Small Circles, Big Change: The Power of Giving Circles

By Kelli Bohannon, Equilibria Strategies, LLC

Last week, I joined CircleUp New Mexico, an energizing event co-hosted by the Albuquerque Community Foundation, United Way of North Central New Mexico, Philanos, Philanthropy Together, and Grapevine. It wasn’t just a gathering; it was proof that when strategy meets soul, transformation isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.

Giving circles aren’t new, but for organizations committed to equity, trust-based relationships, and long-term sustainability, they remain one of the most underutilized tools we have. For small, community-rooted groups ready to lean on shared values and collective leadership, giving circles can be a game-changer.

Giving circles reimagine philanthropy. They shift power from the top down to the grassroots, turning transactional donations into relational giving and collective decision-making. It’s funding as strategy, community as infrastructure, and what many of our ancestors simply called “taking care of each other.”

This is personal to me. In Jim Crow-era Brevard, North Carolina, a group of Black women, in the community where my mother was raised, formed the Uplift Committee. Mind you, this wasn’t a formal charitable organization. It was a circle of sharp, determined women who saw a need, trusted each other, and built a bold, brilliant plan to care for the most vulnerable among them. And it worked.

The Uplift Committee raised funds to bury the dead, feed families, and clothe children. They didn’t wait for the system to care about their community; they became the system. They didn’t call it strategy, but it was, and it changed lives. Adrienne Maree Brown reminds us, “small is all,” what we practice in small circles sets the pattern for larger systems.

The Uplift Committee of Brevard, North Carolina - In this rare 1950s photo, a group of Black women in the mountains of Western North Carolina gathers as the Uplift Committee—a quiet force of care and strategy. Long before safety nets reached their community, they raised funds for neighbors facing illness, loss, and hardship. Their work, born during Jim Crow and rooted in dignity and mutual aid, reminds us that today’s boldest ideas often echo ancestral brilliance.

Today’s giving circles tap into that same ancestral wisdom. They challenge inequitable funding models, prioritize belonging, and make bold ideas possible. They are low barrier, high impact, and they work—especially for organizations led by those who know their communities best but are too often overlooked by traditional philanthropy.

We don’t have to wait for big institutions to catch up. The power to “resource” change is already in our hands. Sometimes, all it takes is a structure and a spark to ignite it.

Thinking about starting a giving circle? Curious how this model could change the way you fund and lead? Let’s talk. Together, we can explore what’s possible for your organization and your community. Because strategy shouldn’t just live in boardrooms or binders, it should live in people, in action, and in the small circles that make big change real.

Reach out or learn more at philanthropytogether.org. Either way, don’t wait for permission; this is work we can start now.