Gifting Circles Anyone?

A fun way to build community and create grassroots change

Photo by Bridget Mac Donald

Back in 2012 while living in Seattle, a friend asked me if I had ever heard of gifting circles. I hadn’t, so he spent the next hour describing the concept to me. Fast forward thirteen years, and I’m finally considering starting one in my community.

So what is a gifting circle?

We all have things and services we need, and we all have things and services we can offer to others.

The key to breaking free from shopping and dependence on a money-based economy is to match those needs and offers up.

This is where gifting circles come in.

Gifting circles are community-based groups that focus entirely on gathering neighbors, co-workers or friends together to create a container in which gifting and sharing can be expressed. In this model, giving and receiving becomes one experience because you not only serve others with your offers, but you also receive and get your needs met—not by any direct reciprocity, but rather, by virtue of showing up and stating what you need.

Gifting circles take the concept of bartering to a whole new level, because the sharing and giving is done more in a pay-it-forward style rather than the quid-pro-quo style associated with bartering.

Gifting circles are about sharing rather than shopping and connecting rather than isolation.

Gifting circles create a way out of our powerlessness and enable us to get our needs met without money.

It's win-win for everyone.

What's missing from most of our lives is a community or tribe, which means we need to build one.

A gifting circle is a great place to start.

Many years ago, Charles Eisenstein, author of the book, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition, described his experience in a gifting circle:

The ideal number of participants in a gift circle is 10-20. Everyone sits in a circle, and takes turns saying one or two needs they have. In the last circle I facilitated, some of the needs shared were: "a ride to the airport next week," "someone to help remove a fence," "used lumber to build a garden," "a ladder to clean my gutter," "a bike," and "office furniture for a community center." As each person shares, others in the circle can break in to offer to meet the stated need, or with suggestions of how to meet it.

When everyone has had their turn, we go around the circle again, each person stating something he or she would like to give. Some examples last week were "Graphic design skills," "the use of my power tools," "contacts in local government to get things done," and "a bike," but it could be anything: time, skills, material things; the gift of something outright, or the gift of the use of something (borrowing). Again, as each person shares, anyone can speak up and say, "I'd like that," or "I know someone who could use one of those."

During both these rounds, it is useful to have someone write everything down and send the notes out the next day to everyone via email, or on a web page, blog, etc. Otherwise it is quite easy to forget who needs and offers what. Also, I suggest writing down, on the spot, the name and phone number of someone who wants to give or receive something to/from you. It is essential to follow up, or the gift circle will end up feeding cynicism rather than community.

Finally, the circle can do a third round in which people express gratitude for the things they received since the last meeting. This round is extremely important because in community, the witnessing of others' generosity inspires generosity in those who witness it. It confirms that this group is giving to each other, that gifts are recognized, and that my own gifts will be recognized, appreciated, and reciprocated as well.

I love this idea because it’s simple, easy to do and the benefits are deeply meaningful, and potentially long-lasting.

Essentially, the industrial revolution, and now the technological revolution, have both, in their own ways, isolated us and taken away one of life’s most essential ingredients: community.

We need each other, now more than ever, and we cannot afford to wait for opportunities to come to us solely through our own efforts or hope for benefits to trickle down to us from the top of the economic food chain or our government.

Instead, we can create the changes we need at the grassroots level within our own neighborhoods and communities. We can decide to watch each other’s backs and help each other thrive through creative collaboration and cooperation.

I can see gifting circles being started by churches, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, schools, community groups and clubs as well as neighbors. It costs nothing. All that’s needed is a place to gather for an hour or two once per month, or more often, if desired. Problems can be solved, friendships can be formed and lack can be turned into abundance.

What’s not to love about that?

What are your thoughts about gifting circles?

Would you be willing to start one?

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