Session Two of our fall 2020 “Explained” series took us into the world of Giving Circles. Why do people set them up? What lessons have people learned from doing them? We heard from people who have been involved as members of Giving Circles breaking it down and sharing how it’s like a book club… but even better. 

During the session we heard from:

Black Feminist Susu

Radfund

NYSYLC

But don’t take our word for it! You can watch the full Zoom meeting recording here:

Look through the deck for this event here.

And…we have a handout with tips to help you get started with your first Giving Circle with your friends or family.

TRANSCRIPT

Helen Stillman: OK, so I think we have a critical mass to get started. Ok, welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us tonight for North Star Fund’s Giving Circles Explained program. My name is Helen Stillman. I’m the donor program director at North Star Fund. And I’ll be playing host and moderator tonight for this program. This program is the second one in North Star Fund’s Let Us Explain series that we’ve been doing this fall. And really the purpose of this series for us is to try to take some of the big ideas and concepts floating around and get really concrete and specific about how we do things at North Star Fund and also how you can be engaging. So that’s what we’re up to the last couple weeks ago, we had the North Star Fund Explained program. There’s a recording on our website, in case you’re curious to know more. And then also we’ll be doing another one on Decolonizing Fundraising in a couple weeks. And, you know, for this program in particular, we you know, basically we know that a lot of people in our circles, circles, little giving circle joke. And also giving circles are just not a new concept. There’s many lineages of collective giving and community over time and that this is so there’s a lot of shared wisdom and knowledge around giving circles in our communities. And also that this is a time when a lot of people are looking for ways to support organizing and to plug in and to get reconnected and reconnected to communities that we may feel disconnected to through isolation right now. And so that is a time when we were thinking it’d be a good time to talk more about giving circles and what’s out there, how people are engaging and support folks who are interested in creating giving circles. So this conversation is a bit of an experiment for us. We haven’t done a program like this before. But we’re really excited to see what happens and to be in conversation both with our speakers tonight and also with everyone who’s joining us. The other thing just really quickly, is that we did schedule this for two hours, but we’re really trying to make it a 90 minute call because, you know, we think we can do it in 90 minutes and we suspect you probably have other things that may be on your agenda as well tonight. Seun, will go to the next slide? So what are we gonna do this evening? Basically, as I was saying, you know, where we’re gonna get started is  understanding giving circles within the North Star fund, giving and donor organizing frameworks. My colleague, Jillian White, our donor organizer, North Star Fund, will be taking us through that piece of the evening. And then the main event we’ll be hearing from a variety of folks who are involved in giving circles. And both as speakers and then also, again, love to hear from you all as participants on the call. And then we’ll be sharing out some resources and ideas, both from North Star and then also resources that we’ve curated from others to support you. If you’re interested in starting a giving circle or strengthening your giving circle practice. 

Helen Stillman: So will you go the next slide, Seun? 

Helen Stillman: Before we get the content, we are just going to ground a little bit in our Stars vision and mission. We know some of you might have known our surfer one time, others might not. I also know I was preparing to do this tonight. I was looking at this vision and feeling very grateful to ground in vision. And if you will, like a north star at a time that includes a lot of for myself, I know a lot of anxiety, unknown and unknowns. So North Star funds vision. We envision a world in which resources and power are equitably shared and a future where everyone can live with dignity and thrive. 

Helen Stillman: So taking that in as a place that we are trying to go in our work. Will you go to the mission? 

Helen Stillman: And then, you know, how are we doing that, what role does North Star fund have? So we’re a social justice fund that supports grassroots organizing, especially communities of color building power in New York City. 

Helen Stillman: So, you know, that’s our big… That’s our North Star and our mission. And then again, just to be more concrete about how we do our work for folks who might be new to the next slide. 

Helen Stillman: So we make our grants through a process that shifts decision making power, specifically through our community funding committees, which are where decisions are made by organizers and activists working in the field. So we have our New York City Community Funding Committee. Also Hudson Valley Funding Committee. And the Let Us Breathe Committee for Black-led organizing. And if you’re interested in learning more about our community funding committee model, that is something that we covered quite a bit in our first program a couple weeks ago. So definitely go and check that out. And then, you know, in addition to funding the work of organizing and strengthening leadership, we also organize people across race and class to mobilize resources for social justice movements. And that’s really central to the conversation we’ll be having tonight. And then additionally, our work really does work to challenge entrenched racism and power imbalances in philanthropy, which I would say we’re thinking about that both within individual giving as well as institutional philanthropy. So those are kind of concretely the ways that we do our work at North Star. And I’m going to pass it to Jillian to start drilling down more about the topic of donor organizing, which is really where we think about giving circles fitting in. So, Jillian, over to you. 

Jillian White: Hi, everyone. Seun, can we go to the next slide? 

Jillian White: Thanks. So this is a really general and open definition of donor organizing, but we really see it as the long term work of bringing people into movements through fundraising and resource mobilization at North Star Fund. We’re really focused on growing the movement as we build power. So we believe that there is room for everyone in the movement and that’s our work to create entry points. 

Jillian White: And becoming a donor is generally a very easy entry point. Can we go to the next slide?

