What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

Re-energizing and reconnecting the members and supporters of our Melbourne Women’s Fund community after living in the most locked-down city in the world over 2020 and 2021. Although we survived those two years reasonably well, it required an agile, yet time-consuming, reorientation in our approach that couldn’t entirely compensate for the joy and satisfaction our members value from in-person socializing and networking. We are now re-directing our efforts to provide those opportunities, which is exciting and liberating!

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

Sustaining the caliber of our management. The term ‘Giving Circle’ can sound simplistic and belie the complexity involved in keeping a 100% volunteer-led organization running smoothly across areas that include an informed and collaborative grants process, marketing, events, governance, financial management, membership engagement, Next Gen and partnership/sponsorship—all underpinned by a solid three-year strategic plan. We’ve been very fortunate in having a devoted team. But life can get in the way for any of us, so we have to stay on the lookout for potential compatible volunteers and do what we can to keep them.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

There isn’t one resource. Overall, it is great to know that Philanos is there to turn to. Even though we’re on the other side of the world, the Philanos webinars during Covid were just as relevant for us. Its reservoir of giving circle-related research is useful as well. We look forward to being able to attend the next conference (the strategic planning session at the 2020 conference was a game-changer for us in particular). You’ll be seeing us again!

What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

In 2021, TPC rolled out a new four-tier membership investment structure. This updated membership framework creates a new membership entry point at $300 and allows all members to choose the contribution level most comfortable for their financial situation. All members receive the same privileges and voting rights, and are equally welcome to participate in our programming and grant making processes. In less than a year this new structure has resulted in a higher number of total members and several lapsed members rejoining. TPC is working to become a more equitable, inclusive organization and this new membership structure allows us to live those values.

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

TPC is seeking to incorporate the principles of Trust-Based Philanthropy (TBP) in our grant making. This has required re-thinking some of our grant making processes and challenging ourselves to incorporate new ideas. Some tangible changes we have made towards this end have included:

The work is not yet done and we are continuing to look inward as an organization and have hard conversations about how we can better exemplify the values of TBP.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

We found the Philanos chat boards to be very beneficial as we’ve researched and incorporated these changes. We were able to gain valuable insights about how other groups have structured their memberships and went on to meet with leaders from those groups in very helpful and informative sessions. Additionally, as we explored opportunities for offering multi-year grants, participants in the chat forums offered us valuable insights into how their group accomplished this and led to several excellent 1:1 conversations. We are always grateful for the willingness of other Philanos organizations to share their wisdom and insights with us.

What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

One of the areas of our focus right now is our membership and membership committee. As our membership grew to over 500, we realized the need for a more dedicated effort in the areas of both new member growth/recruitment and current member engagement. Both areas require time and different approaches. After brainstorming and discussions, we decided to split our membership committee into two committees: Membership Engagement and Membership Growth.  Each committee has its own unique leadership, members, and duties. This year, beginning September 2021, is our first year with this two membership committee structure.

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

Our biggest challenge is managing the ever-changing Covid situation.  We responded quickly in March 2020, moving to virtual events for our education sessions, grant selection, and annual meeting. In Fall 2021, we held successful hybrid events. It continues to take significant time for our leadership team as we are currently modifying plans based on Omicron's impact.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

The availability of webinars for the GWG board and membership has been the most helpful Philanos resource.

What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

Every 5-6 years we form a Strategic Planning Committee to help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. This committee tackles some pretty big issues that our giving circle has neither the time nor resources to address during the everyday running of Impact 100. The goal is to look at our organization objectively and strategically to determine if we are still operating under our initial mission, whether our goals and/or objectives have shifted over time, and whether changes are needed to set us up for success over the next 5-6 years.

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

We work closely with our local Community Foundation, who is our fiscal sponsor. When changes happen within their organization they affect us directly, and this year we had to migrate to a new website and database and adapt to staffing changes at the Community Foundation, all while kicking off our giving season!  It was a steep learning curve, but everyone came together and we launched our campaign with only minor delays. In the long run, the new system will provide us with more information about our donors and help us become better fundraisers for our local nonprofits.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

The monthly webinars are wonderful!  It is so helpful to hear how other circles are dealing with the same issues that we are grappling with.

Martha Cukor and Susan Perl
Co-chairs
The Baltimore Women's Giving Circle 

What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

This is very hard to answer because we have so many things going on simultaneously.  Because we have to name only one project, it would be the real effort the Membership Committee is making to learn from other Giving Circles and other organizations how to attract younger members.  The committee has come up with lots of ideas, some seemingly obvious directions in which to go, others which will take more serious discussion and investigation. This is an endeavor in which we must succeed, or we will not exist in the future.

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

As with many giving circles and organizations across the country, the BWGC has been investigating issues around racial diversity, equity, and inclusion.  The circle and the committee are challenged by how best to proceed and has tried to learn from other organizations.  Start with a small group and then include the rest of the circle?  Come to conclusions in the committee and present ideas for a vote, or include the entire circle in the full process?  What does education look like for the circle?  These are just some of the challenges.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

The webinars are the most helpful to the Circle Co-Chairs, while at least one affinity group is helpful to a committee, with more expected in the near future.

Side note: We at the BWGC find Philanos tremendously helpful for our work, and we thank you for all you do.

What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now?

This fall we are launching a members-only racial equity learning series that has been more than a year in the making. The series is designed to center active, collaborative learning so that together members can build an understanding of what we mean by racism and racial equity, how racism and racial equity relate to our work at Many Hands, and what we can and want to do about it. Since everyone will be a learner and teacher, we don’t know what the outcome will be--which is a little scary but also very exciting.

What is something your circle is currently challenged by?

One of our biggest challenges is managing growth. Over the past five years, our grant pool has grown by more than 70% and with it, the complexity and amount of the work it takes to get each year’s grants out the door. We’ve invested in donor and grant management systems, we’ve expanded the board by two-thirds, we’ve created non-board committees, and still, as an all-volunteer organization, we feel stretched thin. We are currently engaged in strategic planning, and sustainability is a major theme.

What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

We’ve been fortunate to participate in two DEI affinity groups--one focusing on membership and organizational strategies and the other on grantmaking--that have created unique opportunities for learning and cross-pollination of ideas. Most of the resources available for guiding work around racial equity and DEI target very different types of organizations, so connecting with other Philanos affiliates has been incredibly valuable. We get to learn what other giving circles are thinking and doing and to share and test out ideas. As a bonus, it’s a great way to meet even more women who are passionate about collective giving!