“Thank you for allowing me to represent Community Purse in my community. I’m honored to… see the difference it’s making in our area.”
Laura Pennington, Jefferson County Chapter Leader
How Do You Start a Giving Circle?
Community Purse provides resources and coaching to help you launch your giving circle with confidence so you can focus on what matters most: building generosity and connecting women with nonprofits to help hurting people in your community.
Form a Team
It is helpful to form a team of 3 to 5 women to widen your invite list and to manage the before, during, and after meeting tasks.
List Your Chapter
Contact us to list the specifics of your group on this website. We will give you access to our Chapter Leader Dropbox that has many helpful resources. We also recommend setting up a chapter Facebook page to promote your group. We ask new groups to embrace our Statement of Faith.
Gather
Draw three nonprofits from your member-nominated list to present to your meeting. Determine the most consistent time for your group to meet. We have found the months of February, May, August, and November work best for women’s schedules. Also, meeting quarterly, for one hour, appeals to time crunched members. We have found Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings work best for meetings. Take pictures at your meeting for email correspondence and for social media.
Find a Venue
Successful circles meet in restaurants, churches, libraries, and homes. Meet with your team to discuss options and the best time to host your giving circle.
Invite Friends
Think about your ideal size and then ask each team member to invite 10 to 30 friends. We can provide a template for the invitation. A form for member sign-ups will be on your chapter page
Give Grant
All of the donations are combined into one impactful grant. Members write a check directly to the nonprofit or give electronically through each chapter’s donor advised fund with the National Christian Foundation.
We encourage your chapter’s leadership team to visit the nonprofit to present the grant, along with chapter members if possible. Share photos of the presentation through email and social media to encourage your members and to increase membership in your giving circle.