Article published November 26, 2009
A CIRCLE OF GIVING
Local groups join forces in grass-roots mobilization
By TAHREE LANE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
One damp evening last week, dozens of candles created cozy ambiance for the 30 women gathered in a Sylvania Township home.
They call themselves Babes for Beach House, an informal group begun in March to support an emergency family shelter, and they reflect a growing trend in grass-roots philanthropy called giving circles.
The Babes have modest goals: to meet once a month at a different member's home, bring a bottle of wine, nosh on the hostess' hors d'ouevres, enjoy each other's company, and drop some cash into a jar.
Katrina Iott, effervescent president of the Beach House board, interrupted the conviviality to announce that their donations helped match a $5,000 grant from UPS to build a fenced-in playground at the seven-bedroom shelter. Cheers erupted.
Gail Rolak, left, and Mary Jo Jaggers share a light moment during the Babes for Beach House fund-raiser at the Sylvania Township home of Andrea Proctor. Last week’s event raised $440 for the charity.
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"It seems like once they know we need help, it snowballs," says Ms. Iott.
Small-scale charitable efforts such as this are known as giving circles, a simple but powerful concept usually marked by a personal connection to a project, greater impact by pooling funds, and a social or networking element.They started as isolated projects about 10 years ago and grew by word of mouth.
Today, they're a philanthropic force that's generated more than $100 million in support of diverse charitable causes, according to the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
K. LaVerne Redden, director of social concerns at St. Martin de Porres Church, is shown in February. Last week, she took delivery of 50 holiday bags from the Toledo Metropolitan Ladies Club.
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"There's no one right or wrong way for people who care about an issue to come together and have a greater impact than they would otherwise. They're fun, they're creative, they're flexible," said Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, who studies the trend as communications director for the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers. Certainly, she noted, the concept of group giving isn't new: Religious, family, and service organizations have joined forces to help others for centuries. But the current form is different.
Beach House, in an 1867 building, was established as a shelter in 1921 by Helen Beach Jones, wife of Toledo mayor Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones. It provides safe lodging for 30 people at a time for up to 90 days while they devise plans to get their lives in order.
Last week, the farmers, police officers, sales people, teachers, artists, and laid-off workers who make up the Babes stuffed a glass cylinder with $440 in denominations from $1 to $50. Their total since March: $8,000.'Awe inspiring'
Another monthly event, Dining for Women, mixes food and friendship with philanthropy. Founded in 2003 by a South Carolina woman, it's mushroomed to 150 national chapters.
"It's a delightful evening with such a mission. There's just a spiritualness about it," says Mary Toneff. She started the Sylvania chapter in April, 2006, and they haven't missed a meeting.
Members, in their 30s through 60s, bring a dish to share and put the money they would've spent going out to eat in an envelope. They realize $200-$250 a month and they're on track to surpass a cumulative $10,000 by their fourth anniversary in April.
"It's just awe-inspiring to me to see how my small check gets put together with many checks nationally," says Ms. Toneff.
"And that so many women are pausing and taking time out of their lives to focus on the needs of people living in one region of the world."
Before the dinner, the Deveaux Middle School teacher will lead a discussion on the project they'll support that month, using written materials and short DVDs provided by Dining for Women and its eponymous Web site.
Projects are aimed at poor women and children in developing countries and are vetted and selected by leaders at the national level.
"I like the learning," said Ms. Toneff, who attended a national Dining for Women leadership conference last month. A second local group, teachers from Timberstone Middle School, are to hold their first dinner Wednesday.Filling needs
As director of social concerns at St. Martin de Porres church on Bancroft Street, K. LaVerne Redden scrambles to fill the infinite needs of the poor: food, hygiene and household products, socks, gloves, and blankets for homeless men, utility bill payments, even the cost of a burial. Some of her donors have vanished this year because of layoffs and company downsizings.
But she's fortified by at least one giving circle that adopted St. Martin and last week took delivery of 50 holiday bags filled with goods that cannot be purchased with food stamps (toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shampoo, razors, toilet paper, and diapers for folks at both ends of the spectrum).
The donors are the Toledo Metropolitan Ladies Club, which raises money via a 50/50 raffle at its monthly meetings.
| FOR MORE, SEE … |
•Giving Circles Knowledge Center (givingforum.org/givingcircles) has 10 basic steps for starting a giving circle, profiles and success stories, the Giving Circles Trend Report, and more.
