Women’s Foundation, chairs the circle. “I got involved in the Giving Circle because I’ve worked with different nonprofits over the years, and the crucial issues ultimately boil down to finances."

"At some point, you really need to put your money where your mouth is. A goal of the Giving Circle is to motivate the African American community to act and not expect someone else to do it, especially as funding dries up for social and human services,” she said.