In its most simple form, a giving circle is a group, frequently women, with a common interest in philanthropy.  The circle makes contributions to nonprofit organizations based on members' values and interests, with each circle member having an equal vote in selecting the recipients.

"You are one grain of rice. You come together with other grains, and it becomes a bowl of rice, and that is how we feed."

~Ana L. Oliveira, president of the New York Women's Foundation

LIFT's members will be invited to attend two meetings a year. Each meeting will take place in downtown Burlington for about 2 hours and will feel like a cocktail party or book or investment club meeting.

The first of these two meetings is to learn about the 3 groups that have been nominated to receive LIFT's annual giving.

During and after this first meeting, members will be asked to vote for the group they would like to see receive LIFT's annual giving for that year.

The second of these two meetings is to announce and meet the winner of LIFT's annual giving.

You are not required to attend either of these meetings to participate, so your time commitment could be limited to voting online to select the recipient of LIFT's annual giving.

However, it is our hope that by bringing together women from different networks and backgrounds that we will have created a diverse group that enjoys coming together for these two annual meetings.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

~Anais Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

LIFT members must make either a  minimum $250 or $500 annual donation.

• $500 for women 35 and over (except if working for a community non-profit or out of the work force); and
• $250 for women under 35, those out of the work force or working for a community non-profit).

Members may make a higher annual contribution, if desired.

Contributions may be tax deductible for each member, depending on the selected awardee.

We do not want or intend to take away from members' annual giving to other organizations.  Our intention is that the LIFT contribution stands alone in its purpose of serving as a larger contribution than most of our members have the disposable income to make individually.

Individual members are invited and encouraged to research, evaluate and discuss organizations to support and to share this information with the Nominating Committee.

Nominations will be accepted from any member for the first half of the calendar year.

A group of 5 volunteers who serve as the LIFT Nominating Committee will then review the list of nominees.

The Nominating Committee will choose 3 nominees which will be presented to the LIFT membership during the first meeting to take place in approximately June/July.

After the first meeting of the year, the members will vote (each member has an equal vote) to select the LIFT awardee for that year.

The LIFT awardee will be invited to our second meeting of the year, to take place in approximately November, to be presented with the collective donation.

Our initial goal is for LIFT to have 50 members.  If there are 40 members who pay $500, and 10 who pay $250, then the LIFT awardee would receive $22,500.

Every dollar of every contribution will go directly to the awardee. LIFT's founding members will cover any administrative expenses of the giving circle.

This is completely dependent on the organizations LIFT's members nominate and select.  We hope to identify organizations that have smaller budgets and for whom our annual award could be a game changer.

Maybe we help a start up organization with seed money.

Maybe we help an organization that is experiencing challenges in its annual campaign.

Maybe we help a nonprofit undertake a discreet project.

At this, time, no, there are no rules and/or bylaws beyond what you see on this page for guidelines.  We want to be able to evolve, with the membership having a voice in establishing who we are.

We also want to remain informal to a certain extent, so that we can be nimble in responding to identified needs.

Giving circles benefit the community in the form of the dollars awarded to local organizations and the engaged and informed donors/volunteers. Many think that the greater benefit is to the member donors who are provided the opportunity to learn and grow as philanthropists.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

~Anne Frank

Here are some of the resources that inspired us in developing LIFT:

A National Scan of Giving Circles and Shared Giving, Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (2005)

Giving Circles: More Impact to Go Around, Kerry Hannon, The New York Times (Nov. 7, 2013)

A member is someone who wants to further the mission and goals of LIFT through financial support and who annually completes a membership form and contributes $250 or $500 (depending on contribution level) to the awardee selected by LIFT's members.

To begin, we are looking for 50 members.  Once we have 50 members, we can then discuss whether to expand membership.

The Nominating Committee will consist of five members.  To begin, Alexa Clauss and Shireen Hart will serve on the Nominating Committee, as LIFT's founding members, and will select 3 members to serve with them.  After the first year, Shireen and Alexa will alternate membership on the Nominating Committee, so that there will be four other seats.

LIFT will discuss with members how the members of the Nominating Committee will be appointed or elected going forward.

For now, when a member completes the LIFT membership form, she is agreeing to make her annual contribution in the amount of $250 or $500 (depending on contribution level) to the awardee selected by the membership.

This will be in the form of a personal check, for example, from the member directly to the awardee organization. It is our expectation and hope that these will be nonprofit organizations, so that members are able to claim a personal tax-deductition in their annual contribution.

In the future, we may partner with an organization that is willing and able to act as a financial administrator of the funds, so that the members donate to the organization, and the organization pays the selected annual awardee. We welcome suggestions of potentially willing organizations, with likeminded values.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.  The only stupid question is the question you don't ask.