Jillian White: So at North Star, we’re also really committed to redistributing resources for grassroots organizing very specifically, so taking those resources from the top and bringing them outward, spreading them to the grassroots. They’re kind of two pathways that we see as kind of like the giving that happens at North Star. Right. There’s individual giving, which I’m sure all of you are very familiar with. It’s when one person makes a donation, redistribute some of the resources that they have. And I’m super happy to brag about our individual donors from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty. We had a thousand and ninety four donors who made two thousand two hundred and twenty three gifts, which is incredible. Yeah. So yay, yay, our community. And then the other type of giving that we deal with is collective giving. So one of the major ways that we support collecting and giving at North Star is through the giving project. And the Giving Project is a six month program where about 20 to 25 people come together to learn about race, class, racial capitalism, fundraising. And then we put all of these things together and folks raise money from their communities to be re granted or redistributed to North Star grantees. And this year, our giving project is going to be raising funds for the Let Us Breathe Fund and Black-led organizing in New York City and the Hudson Valley. And we’re really excited to take that on. I think we can all agree, just looking at the news, looking at our city, this is the time like we really need to be supporting Black leadership and Black organizing. And so that’s what our giving project is going to do. And we start next week and it’s going to be great. And then the other way that we support collective giving is through giving circles. And that is obviously why you all are here. You’ll also see that donor advised funds sort of sit in between individual and collective giving. And for folks who aren’t familiar with donor advised funds. I’m not going to throw a bunch of jargon at you and get you kind of confused. But the really simple way of thinking about donor advised funds are that they are basically like an efficient and cost effective alternative to private or family foundations. You get sort of an immediate tax benefit from setting up a donor advised fund. I’m not going to get into it. If you’d like to learn more about that, there’s information on our web site. So, yeah, it sits between individual and collective giving because both things are possible. And so, yeah, we’re going to hone in, though, on giving circles. So let’s move to the next slide. So what’s a giving circle? Probably you all already know this, but let’s just come together with a working definition. So giving circles look so many different ways, but some of the characteristics that we think are the defining ones is that it’s an intentional process that brings groups of people together. It’s guided by shared values or interests or priorities. That’s another way that you could think of it. And then a giving circle is a group that practices collective decision making and pools their resources together to make a greater impact. So while I’ve been talking, you are thinking to yourself, that sounds really familiar. And we don’t call that a giving circle. You’re on to something. And it’s like Helen said, there are lots of different origins of this sort of practice. Right. Like, our communities have so many ways in which we come together to show up for each other, show up for folks who are in need to redistribute whatever. We have to fill the gaps in all the ways that our needs aren’t being met. Right. And we don’t always call them a giving circle. It’s the same thing with philanthropy. Right. Like a lot of us who come from working class or communities of color, we give, we are the most giving. And also, it’s not called philanthropy with a capital P.. Right. So we’re just acknowledging that there are lots of different lineages for these practices and lots of different ways that it can look. I’m sorry if you look here just like a wild amount of honking in the background. New York. But, yeah. So we’re lifting up these different lineages around giving circles. Let’s go to the next slide. So this wonderful umbrella group is really meant to just sort of show you just all that can fit underneath this, like, very broad heading of giving circles. Right. So shared practices, they can be long term. They can be short term. All giving circles basically function with members. Doing the giving. Sometimes there’s fundraising, sometimes there’s just like each member redistributing some of their resources. Sometimes it’s grounded in political education. Other times it’s people who come together and decide they’re going to volunteer or use their time as a resource. So lots of different ways that that can look. And I’ll just share a few thoughts about how giving circles relate to North Star as a way of being. So we believe that not all giving is the same. It’s not all created equal. We have a way that we like to shepherd giving. And one of the things I’ll lift up is that only two percent of all philanthropic dollars go toward social justice work. Right. I think for a lot of people, that’s the shocking statistic. We just sort of assume broadly that like our money is going to change, right? Like that anyone who’s giving away money is giving it away for social change and for social justice. And that’s actually just not true at all. It’s really only two percent. So we know that the interventions that we’re making when we redistribute resources, they’re crucial. It’s just really important that we direct this money, these resources to a winning strategy. And we think grassroots organizing is the winning strategy. Yeah. So giving circles are also just, again, like I’m saying, it’s it’s really an opportunity to say, like, here, here’s what I have and I’m going to put my resources into places that I believe in. Into values that I believe in. So it’s a really amazing way to build community around social justice. And North Star is here to help with that. We believe in power shifting in philanthropy. Philanthropy with a capital key does not have to be the way that it is right now. So, you know, all of these interventions, they add up to something really important, the money that we move through our organization and all these different types of giving. We know and we’re confident that it’s going to people who are really leading the way to liberation. Right. Like grassroots organizing. I can’t say it enough. Like, it really is the winning strategy for liberation. So we have confidence in that. 

Jillian White: Yeah. Is there anything I missed, Helen? Anything that you would add? 

Helen Stillman: I don’t think so. 

Jillian White I think that’s. Let’s go to the next slide and see what it is. 

Jillian White: Great. It’s not me. So I’ll hand it back to Helen. 

Helen Stillman: So, yes. So let’s see if I can get pinned. 

Helen Stillman: I don’t know if I’m visible, but I’ll keep talking. So as I mentioned, we’re extremely excited to have several speakers with us tonight who are people who are themselves participating in organizing and giving through and fundraising for giving circles. 

So I will just say briefly, these are our speakers Guadalupe Ambrosio and Ivan Rosales will be in our first pod, we’re going to do this in kind of like little pods. And then we’ll get together and everyone will chat together. So Lupe and Ivan will be in our first pod. And then we’ll be talking with Cheryl Turac and Erin Maz Mazursky from Rad Fund about their work with that specific giving circle. And then with Ogonnaya Newman about the Black Feminist Susu and her participation there. So that’s who’s up. And let’s move off the slides and to spotlighting of Lupe and then so we can start chatting. 

Helen Stillman: Yay! Hello. Hello. On my screen, I can’t see you all, but I’m hoping that’s just me. 

Helen Stillman: All right. Hold music while we work out the tech here. 

<music> 

Helen Stillman: Awesome. Oh, my gosh, that was amazing. I didn’t really expect there to be hold music. That was just my saying out loud what I was dreaming of. Ivan and Lupe, are you able to hear me and etc.? Awesome. 

Helen Stillman: Mm hmm. Things keep moving around. OK, I’m going to. So I’ll keep going. I’m not totally sure. 

Helen Stillman: What’s happening with that? Moving around, if it’s just me, but I’m going to get started. So first of all, thank you both so much for being the first to go. And for joining us to talk about giving circles tonight. And we wanted to start the conversation with you both, because you’re both people who have participated in giving circles from variety, wearing a variety of different hats and a variety of different structures. So we thought it’d be great to start talking from that perspective as people who have done collective giving in many different ways. And you’re also both connected to the YLC, which is a North Star fund, grantee. 

Helen Stillman: So I was going to start with Lupe, basically, 

Helen Stillman: I know you’re responsible for fundraising as part of your job. So I wanted to know what makes you participate in giving outside of that context and just what forms that takes. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: Yeah. So I’m Co-Executive Director at the New York State Youth Leadership Council, which is an undocumented youth led organization. And part of that is fundraising. And that’s always been part of my work. I just didn’t think it was called that. So that’s another thing. I think when dealing with thinking, talking about philanthropy with a capital P.. I thought it was something that was not that you can attach to myself or someone could attach to me. But to answer your question for me is also the reason I give outside of my space is because there’s so much more to do. I’m one person, one organization, one place and liberation is not just going to happen from one specific location or one specific group of people. But it’s also my social responsibility to invest in the well-being of all my community members. And I think a lot of the work that I’ve been doing as an organizer also has shown me the gaps in philanthropy and foundations where they don’t consider local nonprofit spaces worthy of investment. Right. So for me, I invest a lot of my personal money in giving into local youth, most of the time youth led spaces, specifically in the Bronx that are creating collective change, if it is doing a block party to talk about political education, but they are hosting it with their own money and resources. I invest in those spaces. The other thing that is really important for me is that I don’t. I feel like we haven’t made…when I say we, I should say I. It looks like they’re having made an explicit statement about my giving. Right. So I think that it is really important for me to show up in solidarity in that way for other spaces and model that for whoever comes next to take my position and my space specifically because where you slide. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio So for me, it’s always been about how do we model living in our values? And also getting back. And that’s the way I do it and why I do it. 

Helen Stillman: Yes. Awesome, thank you. And then, Ivan, just going over to you. 

Helen Stillman I know you have also participated in at least two short term and more structured giving circles. So I wonder if you can just kind of describe them, how you came to them and just anything that came out of them for you. 

