Giving Compass' Take:

• Stanford Social Innovation Review discusses the concept of shared gifting — doling out grant money to peers — and how it can create a more robust environment of innovation.

• Are we doing enough to challenge the power dynamics in philanthropy? How can the practices describe here help expand the scope of the sector?

• Here's more about the practice of shared gifting circles in relation to women’s philanthropy.

David Lozano’s first experience as a grantmaker was a powerful one. As part of a shared gifting circle — a grantmaking approach that allows nonprofit leaders to award grant dollars to other nonprofit organizations — he and six other non-profit leaders received $8,000 grants to distribute to one or more local creative organizations in Dallas. Lozano, executive artistic director of Cara Mía Theatre Co., gave the majority of his funds to Trans.lation, a tiny nonprofit that supports immigrants through the arts. Both grantmaker and grantee had strong emotional reactions.

Shared gifting circles like this one, which we conducted in partnership with The Embrey Family Foundation, are novel because they shift funding power to non-profits.

In truth, grantmaking often looks more like an investment or a transaction than a gift. Grantees have to come up with a proposal that aligns with a foundation’s criteria or focus areas (not necessarily with the organizations’ core mission), and promise results based on the amount they receive, almost as if the foundation were purchasing their services.

And as others have pointed out, grant reporting frameworks often are burdensome for grantees, and while they may track the outcomes the foundation aims to measure, they don’t always track the ones grantees hope to measure. The values inherent in giving — such as trust, deepened relationships and letting go of control — can get lost in the process.

Shared gifting circles offer a new lens through which we can view philanthropy. They challenge traditional power dynamics and demonstrate how the act of giving a gift can transform relationships and create new value through the process of giving it away.

Read the full article about shared gifting and shifting funding power by Kelley Buhles at Stanford Social Innovation Review.