•The Impact of Giving Together National Webinar, 3 p.m., Dec. 8. Free and open to first 100 registrants. Registration deadline is Dec. 4. Information Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers: bbschwartz@abagmd.org.
•Giving Circles Network (givingcircles.org) has ideas and assistance.
•Giving Circles Blog allows participants to share stories (blog.givingcircles.org).
•Dining for Women (diningforwomen.org).
•Women's Giving Circles (womensgivingcircles.com). |
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Carol Mueller, head of the charity committee, interviewed several agencies and reported her findings to the group, which then voted to help St. Martin for a year.
"We were so impressed by K. Laverne's charity, she was such a hard worker and tries to do such good things," says Ms. Mueller.
At Ms. Redden's request, the women arrived at their October gathering bearing healthy cereals, oatmeal, and canned goods; packed them into a van, and drove the load over that day.'Emotional element'
Like the Ladies Club, giving circle members often decide jointly how their funds will be spent and, in the process, become more informed and engaged with the need, says Sandra Bettger, executive director of Giving Circles Network, near Washington.
Almost invariably, it results in deeper satisfaction for donors than had they written checks to a faceless group.
"We encourage people to give in ways that are fulfilling and rewarding," Ms. Bettger says. "The giving circle I'm in is as much about the members learning as it is about the money."
Her circle - an online group of 20 from around the country who each pledge $365 for an annual total of $7,300 - supports three worldwide projects that help disadvantaged girls. Some members have visited their African project for girls who are HIV positive or whose parents died of AIDS, and upon their return, post their videos for the others to see.
"There's an emotional element you don't get from writing a check," says Ms. Bettger.
In the early 1990s, Janet George Ward decided to celebrate some Extraordinary Women, which is what she calls her event.
"The more I thought about my wonderful friends and what they did for other people in their lives and their communities, I wanted them to come to a lunch and not bring a dish," says Ms. Ward of Maumee.
"They are the quiet people who really love humanity and I just wanted to say 'I appreciate everything you do.' But knowing these women, I knew they'd be uncomfortable not bringing something."
She suggested a donation to a local charity.
She stopped giving the party in 2005 when her son, Justin Ward, died, but resumed it last summer, hosting nearly 40 women, including five of her six daughters and their friends, who spent an afternoon chatting and strolling her lush gardens.
A week later, Ms. Ward and a friend took the $1,800 her guests had left to the Cherry Street Mission, and toured its five sites.Making it fun
When Karen Stone's 25 friends get together to exchange home-baked cookies in three weeks, they'll bring bags of toiletries, gloves, and socks for St. Paul Community Center. The personal connection: the center's director, Marcia Langenderfer, is among their number.
And their involvement has grown: many of them make cash donations to the center, and one, a retired nurse, has begun volunteering there.
Ms. Beaudoin-Schwartz chairs the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County, located between Baltimore and Washington. When members wanted a direct way to help individuals in need, they created a Response Network. Six nonprofit agencies contact the Response Network when one of their clients has an emergency that can be alleviated with less than $1,000.
The Response Network fires off an e-mail describing the need to more than 1,000 women, who can donate as much or as little as they want to purchase a train ticket, repair a car, or provide a week of in-home health care, says Ms. Beaudoin-Schwartz.
The need is usually met within hours, she says, and this year, they've put out fires for six women and their children with rapid-response donations of more than $4,500.
With 1,400 members of all ages, Toledo's Chicks for Charity is probably the largest local giving circle. Despite having no dues and no meetings, they've produced $68,000 for their current charity, the Victory Center for people with cancer, and $94,000 for three previous local charities.
"We ask that they raise money by holding events or attending events," says Laura Waltz, who works for R/P Marketing and handles the Chicks' media relations. Members have held small dinners, golf outings, wine and chocolate tastings, euchre tournaments, and children's parties.
Chicks who sell products or make art often donate a portion of their sales.
A group of "chicks in charge" review local agencies and present three finalists to the members, who vote online. A large event once a year is the main fund-raiser. Chicks was created in 2006 by Martha Vetter, president of R/P Marketing.
People like it because it's easy, says Ms. Waltz, noting there's zero administrative cost.
"You're not required to be tied down and go to meetings. And we make it fun," she says.
Notes chicksforcharity.net: "We have simple beliefs. Enjoy life. Laugh a lot. Work hard. Play hard. Be thankful for our blessings. Share the wisdom. Give back."
Contact Tahree Lane at:
tlane@theblade.com
or 419-724-6075.
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