Ivan Rosales: Yeah, totally. 

Ivan Rosales: So the first giving circle that I was ever a part of was for North Star Fund’s Let Us Breathe fund when it was first launched and it was something that happened sort of pretty informally. It wasn’t organized necessarily by staff. It was like people in New York who knew about North Star, who knew about the fund. Who in 2014 really wanted to support Black-led organizing in response to everything that was going on then. And so people just came together and were like, hey, we want to be able to do more to support this work. And so I was one of those people who in that summer, that fall, I felt like I definitely needed to do more. And not only that, I felt like I needed to give more. I felt like I needed to also invest some of my time and like sort of bring others along on the journey about learning what Black-led organizing meant in the city at that time. So that was the first giving circle that I was ever a part of. And it was a great experience. I think, like, I got to connect with people and like, I felt like I was, you know, doing more than that was going to be able to do by myself. So that was part of it, right. Like, I was already thinking, like, I have to give as much as I can. But even that won’t be enough. So, like, how do I bring others along on this with me? And then surely, I think the following year, then someone  reached out to me. I think maybe they saw some of the work that I was doing, like sort of organizing with the YLC, and thought that I would be interested in and being part of another giving circle that was specific to an organization that was specific to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which was something that. Yeah, like immigrant rights, worker rights are things that I really care about. But I haven’t been too familiar with the work that NDWA was doing nationally. So I thought, like, yeah, sounds great. I’ll get to meet some new people who are also passionate about these things. I’ll get to learn some skills on fundraising and I’ll get to support all of the incredible work that was going on. And that giving circle was more structured. There was you know, it was like a long term commitment on a long term. It was like four to six months of a commitment where we were meeting once a month, like learning about the work of the organization, learning how to fundraise, making commitments and like really supporting each other in meeting those commitments. And that was also a really great experience. And I think it looked like the takeaways for me from those experiences were like giving circles were spaces like these funders and collective fundraising spaces where we’re places where I felt like I could do more than just give and like really support, you know, the collective. And also, it was a space where I could, like, build community and meet other people who were also like, you know, feeling the need to do more. And I feel like those are the things that I’ve always taken away from that. And like, I try to bring that into, like all of the other fundraising that I do, sort of outside of formal giving, giving circles. 

Helen Stillman: Thanks, Ivan. Yeah, related to that, I’m curious, since you’ve both been involved with the YLC for some time, if you can talk about how a collective giving and giving circle practices show up in the organizational context there as well. 

Ivan Rosales: I can start first. Yeah. So I was in charge of or I was, you know, doing a lot of fundraising for the YLC sort of while I was doing these other giving circles, too. And I definitely brought a lot of what I learned into the formal giving circles to the way that we do fundraising at the YLC. And I think some of it. So currently we have a fundraising team that really operates in a lot of ways, like a giving circle. Also, it’s volunteers who come together who want to support the work of the YLC, which is the immigrant youth organizing. So it’s people who care about that and want to be able to support that work. And so the fundraising team gets trainings on fundraising, on how to talk about the mission and the work of the YLC. And then they sort of just like support each other in raising funds for the work and the team sort of it’s like revolving where, you know, people come when they have capacity and people leave when they don’t have capacity. But it is sort of a collective where people have decided that they want to be able to support in a way. And I think one of the things that we’ve seen is like valuing people’s time also sort of. So not everyone has a lot of money that they can give, but they have time that they can dedicate to supporting the work. And I think we sort of emphasize a lot of those things about like bringing people into to the organization long term. And this is one of the ways that I think we’ve been able to do that. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: And so I actually think the other part that’s really great is that we also give smaller grants so it’s not to say that it’s just for raising for operational support of the organization or for a program within the organization. But if there was an immediate need outside of that space that the fundraising team also does have a say in what that funding goes to because this is discretionary. I don’t know how to say that we could do what we want with that money. And there are also there’s an ownership specifically with our folks that, like I said, may not have the. All the money in the world, but we have so many different skills they want to offer to the space and then also leave with learning something. And then you’re also creating capacity with other spaces, too, also for them to tap into. So they’re not necessarily just only committing to working or fundraising within the YLC space, but ideally. And what does happen, a lot of times they end up also fundraising in different spaces, even if it’s local or in different organizations. So we see it as a leadership development and also a way that we practice giving in our spaces. But again, it comes back of them having a say they want and support individual people or if they want to go into specific different. We have donated some of our fundraising events. Or what they fundraise to other organizations as well, because ask. And we are OK. So they also have a say in that. We encourage it because I think that that’s another part of our work and social justice that as a director, personally, directly impacts that. I also expect it to be showing up for me. I also need to practice with that. I can show others the way that I expect others to show for me so it’s another way that we really practice that and make sure that we are also developing new leadership in different spaces. 

Helen Stillman: Mm hmm. Thanks. 

Helen Stillman: Yeah, we were getting a question in the chat about the difference between a giving circle and fundraising, and I feel like you just really explain that in a helpful way. So thank you so much. Well, this is kind of abrupt, like I’m going to move to a new pod. But I was going to say, first of all, thank you both so much for what you just shared. And we’ll be seeing you again later. And for folks in the chat, if you have questions for Lupe or Ivan please feel free to share them right now. Jillian will be collecting questions. And also, please feel free to share them. Share some love to our speakers and their wisdom that they’re sharing with us. So thank you both. And I am going to transition us to to Maz and Cheryl to talk about Rad Fund. So I feel like I’m in a new room, here we are. So for both of you, obviously you’re both part of Rad Fund, which is a giving circle that supports community organizing groups here in New York City. And I think that started five or six years ago, is that right? 

Cheryl Taruc We started in 2016. 

Helen Stillman 2016. So let’s just start there. I’d love to hear what’s the origin story of Rad Fund and then just how do the giving circle works? 

Cheryl Taruc Sure. So Rad Fund, we are a group of friends who are mostly based in New York or have some strong tie to New York. We have met through work, activism, school, and a lot of us have met on the dance floor. So our connection is really strong and a fun one and we bring that to all the work that we do. So back in 2016, there were four of us who started to engage in deeper conversations around philanthropy and giving and movements and wanting to be more involved and connected to movements and being wanting to be more connected with each other. And so over the course of a few kind of feeling out introductory meetings, we formed what was then called make money, make change, and eventually we became known as Rad Fund. So from those four initial folks, we are now at 14 members. And yes, we’ve been around since twenty sixteen. Over the course of our time, we’ve given to 19 groups. And I would love to brag about something which is in a recent meeting, we determined that Rad Fund has collectively given close to two hundred forty thousand dollars to groups here in New York. So it’s just, yeah, I’m blown away. I think we as a group are really excited about what we’ve done and just some of the nuts and bolts. You know, we meet about once a month, maybe a little bit more. And over the course of we give once a year. We also have had instances where we give kind of rapidly or kind of do a partnership and give, you know, a one off sense. And another thing I really like to highlight that is something that we came to in our first year as a group is our formula of giving or what we commit each member to giving towards rad fun to give to our groups, which is one percent of our annual salaries and point one percent of our wealth. So each member commits to that. And, you know, one of the things that we’ve done each year is engage in a conversation about each individual’s kind of financial situation. And it’s just part of our, you know, part of our community and part of our accountability in friendships is that we have those conversations. 

Helen Stillman: Thank you. Maz, did you have anything you wanted to share on that on the origin story or how it works or bragging?

Maz Mazursky: Yeah. I mean, I would just say that we we come from, I mean, both diverse and not, but I think financially is pretty diverse. And so the one percent rule really it spans, it spans various like very different incomes. And I think that’s actually, you know, a part of the vulnerability that everyone brings to the group. And, you know, it has been a central part of the conversation that we’ve had about wealth and privilege and power kind of from the very beginning. And just that we started in 2016. I wasn’t one of the four. But I was one of the original members that that kind of came together really around. It was pre our current political situation. But like during the Movement for Black Lives, and we were seeing kind of a huge need to figure out how to get involved and how to get involved structurally. And so that was those were a big part of the coming together stories. 

Helen Stillman: Yeah. And I know that in your work, you all think about power a lot and informs your practices and I’m wondering if you can just share with us some of the concrete practices that Rad Fund has to shift or transform power imbalances that you might identify. 

Maz Mazursky: Yeah, I mean, power and privilege has been, like I said, kind of at the center of our conversations from the very beginning and recognizing the power and privilege that we have and that we bring to organizing spaces. 

Maz Mazursky: I mean, I would say one is just our practices are on power is like having grounded our theory of change around supporting groups that are doing organizing and power building in New York City, largely around economic and racial justice issues. 

Maz Mazursky: And recognizing that, you know, what we want to do with, you know, what feels like a small amount of money, you know, and relatively it is that it goes a long way and that we’re able to build power and support power building with that money. So that’s kind of first of all, in terms of our practices and just kind of like our grounding values and principles. But I would say, like our conversations around power also then play the biggest role when we talk about who we fund and how we fund them and our groups. So a lot of it comes down to our principles of how we interact with groups. We really like to take a lot of time to do to have conversations with our networks and with people that kind of know organizing spaces to narrow down the pool of groups that were that we think about funding every year. And we have kind of a look like criteria, again, based on kind of organizing and power building. And then we really try to not take up groups’ time and energy. And we don’t we don’t have we don’t have like an application process in which, you know, I know I can go kind of both ways. But whenever we actually trying it a little bit different this year, it’s like a constantly evolving process that historically we have an initial conversation with groups where we’ve already promised, like at least a minimum amount of money that we’re going to give as a grant to organizations. And then oftentimes after that conversation, we’ll decide to give more. So that’s one practice that has remained consistent, is that we never want to, like, take up time or take up space and like make organizations that are limited in time and staff feel like they need to court us or convince us. We want to make sure our minds, like, pretty much made up and that we’re already pretty committed to the folks before we even approach them. The other piece of it is that our grants are always unrestricted. And so it’s you know, we like to get a sense of how groups would like use the money or like what their priorities are for the year. But we’re never going to go back and ask them to track those funds. And I should say, like our grants have historically been between a thousand and five thousand dollars per group. But the other piece of our practice is that we almost always give multi-year grants. So once we make a commitment to a group where we’re giving grants for at least two to three more years and then, you know, it’s we never ask for report backs either, really, like our relationship with groups revolves around like calls once a year that actually do develop into relationships. And we have a social media account where we amplify groups work and their initiatives. And I think another big part of the work that we do is like we have a broader community of friends, too, that are really interested in and tuned into Rad Fund’s work that also kind of trust the work that we’re doing. 

Maz Mazursky: And so we have we’re able to kind of create a broader reach for that impact and amplification as well. So, yeah. 

Helen Stillman: Yeah. Thanks for sharing on that. My last question for you all is one that is maybe slightly self-serving, but also very honest, which is just to ask you to talk a little bit about the relationship that Rad Fund has had to North Star fund and how that relationship has supported your work.

Cheryl Taruc: Sure. So we reached out to North Star back, connected to you all pretty early on, it’s through you that we learned more about this and the operations, how to deal with money, learning about donor advised funds. So some of the kind of, you know, you know, the financial pieces. And then we also looked to you to help us figure out how to engage with groups. You had a lot of resources about kind of sharing with us information you had about the groups that we might be considering. All of that helped us not only kind of ease our giving, but also helped us formulate our theory of change, you know, kind of our our overall approach to giving and some of what Maz just addressed a few minutes ago about power and shifting power. We’ve gotten trainings from you about how to plan our calendar year. You know, so we are able to stay on top of things and make sure that we’re giving in to the kind of in a timely way and the way that we’re hoping to. So, again, you’ve North Star has really given us a lot of concrete support and also a lot of kind of, you know, helping us through those baby steps of formally becoming a giving circle. 

Helen Stillman: Thanks for sharing that. Yes. I’ve been on many wonderful calls with you, also enjoy seeing you. Great. Thank you both. I’m seeing some questions come through in the chat. We are going to hold questions till the end so that we can see which ones come to the top. But if you do have questions for Rad Fund, feel free to throw them in the chat along with love and appreciation for them sharing about the work that they do. So thank you both. And I’ll see you on the flip side at the end. And I’m going to transition us to talking to Ogonnaya. 

Helen Stillman So, yeah, let’s do it. 

Helen Stillman Really won’t be me doing it, really. It’ll be our great tech folks doing it. 

Helen Stillman Hi, Ogannaya. Hi. 

Ogonnaya Newman Hi. Hey, hey. 

Helen Stillman I like your glasses. I haven’t seen those. Thank you. That’s not what we’re here to talk about. But. So, yeah, you and I actually met when you did a North Star Fund giving project a couple years ago. Another topic we’re not here to talk about, but that’s how I think that’s how you got connected, North Star. We’re actually here to talk about your involvement with the Black Feminist Susu. So, yeah. So I just wanted to hear from you, you know, on that topic, what brought to you what brought you to the Black Feminist Susu and just how the giving circle works? 

Ogonnaya Newman: Yeah. So thanks for having me. My glasses are part of my new fashion. 

Ogonnaya Newman: I view glasses as face jewelry. So what brought me to the Susu was not face jewelry, it was my commitment to Black women and girls. 

Ogonnaya Newman: And I had been going through a process of rethinking my career. 

Ogonnaya Newman I was working at a environmental justice organization and trying to think about how I could have like just a different type of balance in my life. So when I entered into philanthropy, I still because my day job is in philanthropy. I wanted to figure out other ways to have space and time to either use my resources from like my paycheck, but also from my connections as well, that I was getting through work to be able to support things that were most important to me, because most of my portfolio and kind of like professional work, is generally in the world of like environmental health and justice. And so I met the person who kind of like organized this. Her name is Paris Hatcher. And she was doing this or she had put a call out through a network of folks that were kind of like doing work either philanthropically or also through their, like, professional or nonprofessional like time for Black women and girls. 

