The Power of Giving Circles: How Giving Together Builds a Better Rochester Region
One gift can make a difference. A community giving together can transform a region.
That’s the promise of collective giving in Rochester.
That’s why Rochester Area Community Foundation created our first giving circle back in 2007 — to give community members a collaborative way to support the causes they love alongside like-minded individuals. Since then, hundreds of residents have come together to pool resources and pour into their communities through passionate collective giving groups.
If you’ve been looking for a way to give back and grow your network, a giving circle may be just what you’re looking for.
What is a Giving Circle?
Giving circles are a growing movement of individuals choosing to pool their resources to create a larger impact on the world around them.
To-date, there are nearly 4,000 active circles around the globe. Giving circles offer the unique ability to collectively decide where dollars go by reviewing grant applications and learning about the specific needs of our region.
Unlike individual philanthropy where a single entity dictates funding priorities, a giving circle operates on a democratic model. Every member has a voice, a vote, and a shared stake in the community’s success.
By pooling donations from many different people, collective giving creates large-scale impact without high barriers to entry.
“Collective giving reflects a shared commitment to creating safer, healthier, and more equitable communities. Every contribution, regardless of size, helps provide critical resources such as workforce training, transportation assistance, financial literacy education, mentoring, and supportive services.”
— Shermond Reid, Rochester Women’s Giving Circle grant recipient
Find Your Giving Circle
We proudly support four identity-based collective giving funds: Black Giving Collective, Latino Giving Circle, LGBT+ Giving Circle, and Rochester Women’s Giving Circle.
By housing these circles at Rochester Area Community Foundation, members can focus entirely on grantmaking and relationship-building while the Community Foundation handles the legal, administrative, and financial management.
The Black Giving Collective supports Black-led, community-based projects that foster self-sufficiency and address key quality-of-life challenges in the eight-county region.
Learn More
The Black Giving Collective supports Black-led, community-based projects that foster self-sufficiency and address key quality-of-life challenges in the eight-county region.
How it Works
- Pool Resources: Members make an annual gift to a shared fund.
- Review and Vote: The circle reviews grant applications from nonprofits and decides together which proposals to support. Members can join the steering committee and serve as volunteer leaders who help shape the vision and direction of the giving circle.
- About the Steering Committee: In addition to the benefits of membership, the steering committee works closely with Foundation staff to guide grantmaking priorities, strengthen member engagement, serve as ambassadors, and help ensure that community voices remain at the center of decision-making.
- See the Impact: Grants are distributed each year, reaching local residents through nonprofits with the relationships and expertise to have an immediate impact.
Explore our active circles to find where your passion aligns:
A Brief History of Giving Circles
Giving circles date back to the early 1980s, and have since tripled in the United States.
Our first giving circle formed in 2007, when four women realized the impact they could have when they gave together. Since then, Rochester Area Community Foundation’s collective giving community has grown to include:
342
Active Giving Circle Members
$493K
Granted to Organizations in 2025-26
4
Active Giving Circles
Why Join a Giving Circle?
Modern giving circles have emerged as spaces to do philanthropy differently:
- Centering Trust and Equity: Giving circles place a heavy emphasis on community learning. They are statistically more likely to fund grassroots, BIPOC-led, and LGBTQIA+ led nonprofits that are often overlooked by large funders.
- Expanding Donor Education: Combining donor dollars with volunteerism and education opportunities creates lasting, community-driven impact centered on knowledge and empowerment. According to a study by Johnson Center, 77% of members surveyed reported improved understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion as a result of joining a giving circle.
- Improving Wellbeing & Health: 55% of surveyed giving circle members reported a positive impact on their ability to lead healthy lives physically, mentally, and/or spiritually as a result of joining a giving circle.
Give at Any Level
Giving to a giving circle can scale with your capacity — gifts of $50, $500, or $5,000 are all valued, with $250/yr as the entry point for membership and voting rights. Every donation builds toward a larger goal: a thriving Greater Rochester region for all of us.
Find Community
Giving circles create a safe space of like-minded community members looking to give back and make a difference. According to a study by Philanthropy Together, 91% of respondents reported a positive impact on their sense of belonging after joining a giving circle.
Build A Legacy
As an endowment-based organization, the gift you give today benefits generations to come. Every gift strengthens the power of collective giving — supporting community organizations today and ensuring our circles make a lasting difference in the years ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Giving circles bring people together to pool their resources, learn about community needs, and invest collectively in solutions that create lasting and meaningful change. Our giving circles are community-led philanthropic groups that connect donors, volunteers, and changemakers around shared values and experiences. Together, members participate in learning opportunities, build meaningful relationships, and help direct funding to organizations advancing equity, opportunity, and well-being throughout our region.
Collective giving amplifies your impact. By pooling resources with others, small individual gifts can become transformational community investments.
Imagine 100 people each contribute $250 to a giving circle. On their own, a $250 donation might support a small piece of a program. Together, those gifts become a $25,000 grant that can help launch a new initiative, expand services, or reach hundreds of community members. Along the way, members learn from nonprofit leaders, discuss community priorities, and participate in deciding where the funding will have the greatest impact. This combines the power of philanthropy, education, and community leadership in a way that individual giving often cannot.
Anyone who wants to make a difference can participate! While our giving circles do have set annual membership levels, we welcome people at all giving levels, making philanthropy more accessible and inclusive. Please visit the page for the giving circle you are interested in joining for exact annual thresholds.
Grant decisions are typically made through a collaborative process involving giving circle members, volunteer review committees, and community advisors. Members help identify priorities and recommend investments that align with the group’s mission.
No. Collective giving also leverages members’ time, talents, expertise, relationships, and lived experiences. Many participants volunteer, serve on committees, attend educational events, and advocate for issues they care about.
Our giving circles reflect the work done in all eight counties, including: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates counties. We currently have members from across the region, and are always looking to grow and expand.
To learn more about joining a giving circle, reach out to Collective Giving Officer Dawn Perry here.
Ready to redefine philanthropy?
Connect with Dawn Perry, Collective Giving Officer
