Katy-area residents can donate to a variety of local charities but may have questions about their effectiveness. The uncertainty inspired Katy Community Giving Circle to find a different way of contributing.
The grassroots nonprofit pools member donations and gives to local charities chosen by a simple majority vote. The goal is to have a larger effect than might otherwise be achieved from several small donations to multiple charities.
The organization awards grants every six months, Brian Hastings said. He came up with the idea for the group in 2015 when speaking to a friend who had cancer. His friend suggested collective giving might prove more effective than small, individual donations.
Hastings appealed to the Cinco Ranch Community Residents Facebook page, which had 7,200 members at the time, to form a group to donate to charities. Nathalie Morton, Katy Community Giving Circle’s administrator, told Hastings she wanted to be involved.
“She’s the one that kind of took the idea I had and formed the group,” Hastings said.
Morton registered the group as a chapter of the Giving Circles Fund, which streamlines the processes for local giving circles to obtain 501(c)(3) status.
“The way Nathalie set it up, it was so easy to become a member,” said Anjana Narayanan, Katy Community Giving Circle membership coordinator.
Each member gives $10 monthly and every six months, they may nominate a local charity to receive a grant. Three nominees present their cases to the giving circle and members vote on a recipient, Morton said.
To date, the charity has given grants to Child Advocates of Fort Bend, Autism Rescue Angels and Second Servings of Houston. Second Servings of Houston, which works with venues to distribute excess prepared food to those in need, received $2,172 in April.
“We were able to purchase rescue supplies as well as keep our van fueled,” Second Servings founder Barbara Bronstein said.
The group is also creating synergy amongst the local charities considered for grants. Second Servings began collaborating with The Ballard House, a local nonprofit providing housing for visitors receiving long-term medical treatment, after meeting their representatives through Katy Community Giving Circle.
As membership continues to grow for Katy Community Giving Circle, Hastings, Morton and Narayanan have hopes to increase the number and size of its grants. In five years, Morton hopes to reach 100 members and give four grants each year.
“We don’t want [donations] to be a competition,” Hastings said. “The whole idea is not about a single donation. It’s about collective giving; it’s trying to grow the circle at $10 per person.”
Katy Community Giving Circle
www.facebook.com/katycommunitygivingcircle Registration: www.givingcirclesfund.org/circle/76/cinco-ranch-giving-circle-fund