Ogonnaya Newman: So Susu kind of came up. It was really exciting. It started in twenty seventeen. It’s really a group of like twelve to fifteen of us at any given time. We generally have a process where you can give monthly quarterly. Paris kind of had a lot of the back end infrastructure setup through, I think like her consulting work with an organization that has some other stuff called Black Feminist Future. And we just have like basically a Venmo account that we all put money into. We ended up only having one in-person meeting, which I think happened in kind of late 2017, early 2018. And our process of actually deciding who we want to give this money to is just very I feel like it’s one of the most informal processes that I’ve participated in. So folks that are part of this Susu kind of  think about different organizations that either they have a relationship with formally or informally and why I say formally or informally. And it doesn’t have to be an organization. It can also be individuals. 

Ogonnaya Newman: So one of the projects that we supported initially was a podcast called The Black Joy Mixtape. And one thing that was super interesting is the person who nominated them was like, listen, I listen to this podcast. I love it. I have never met these people. I think they’re awesome. But I’d love to, like, make a donation to them. 

Ogonnaya Newman: And so we have like an internal application process that has very general information that the members of who can fill out and people just kind of use their own strategy and way to either contact the folks before or we just let them know after we’ve made the decision with some type of estimate. The grants can be like anywhere between two hundred and fifty dollars. I think up to like five thousand was maybe one of the biggest requests that we had. And generally what has happened is we don’t have like a huge kind of in-depth reporting process because it is kind of based on relationships. But I feel like the way that we think about those relationships is very expansive. So it’s been exciting because I think it’s just a different community of people that I wasn’t like generally plugged into. And people are national, mostly from the US. And we’ve given to projects globally in the U.S. and globally. And then also it was interesting at the beginning of COVID, I think, you know, there is a lot of need and there were kind of mutual aid funds or activities that were happening. And so we also had some remaining funds for Susu that we hadn’t really kind of like had a discussion about. And so we did have like an open process for Black women and girls to apply for like two hundred fifty dollar rapid response support. And we gave, I think, a few thousand dollars of rapid response kind of grants to folks. 

And basically everyone that participates gets like the little letter based on whatever your donation is. And then there’s some people that want to be more kind of like participating in the process, because we kind of do we kind of make decisions, I would say, collectively, through collective decision making consensus. That’s right. And it was also interesting because of the first year we also supported an individual who made this really like awesome black feminist like planner and. We basically provided support for them to get a laptop to this individual, and then they also did graphic design. So if you go to a Web site, which I think we can put into the chat box, you’ll see that our little Susu logo was actually made by one of our someone that we provided grant funds to. And we. And so it’s also, I think, this interesting way to think about how you can operate in reciprocity with people as a community. And it’s been really exciting. 

Ogonnaya Newman: Was the answer too long? 

Helen Stillman: That is great. That definitely answered the question. And if folks have more questions, you know, again, feel free to share in the chat. And I do have links to Rad Fund and the YLC and Black Feminist Susu that we can share it as well if people want to check out these Web sites. Well, and my second question for you, which is, could be our last question before we go to the big group, is really a big question. But honestly, we talked about this for so long when we did our prep that I have to ask you this question, which is basically what do you see as the potential for giving circles and collective giving in creating the world that you want to live in? 

Ogonnaya Newman: Yeah. So I believe when we have this discussion, I went off on like a rant, probably. And I think the thing that’s been really fascinating to me is that many, like many aspects of the world that we live in today, were supported through, I think, informal and formal philanthropy. And so I often think about like the benefits. One of the jokes I say is I, like my ancestors, worked very hard for me to have soft hands. And so I say that, like, I think that was like I am the product of giving circles. I am the product of giving circles between, like, my family, my grandparents. I am the product of giving circles of people who worked really hard to, like, start and mobilize the environmental justice movement so that people can work in fields or at organizations, because many of the organizations that may get philanthropic support today from like big philanthropy. They didn’t start out that way. They started out with volunteers who are volunteering their time. They started out with people who are donating money. They started out with people who are housing people, people who are providing informal mental health support. So I think the thing that has really been like. Really striking to me in that I feel I feel like every day is that in the same way is that we think about many of the sometimes bad things that we’re experiencing, which are the byproduct of philanthropic support. There are also many, I think, good things that I definitely experience because of that type of support. And I think, you know, the power of it is not just the dollars that ended up moving, I think, through these giving circles, but the knowledge, I think, like all of the cultural organizing that shifts because of these types of circles. And I think we probably went into a rant about like just the whole mythology around the Confederacy and how, like all these monuments that we’re dealing with today started. And are really like the product of formal and informal giving with a very like, deep strategy that included cultural organizing, that included work in schools, that included placement of folks. And that organizing was done by, you know, people that I think are often overlooked sometimes. But like white women really like coming together. And so I think that, like, I want to, like, lift it up to remember that, like the well, at least the opposition that I think about has a long history of this. But I also come from a long line of folks who have resisted, who have fought and who have worked really hard to pour, all their love and financial resources and support into it. 

Helen Stillman: Mm hmm. 

Helen Stillman: Thank you. That means seeing love and resonance in the chat as well with what you’re saying. 

Helen Stillman: So thanks Ogonnaya.

Helen Stillman And we’re going to be transitioning again. So please, if you have questions, put them in the chat? If you have love for Ogonnaya, if something that she said resonated with you. Please share it. And. Oh, great. I just. Jillian showed up, which is great. We’re gonna go into a transitional moment where we’re going to move towards Q&A with all of the participants.

I mean, all the speakers. Hi, Jillian. And but as we do that, please do drop any questions. Agree. Kofo just said Ogonnaya just dropped the mic. Agree. Please, please drop any questions you have in the chat. And also, if anyone is on the call and you are giving circle that you want to share about, please share it. We know that this isn’t just, you know, the five people who we asked to speak tonight. We’re participating in collective giving. So we want to hear from you. If you have questions or if you are participating in something and you want people to know about it. So I’m just going to give a couple beats for that. And maybe we can get a spotlight on all of our speakers again as we as we transition to our next part. But again, really, really encourage you to share in the chat. If you are part of a giving circle, if you’ve been partnered or North Star Fund’s giving project and you just there’s anything from that that you want to lift up. 

Helen Stillman: Feel free, we want to hear from you. And we’ll be moving into a Q&A. 

Helen Stillman: Right. We’re all here together again. Hey, everyone. 

Helen Stillman A funny thing happening on my screen where I don’t really see anyone. I think it’s a I think it’s my connection, but I believe I know that everyone is with me. Hi, Jillian. You’ve been collecting questions throughout this rapid fire, giving circle pod conversation. So, first of all, I want to do just one more appreciation for everyone sharing what you did about how you’re doing, giving. And Jillian, what questions are coming up in the chat. 

Jillian White Well, I actually think that most of the questions from the chat have been answered. Not all of them. 

