

307. Inside the Rise of Collective Giving + How to Create a Giving Circle - Sara Lomelin
Meet Sara. As the founding CEO of Philanthropy Together, she's working to diversify and democratize philanthropy through the power of giving circles. She believes nonprofit leaders can best connect with giving circles by working in local communities and remembering that giving circle donors are not your regular donors. They want to go beyond giving to elevate your message. “Giving by, for, and with the communities we represent is the future of philanthropy — and each and every one of us belongs in this movement.”
💡Learn
- The history, present & future of collective giving
- 5️⃣ Steps to the giving circle model
- How to democratize and diversify philanthropy
- Starting point for orgs looking to launch or wrap a giving circle around a program
Today’s Guest
Sara Lomelin, CEO, Philanthropy Together
Episode Highlights
- Sara’s story and journey to where she is today (3:50)
- Overview of collective giving (6:55)
- The story of Philanthropy Together (11:00)
- The potential for nonprofits today with collective giving (17:00)
- What happens after the gift is made (31:00)
- 👇 5 STEPS TO THE GIVING CIRCLE MODEL (34:00)
- Gather your people
- Discuss values
- Decide where to give your money
- Give - pool funding, talents, and resources
- Engage
- A powerful moment of philanthropy in Sara’s life (36:00)
- Sara’s One Good Thing: Never assume who can give and who cannot give. (39:00)
For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/307
The We Are For Good Podcast is co-hosted by Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE and welcomes the most dynamic nonprofit leaders, advocates and philanthropists to share innovative ideas and lessons learned 3x a week!
Want to hear insider details and to get our best roundup of tips, freebies, resources and show notes from each episode
About our Sponsor Givebutter 💛
Nonprofits use Givebutter to bring together multiple categories of tools, including mobile-friendly donation forms, fundraising campaigns, events, auctions, email marketing, a built-in CRM, and so much more. Head to givebutter.com/weareforgood to sign up for your free account today and get started in minutes.
Thank you to our partners 🩵
Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, DonorDock, Feathr, Whiteboard and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.
Become a Member and Get All-Access to Everything We Are For Good!
Experience the Impact Uprising Membership by We Are For Good: an ecosystem to learn, connect + grow in the power of a value-aligned community. Members gather monthly with Jon + Becky at exclusive members-only meetups + get video access to all new podcast episodes in an ad-free experience + so much more! Learn more + join us at weareforgood.com.
Say hi👇
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter