Your invitation to become a philanthropist | Sara Lomelin (re-release)

**Elise Hu** (0:04)
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Anyone who follows me on social media knows I am currently directing a documentary that follows the lives of four teenagers who lost their homes in the 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles. Because of this, I've been on the receiving end of people's generosity because it is a largely crowd-financed film.
So I've been thinking about what it actually means to give and to receive. It's moving to see the way people show up for you when you're building something, not because they have to, just because they believe in it.

**Sara Lomelin** (0:44)
We give, as you would, to a loved one, looking them in the eyes. And unlike most of traditional philanthropy, we give with no strings attached, literally shifting the power into the hands of the leaders on the ground.

**Elise Hu** (1:00)
That's philanthropist Sara Lomelin, who founded Philanthropy Together, a global movement to democratize the power of giving. In this talk from 2022, she makes the case that communities can build real power through collective giving.
She introduces a model called Giving Circles, groups of people with shared values who come together to strengthen their social fabric, fund diverse solutions and make change.

**Sara Lomelin** (1:25)
Life-changing things happen when we look at philanthropy beyond the money because all the money in the world is not going to save us, but beloved communities will.

**Elise Hu** (1:36)
That's coming up right after a short break. And now, our TED Talk of the day.

**Sara Lomelin** (1:48)
I want to invite you over for dinner at my house. When you walk in, their chairs cramp everywhere. Smells delicious, you hear people laughing. You see friends hugging and telling stories. There are more than 20 of us here tonight. Teachers, tech leaders, lawyers, moms. It's loud, and it's chaotic. But even if this is your first time, it feels like home. And then we'll sit down to work, because tonight is not a regular dinner. Tonight is the culmination of months of conversations and learning in my living room. At the end of this night, $30,000 will go out to a local grassroots non-profit that is doing amazing work in our community. And that money came from everyone in the room. And the decision of where that money is going included all of our voices. This is a giving circle. A group of people with shared values that comes together to create change.
My giving circle, the Peninsula Latina Giving Circle, is what I know philanthropy to be. It's joyful and transformative and collaborative and intentional. Most people don't see us as philanthropists, or this process when they think of philanthropy. But I'm here to show you the powerful possibility that exists in all of us to be philanthropists, no matter your age or your wealth, no matter where you live or where you come from. I am originally from Mexico City. I moved to the US 25 years ago. And in 2007, when I started my first giving circle, I didn't even know the concept had a name. This is not new. Collective giving has been going on for centuries. Just in the past two decades, thousands of giving circles got started all over the world, collectively giving more than 1.3 billion dollars.
Thank you. I have dedicated my life to this work, and now I lead an organization called Philanthropy Together to democratize and diversify the power of philanthropy through the power of giving circles. They're giving circles with five members, or 500, each person giving five dollars, or 250,000, including any generation, identity or geography. We give to nonprofits, we give to individuals, or to new projects just getting off the ground. They're women's giving circles, and black giving circles. Jewish, Muslim and interfaith, giving circles that focus on climate change and civic engagement. Cross-class and cross-race giving circles. Asian, Pacific, Islanders and Latinx LGBTQ giving circles inside companies and social clubs and virtual. They're giving circles in Malawi and China and Germany. So these groups keep getting together year over year because collective giving is powerful. We can have a much bigger impact together that we can alone. So what is the secret? I'm here to show you the four steps to start a thriving giving circle. The first step is to create belonging. The concept of people banding together to create change is as old as humanity itself. And collective giving has roots in cultures all around the world. But today, we don't even talk to our neighbors anymore. But by belonging to something that is bigger than ourselves and the collective power of our dreams and voices, that is what creates that lasting commitment to each other and to change. In a giving circle, you start with a group, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and you take the time to deepen those relationships. Those folks back in my living room, we basically started as strangers. But because we ate together and laughed together and shared stories, and decided on our set shared of values, we ended up creating a lasting community that gets together year over year. Giving circles make you feel at home. The second step is to hold space for discourse. It can be completely, completely overwhelming to know how to make an impact as an individual. But in a given circle, you have the opportunity to learn together. Dozens of people engaging in challenging conversations, gaining new perspectives about the issues in their communities.