Jillian White: But I’m going to take us first to some questions that we got from registration. 

Jillian White: So, yeah, this is a broad question, but what are some good donor communication practices? So along with that, maybe you just like you can also add some reflections around what kind of contact you have with the folks that you are giving to. Anyone can feel free to jump in there. Or we could start. Maybe I’m just going to call on people. But Rad Fund, do you all have something to share?  

Maz Mazursky: I would say I think we have communications with the groups that we give to some are informal, for instance, like, you know, messages on social media. Each group that we have given to typically has one point person who’s responsible for reaching out to them, whether it be for phone information, to to get more information about the group. And then that relationship is carried on, has been carried on throughout the years. So we’ve you know, I’ll use COVID as an example when when that when the lockdown happened, each person would send an email to the group that they have kind of the closest relationship with. And we asked, you know, what needs that they might have kind of what was going on for them. And so our practices are I think I would share having having point people has been really helpful and being flexible with that. You know, people have shifted and shown an interest in a certain group and then they’ve taken over that role. You know, we’ve. A lot of our communication is done pretty…it’s our style to be a little more informal and casual. That’s kind of helped us maintain relationships and is in line with how we view our preferred way of giving. So I think those are some of the things that we do. Thank you. Another thing we do when it comes to giving the money, we do have a more formal process where, you know, a letter is sent and you know that the grant is announced. And that’s also something that we do. 

Jillian White: Thanks. Lupe, I’m also wondering if maybe you have a perspective on this as someone who both leads an organization and also does their own giving. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: Yeah, I, I really like the Rad Fund mentioned how they commit prior either way to a group, because I think that a lot of times what happens is that folks want to donate and want to be plugged in somehow so fast that they’re not doing it intentionally. So it does take off resources from our time and it also it’s a big power dynamic when you’re coming to a group that’s usually marginalized, directly impacted leading to action to prove themselves and why they need support so there’s a constant. It’s just like trauma porn to to be validated. Right. So I really appreciate it. They were they mentioned that part of their practices is to commit. And then if they have extra, and want to commit more. They do. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: I mean, especially during COVID a lot of groups were also trying to do site visits. Individuals are like… Our folks are literally attacked like they have no food. What do you mean you want to do a site visit? I think a huge part of that work has to be intentional. Like, what is your personal reason to be giving and how much are you actually trusting community to do what they are saying they’re going to be doing with those funds? Right. And in my personal giving, I don’t ask to see what they did with the money. And it goes back to the informal/formal relationship that someone just talked about. But it also has to do with the fact that I believe in giving from my heart to something that I grew up with culturally. So it’s something that I keep a practice of. Like if I’m giving is because I’m giving to trust that you are doing what you need to do with that funding. And because I’ve come from a very low income family that I know that when people are giving back, we’re asking for help or we’re giving that support to us. We definitely use that the way we need it the most. So it’s come from my personal experience also. And that’s how I also like to be engaged with folks that want to give to our space, because it does feel like I can also calling you for other support. It’s not just monetary that was more likely is more long term for our well-being as a community and sustainable right than funds, because money doesn’t mean anything. One point where whoever has the chance to the money is not valuable. I can say that it’s very needed now because we live in that kind of world. But it’s also important to think about what other skills and resources you can give, like while she also rents out. We don’t mean. We rent our space. Well, we used to be able to give it to folks for free because space in New York is really hard to find. So there’s another way that we’re sharing resources. And I like to really touch on those things too. But to answer your question, yeah, that was what I said. 

Jillian White: Thank you. I really also appreciate you bringing in not only the labor cost of responding to donors than that and having to tell your story and having to prove yourself, but also that there is an emotional cost as well. I think that’s really important to remember specifically when when working with groups that are led by people who are directly impacted and on the front lines. 

Jillian White: So I really appreciate you lifting that up. 

Jillian White: Let’s see. Helen, did you have a question cued up or do you want me to keep going? 

Helen Stillman: Didn’t have a question cued up. That would have been a good idea. 

Jillian White: No worries. 

Jillian White: So there’s a quite a longer question here. As a funder, can we provide a list of organizations to the giving circle and let them decide how to distribute the funds? Or do we give them the work we support and let them identify the organizations? 

Jillian White: Does that question makes sense to all? 

Helen Stillman: I think that question came from someone who works at a foundation. 

Helen Stillman: It didn’t come from us. No. 

<unintelligible>

Well, I guess is the question coming from like where do the funds usually come from? Because I think that’s also part of the question is like where do giving circle funds come from? And I mean, it can come from a lot of different places. 

So I don’t I don’t know exactly what the context of that is. 

Jillian White: I think there’s also a question here maybe of like so an organization like North Star where we have a list of grantees is we have folks that we really believe in that we give to, you know, that we’re we are supporting. Does it make sense for us to distribute lists of our grantees use to giving circles like what level of advocacy should we be doing for our grantees? I think that might also be part of this question. And I’m wondering, as folks that lead giving circles and participate in giving circle, what and we’ve talked about this a little bit, but what has been your relationship to organizations like foundations that have these compiled lists already?  

Ogonnaya Newman: OK. So I think it’s kind of like an iterative process for me. 

Ogonnaya Newman: So there are some people that are in the susu that may do also like consulting for philanthropy. And so I think we already sometimes have like multiple layers of ideas. 

Ogonnaya Newman: Some of the things that came up for me is that I knew that, like through my philanthropic work, some of these organizations, I can’t actually like fund. 

Ogonnaya Newman: The other thing is that. So where I work, we have a benefit where we actually are to give like our own personal discretionary grant. And so I’ve incorporated some of the ideas that I learned either from going to the giving project or as I started to think, you know, about other ways in which I’ve been either impacted by philanthropy or holes that I saw. 

I’ve used that to also, like, I think, contribute to my strategy. 

The other thing that I think is super helpful is that, like, oftentimes we’re doing like different types of giving very informally, but we may not necessarily call it that. So like, I had a colleague who kind of like had a giving strategy about how he would donate to people in his life, which I think was really interesting. And then the last thing that I was going to say is the folks at North Star. I don’t. This is like commercial for North Star. But like when I was kind of thinking through some of my strategies, like the folks at North Star, specifically Kofo because she was like my giving project mentor kind of help me like think about like what my actual philanthropic personal philosophy is and then how that apply to the different places where I may have been giving. And then I was able to use that knowledge to think, OK, well, I know that I can’t in my life work life, give like a board approved grant in this way. And I know that I already, like, allocated my personal little grant to this organization. So maybe in the susu I can identify other places. So I think it’s like thinking about all the different layers of like layers of like your thought around your own, like giving layers of like your commitment. I like how Guadalupe they talked about, like her cultural commitment to like movements and to giving. And then I think you also have the layers of like, well, what makes the most sense based on how much money I have. So I think it’s really like trying to bring together because I sometimes get ideas, in all honesty, worked on some giving at work. And I got some of the ideas from Instagram. I mean, I validated them. But like, you just never know where information may come from. 

