According to the Giving Circles Network, there are approximately 800 giving circles nationwide. A group of about 140 giving circles was surveyed and that group alone has raised $90 million since their inception (most since the year 2000), engaged 11,721 individual donors and granted close to $65 million to community causes. Giving circles are primarily made up of female members however that demographic is starting to change. The majority of giving circles fund locally within their communities or nationwide but many are starting to focus their sights on international concerns and issues as well.

No one giving circle is identical to any other; they are all unique except that they share the common mission of creating social change in their communities or around the world. Each group varies in a myriad of ways in order to best meet the interests and goals of the members and the needs of their individual communities.

Geographic Focus:  Giving circles can chose to focus their time, efforts and fundraising on organizations or individuals within their community, their region, the nation or even the world.

Levels of Formality:  Giving circles come in various levels of formality. From the casual group of neighbors who get together to host "parties with a purpose" and do not wish to be hosted or to deal with paperwork to the very structured, organized and formal groups which may even have their own non-profit status. These larger more sophisticated giving circles may often partner with their local "community foundation, through which they can make grants and receive administrative support."

Issue Focus: Giving circles focus on causes that are of interest to the majority of the members thus they span the spectrum from social and health issues, children’s services, education, the arts and culture, animal rights, environmental issues, human rights and everything in between.

Gender Focus:  As stated above, giving circles members tend to be primarily women however, 47% of giving circles are now co-ed or all male.²

Age Focus: Some giving circles target young donors, for example in their 20s, to give a generation of people interested in becoming engaged in their community a chance to donate and engage on a larger scale than they may have been able to as individuals.

Giving Levels:  There is a large range of giving circle member commitment levels. In smaller, less formal giving circles, members may opt out of donating money and chose to donate their time and effort as a volunteer to a cause. Larger, more sophisticated giving circles may require an annual donation of $100,000 or more. Most typically require an average annual donation of $500-1,000.

Grant Sizes:  Giving circles fund grants of various sizes, from payment of individual bills to major gifts to organizations or programs.

___________________________