# Giving Circles: Philanthropy, Voluntary Association, and Democracy

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/giving-circles-philanthropy-voluntary-association-democracy/
- Published: 2009-07-06T17:03:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

I**n the United States third parties are being relied upon to deliver social services
that were once chiefly the responsibility of government. Among the new philanthropic
associations that have arisen in this environment are voluntary groups known as 
giving circles. **

Their purpose is to bring people together to pool resources and then collectively
decide how to distribute them.

Giving circles have been seen as the most democratic of philanthropic mechanisms,
working to meet social needs and solve community problems, while enhancing the civic
education and participation of their members.

Angela M. Eikenberry examines this new phenomenon and considers what role voluntary
associations and philanthropy can or should play in a democratic society.

**A title from the Philanthropic & Nonprofit Studies series.**

## Reviews

“This book is positioned as a riposte to Robert Putnam’s famous assertion that we
are now ‘Bowling Alone’ due to the collapse of community. Eikenberry believes that
giving circles are one example of a new form of citizen participation which demonstrates
that it may be the forms rather than the quantities of engagement that have changed
in recent years. 
“Giving circles involve pooling donations and making collective
decisions about how to give the pooled funds away. Data on the size, scope and impact
of the giving circle movement are provided. The wider scope of this book is a result
of Eikenberry’s belief that giving circles are more than just a new method for organising
the transfer of funds from private individuals to good causes. “This is an ambitious
and readable account of the appropriate role for voluntary action in modern societies,
and poses an important argument that as philanthropy is primarily designed to meet
the needs of donors rather than recipients, there is an essential ongoing role for
government in meeting basic social welfare needs.”[**Dr Beth Breeze**](https://fundraising.co.uk/books/in-defence-of-philanthropy/),
Philanthropy UK Newsletter