Maz Mazursky: I’d also say that, like, to the extent that it’s safe, I think transparency in philanthropy is like always encouraged because I think it does. I mean it. But I think it also depends like on. 

I would actually say sometimes knowing that certain foundations are giving to a group dissuades us or would, you know, dissuade me from like thinking about a group because you’re like, OK, they’ve got some institutional backing. How? You know, I think with Rad Fund, a lot of what we want to fund, a really small grassroots groups that are that are really like up and coming and like trying to trying to break through. So I think it really depends on the mission of the philanthropic organization and the alignment there. I used to run for I ran for seven years, a small grassroots organization. And actually I saw at the beginning of this presentation that two percent of all philanthropic funds go to social justice, but actually point two percent go to grassroots social justice organizations. And so I think it’s you know, it’s just a huge need to really think about, you know, who’s who are you giving to and how are we really actually helping to how are we putting power building at the center of our work and our and our understanding? And I would say, again, this is not a ad for North Star, but they know Cheryl already touched on this. But we really use North Star as like as an anchor in terms of like they have the relationships in the communities that we also want to support. And so getting their opinions on things really does help us. And not necessarily in terms of so that we can all pile on, but just really understanding relationally how they work within the ecosystem of groups. You know what? You know how their priorities have shifted and kind of getting a read on it again, partially so that we don’t have to take up the time of so many of these groups as well as Lupe was saying, because that’s you know, that’s all we’re aware of, the toll that that takes. So I would just yeah, I’ll just add those things. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: I also want to highlight the fact that some, like North Star, is very different, the fact that they have a trusting relationship with folks and on the ground and a lot of other foundations don’t. Right. So we are personally, I’m even within being that I understand being a nonprofit sector. I don’t really trust a lot of foundations that tell me where. What groups to donate to, because I’m in both worlds and I see that sometimes the funding is not necessarily going to directly impacted led spaces. And because my personal philosophy is going back directly impact fact, let’s face it, no is going to make the most change. Then I have to do my own research on Twitter. I think they like social media is a huge way to really look at what local collectives are, even not even local. But if you were thinking about global collectives are going on where you can really sense some of the the funds that you are collecting as a collective, because these are these are the spaces actually need to be the most funded. When we started out while see we were our first grant came from North Star. And it’s very important, the fact that we’re still here talking to them and have gone in this huge way in the past 12 years. I don’t know anymore how many years doing this. But that says a lot about the relationship the North Star has with grassroots spaces that they are very attentive to what’s going on on the ground. And that’s not necessarily the same thing and all other foundations, I think if that’s the foundation you want to be able to give out a list, you have to also really think about what is your relationship with the community and how actually are you really creating changes even in those spaces you’re already donating to? 

Jillian White: Thank you all for for digging into that question. I know the setup was a little clumsy. But you all really pulled the knowledge out of it. So thank you for that. We have another question that is about political education. And so the question is, how do these circles support people through the political education process, especially in a time when people are getting activated and want to give but their energy? Oh, yes. So they have energy around this. But they maybe have some learning to do around anti-racism and other important practices. So have you all encountered this where there’s sort of like maybe a moment of activation? So we’re thinking like this summer, but the uprisings, people are activated. People are wanting to give. But also there’s a there’s a question of political education. And so just wondering how you all have navigated that generally. 

In our space, we usually have a training for folks who want to get even plugged into donating. So our fundraising team leads a really quick one oh one on immigrant rights, and how it’s connected to different issues. And we then give them a guide on what things to do, things to read, things to just kind of also keep in mind when donating so they can start looking. Oh, we also provide a list of other. Not the record that really impact the lit spaces that are necessarily not like not like Latinx. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: It’s a long word. To also prioritize other spaces that are. When we think what immigrant justice, a lot of times mainstream Latinx are leading it. So when we are also talking about our work, we also make sure to highlight other spaces and think about how they can also get in these spaces that make me add more need to be more prioritized. Right. But that’s something that takes a lot of time and effort. But it’s definitely worth it because you see the engagement doubles and people are also now also engaging with people in their life to bring them in. Now they have a framework that you didn’t have to completely start from scratch. But it is something that you have to, like, sit with them and really be intentional about too, because if you’re bringing on people to do anti-racist work and you have folks in the space that will be harmed by that anti-racist commentary or learning unlearning, then you also have to be conscious of how you’re setting those things up. I do suggest that you look and tap into folks are educators or curriculum folks because they have so much to give too and can really be helpful in these processes. 

Ivan Rosales: I just would add a little bit that. So giving circles, I think, are like a great organizing tool, right? So the people who are participating often people might already know a little bit more about the issue. But like together, you’re able to, like, delve into them even more. And then as part of your fundraising, training or whatever, like you’re also then engaging others who don’t know about the issue and like bringing them in. And so I think it’s like part of the whole thing. It’s like. Understanding what you’re fundraising for. And then sort of communicating that message to others. So I’ve always seen, like, you know, like I most of the time when I’ve had, like, deep conversations about these things with my family, it’s been around like a fundraising ask, like, otherwise I’m not going to engage. But it is sort of like a great opportunity for for you to to have these, like, difficult conversations with people who, you know, might need the space to do that. So I just I get like these things are a great organizing tools and. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: Yeah, we have a value also that everyone here that comes is here to learn and unlearn things. So that’s one of our primary values and that’s the value that I carry with my personal giving circles. I don’t call them giving circles, but they are. And that also helps a lot of the asking questions. 

Diving into tough conversation and also setting intentional time in meetings where you’re having these conversations or one on ones. Because if we just think about like fundraising, a lot of them, that gets lost and then we’re actually not creating the institutional changes that we want. If we’re not really engaging in these conversations as a huge part of the work for me, the other. 

Cheryl Turac: For Rad Fund. There’s there’s two two things that I would say, you know, through our website and we have e-mails that we send out, we are able to send resources and links and share information with our broader network. But more over, I would say, since we are a group of friends, a lot of kind of where energy goes towards is just having conversations, kind of learning what people know or don’t know or want to know whether that be around philanthropy or about political education or organizing. You know, I would say this year has been an exciting one because I’ve had friends reach out to to me saying, you know, my company is doing matching this year. I’ve never I’ve never done giving before. You know, you’re part of Rad Fund. What can you help me, you know, learn or understand about this? So I think, you know, we have had conversations about doing more formal kind of trainings and opening things up like that. But really, we’re we’re really keeping with the kind of, you know, kind of friend to friend and, you know, family to friend way of sharing information. 

Helen Stillman: Thank you all so much for those. Jillian, I was thinking about transitioning, is that does that work for you all. All right. 

