Post your questions for LiJia & Joelle below, and jump in to answer others!
Welcome to our regular Popcorn Q&A 🍿, a convo time with People & Company and friends.
In this thread, we have our buds giving circle practitioner, Lijia Gong, and giving circle expert, Joelle Berman.
Ask these remarkable women about their giving circle experience:
LiJia’s giving circle, Radfund, which she co-founded with friends 5 years ago. Together, they direct money to folks in NYC “organizing to challenge structural inequality and to fight for racial and economic justice.” The giving circle has become a “political home” for LiJia and the rest of the group.
Joelle’s most recent work as the founding Executive Director of Amplifier, a global network of 125+ giving circles inspired by Jewish values. Joelle can share a wide variety of inspiration and insights on how to get a giving circle off the ground, or how to add some meaning to an existing one.
LiJia, Joelle and the P&C team will be responding here live for the next ~1hr. We invite you to ask questions, and to also share your POV with answers!
🍿Tell us what you think, please!
Popcorn Q&A is new to us and we would love your feedback so we can improve the experience *with* you in mind. Do you have 3 minutes to share some thoughts? If so, click here. Thank you!
Hi everyone! So grateful to have Joelle and LiJia spreading the word about giving circles and it's exciting to see all this engagement! I'm here from Philanthropy Together, an initiative trying to start TONS more giving circles and engage MANY MANY more people in collective giving. Joelle was there for the start of designing this effort and we just made a spotlight video with LiJia and Radfund! Happy to be here and hope some of you will join our future programming and support for this amazing, beautiful movement.
How do you balance being proactive, giving to organizations that you do deep research on and spend time learning about, and reactive, giving to organizations based on need in the current moment?
My question is... do you have recommendations on time commitments for a giving circle? For instance, is it helpful to say "this a one year commitment" or even... you can only be part of this circle for x amount of time?!
There are SO many ways to describe what a giving circle is and how powerful it can be — how do you both describe it in just one sentence to get someone interested and involved?
Joelle - you talked about how a giving circle can give away any asset. What are some examples of giving circles that give of something other than money in a meaningful, impactful way?
my question: in the episode, you talked about how a giving circle can give away any asset. curious about some examples of giving circles that give of something other than money?
👋🏻 Welcome, we are happy you are here!
To get started in the chat: Tell us where you are tuning in from today and share the community work that is on your mind.
Waving hello from Philanthropy Together -- hi Joelle and LiJia!
Hi everyone! So grateful to have Joelle and LiJia spreading the word about giving circles and it's exciting to see all this engagement! I'm here from Philanthropy Together, an initiative trying to start TONS more giving circles and engage MANY MANY more people in collective giving. Joelle was there for the start of designing this effort and we just made a spotlight video with LiJia and Radfund! Happy to be here and hope some of you will join our future programming and support for this amazing, beautiful movement.
What are your biggest lessons learned — what NOT to do? 😆
Thanks for sharing popcorn. My question is about export. Have you seen Giving Circles work outside of North America?
Sending midnight vibes from Singapore
What are some of the best (wackiest, most playful?) names you've seen out there for giving circles?
Do you have advice on how to initiate the conversation with friends and family to start a giving circle?
What are some of the giving circles you are personal superfans of?
Either because of a wonderfully potent mission, a thoughtful giving model, or even the ways thye have fun together...?
How do you balance being proactive, giving to organizations that you do deep research on and spend time learning about, and reactive, giving to organizations based on need in the current moment?
My question is... do you have recommendations on time commitments for a giving circle? For instance, is it helpful to say "this a one year commitment" or even... you can only be part of this circle for x amount of time?!
For LiJia, I want to start my own giving circle.
Any recommendations for what to look for in a "core team" - the people you build it with in the beginning?
❓OUR QUESTION OF THE DAY
As Joelle, LiJia, and others pop in to answer your specific questions, we have a question for you all.
What organizations do you currently give to? What does the giving experience entail? Is it ever social?
There are SO many ways to describe what a giving circle is and how powerful it can be — how do you both describe it in just one sentence to get someone interested and involved?
What are some examples of giving circle celebrations that stand out to you?
Joelle - you talked about how a giving circle can give away any asset. What are some examples of giving circles that give of something other than money in a meaningful, impactful way?
my question: in the episode, you talked about how a giving circle can give away any asset. curious about some examples of giving circles that give of something other than money?