Giving Circles
The Birth of Inner Visions Giving Circle
In 2006, Cleveland was designated the poorest big city in the nation. Amidst this challenging landscape, many community members with brilliant visions for improving their neighborhoods found themselves excluded from decision-making tables. Lacking the status of a non-profit, they were ineligible for grants to bring their ideas to life. Recognizing this gap, we established the Inner Visions Giving Circle—a platform to support and uplift residents with innovative ideas for community improvement.
Our mission was clear: to dismantle the power dynamics between funders and recipients, eliminate bureaucratic hurdles like lengthy paperwork, and foster relationships across racial and economic divides.
How it Works
The Inner Visions Giving Circle operates as a quarterly, two-hour session of speed philanthropy, focusing on grassroots community projects. Initially, we used a pitch format, but we soon realized it fostered competition rather than collaboration. To encourage mutual support, we transitioned to a non-competitive model where residents with fully developed project ideas could enter a drawing.
We invite people from Cleveland, East Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs. Some attend as supporters and some come to enter the drawing. Each meeting begins with networking over a shared meal, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Participants form a circle to introduce themselves, and those wishing to enter the drawing share their project ideas. We then engage in an exercise called the Marketplace, where attendees can ask for something, offer something, or make declarations. Everyone is given 30 seconds to one minute to request something, to offer something, or to make an announcement. The room becomes electrified by the rapid-fire call and response. For example: Someone shouts out “I am giving away 100 turkeys for Thanksgiving, and I need people to help me deliver them.” The words, “I’ve got a truck,” come from one side of the room, while two other people shout in unison, “I’ll help.”
The requests and offers are varied and are never entirely predictable. One woman who was scheduled to go for a job interview requested someone to take care of her ailing mother so she wouldn’t miss out on a potential job. Someone else needed help designing a website. Both people found what they needed.
Empowering Innovation
The Giving Circle culminates in a drawing where three names are pulled from a bowl; each one wins $1,000 to support their projects. At the following meeting, winners share how they utilized their cash prize, fostering accountability and inspiration within the circle.
Impact As of 2026, 860 individuals have participated, and over 100 projects have received funding.
Our journey began with a simple motto: "Friends First." We prioritized building relationships, across neighborhood boundaries, listening deeply, and nurturing our circle with care. As relationships blossomed, so did our circle.
Through this experience, we’ve learned that money isn’t the ultimate solution—relationships are. As the saying goes, “None of us has it all together, but together we have it all.”