So I’m going to give our speakers a little pause moment before we move into sort of closing and some of your all your last words. Any advice or things you want to share that are, you know, either challenges or wins you all have had or ways that giving circles have deepened your your relationship and community. So sit on that. Any last words you all want to share before we end? But in that time, I’m actually going to share in the chat. A survey that we put together just for folks who are on the call so that we have an understanding of ways that North Star fund might be able to support you if you’re trying to start a giving circle or deepen your giving circle practice. This is the shortest survey you’ve ever seen in your life. So please click on the link. Fill it out and we’ll follow up and. Yeah. And like I said, we’re really excited to be in conversation with you. So mostly it’s just a bunch of check boxes, but there is an open space as well. If there’s something that we’re not asking about that you think we should be or an idea that you have and you know, in addition to our hope that we can be supportive. We also are interested in being able to network folks together because we definitely don’t take the attitude. But going back to going back to that, everyone has something to learn and unlearn. We are you know, I definitely hold that. And as an institution, North Star is wanting to be a community of practice. So we definitely want to support you all to connect with one another in ways that make sense. So, yeah. So, again, please take just like a minute to fill out this survey and then we’ll do a final round. And for our speakers, I know I asked a broad question, but I really think that the questions like what is the final thing that you want to communicate before this conversation ends? And it could be in the realm of advice or it could just be in the realm of dropping another piece of knowledge that or a victory or that you didn’t have a chance to communicate before. 

So how will we do this? 

I’ll just. If there is someone who’s moved to go first, maybe you can go first and then we can just pass to. You can choose another person and another speaker to pass to. Anyone moved to go first?

Cheryl Turac: Yes, I’ll I’ll speak up about Rad Fund. I’d say building in early into conversations, discussions about sustainability and, you know, kind of practices and decision making, that’s going to feel not only kind of get the job done, but is also going to feel like it’s aligned with our values and aligned with our friendships. You know, I think we’ve been around for years and we’re really proud of, you know, proud and excited about that. And I don’t think we would be there if we didn’t kind of build into our work like these how to have deep conversations, how to kind of think about the long term and kind of allow for flexibility and growth. 

Helen Stillman: I know this is a funny thing to do on a program, but do you mind choosing someone to pass to, so we can. 

Guadalupe Ambrosio: I can go. And then, Ivan, you’re next. So just prepare. 

I think it’s something that I and I was cautioned with the question you ask, how does it fit with your values or whatever, and I think is a most New York thing to do is to give back. So if you’re someone that didn’t grow up in New York, but now is here in New York, it’s your responsibility to give back. And this is my call in for every night that is not from New York, as someone that grew up here. 

So, you know, I invite you to really take this on and think of it of how you’re really actually committing to New York and not just benefiting from all the exploitation of labor of immigrant and black, indigenous, people of color in this land. So that’s me. And that is not…it sounds scary, but it’s actually really rewarding and it really creates solidarity and really helps create the world that we want to live in collectively. Thank you. 

Ivan Rosales: Yeah, I think for me, like giving is all about supporting each other and building like a community that we can all sort of fall back on and like really rely on. And I think that participating and giving circles and like an active fundraising spaces, really. It’s also made me comfortable with being fundraised. So, like when I see people like just being open, like understanding that when people are fundraising, it’s because they’re trying to meet a need that they have. And like the importance of, like, all of us coming together to meet those needs. I feel like are like some of the things that I’ve really picked up being part of giving circles and like other just different giving spaces. And I think that’s the main takeaway for me is like just the importance of all of us being able to come together to like face all of these incredible challenges that we’re facing and really finding life support and community through that. 

Sorry, Maz you want to go next? 

Maz Mazursky: Sure. 

I guess the thing I would say is that this is hard and it takes a lot of intentionality. 

You know, I think Cheryl and I were talking about this before before all this and just that. 

You know, I think one of the successes of our group of Rad Fund and challenges is that we’ve state. I mean, it’s incredible that we’ve stayed together for four years, like doing this year after year. But it hasn’t been all just like dance parties and roses, although we have had some of that. 

It takes hard conversations that aren’t always fun to have and people really showing up time and time again. And I think a constant examination of what we’re doing and why. 

And, you know, I think it’s really important and I’ve been seeing some people from more traditional grantmakers on this. So, like, I maybe see this more as a former ED than as a number of rad fund. But I would say both because Radford’s really like, refreshing to me in its practices, just that, you know, it’s it’s really about we don’t have an agenda other than we want to help build power and contribute to the community the way that in the way that Lupe said. 

And that’s our number, you know, end to really like lift up people who are doing really awesome work. And again, not because it’s like part of our log frames or, you know, metrics that we’re trying to accomplish. But like, our goals become the group’s goals and their success is our success. And it I know that’s like something that  traditional philanthropy is still working to embrace. But it’s really fun being able to do that with a group of friends and being able to just champion groups and, like, be excited about their success. 

So keep at it. I would say it’s hard and it takes hard conversations. And it’s not just about giving ones, but actually a commitment to giving and a commitment to shifting power. 

So now I pass to Ogonnaya. 

Ogonnaya Newman: What everyone said was really great, I feel like I don’t have that much more to add. 

I think the thing that was probably the most valuable about this is like me owning my own kind of like philanthropic, I don’t know, strategy and then thinking about all of the different levels and ways that it can come to fruition. And then I think I have appreciated most about the different things that I’ve participated in is like what Lupe and folks said is that I kind of enter the spaces with an open heart and open mind, although that sounds kind of like woo. But it was really helpful because it made me realize that I was on like a learning journey along with other people, even though we were all at different places in our relationship to the issues that we were caring about. 

So it’s really I think, you know, it’s not just going to make you feel good because you’re giving money and investing in our collective future. 

But you also have, I think, lots of opportunities to have growth within yourself. That then starts to, I think, like, touch the others around you. 

Helen Stillman: So much wisdom. Thank you all so, so much for sharing all those last words. I was trying to collect them in my brain and weave them together, but there is too much of it. So it was just I have a lot of gratitude for you all. Jillian, is there anything that you wanted to add as we move towards the end here?

Jillian White: No, I mean, just really wonderful. Yeah. So, so amazing to share the space with you all and hear about your experiences and your reflections. So thank you. 

Helen Stillman: So as we move towards the end, I’m also going to share in the chat right now resource that North Star Fund has put together. There are tips for starting a social justice giving circle. As I mentioned at the beginning, we come to this with quite a bit of humility, I would say. And so, you know, this resource is really bringing together of a variety of resources and just some of our best thinking. And, you know, you’ll hear a lot of overlap with some of what you heard on this call today. So I just want to put that in chat. And then also, of course, we’re going to we recorded this and we’re going to follow up with additional resources, as well as links to the different giving circles that you heard about tonight. So if there’s anything that you heard that you missed, you know, please, you’ll hear from us. You’ll get it. Don’t worry. And we definitely want to hear from you as well. So before we end, really, again, so much gratitude to our speakers. Thank you for everyone who showed up tonight and spent this time with us. And we’re really excited to hear from you and be in community with you and learn from you about giving circles and collective giving. 

And with that, I bid you good night bye all. 

Thank you, bye. 

 

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