How does Niwot work? - Part 12

Niwot is an affluent community, and it's also a generous community. And if you're looking to make a bigger impact with a few dollars, Left Hand Giving Circle may be right for you.

In 2016, Niwot resident Virginia Dutkin was working at the Longmont Community Foundation (LCF) while finishing up her coursework to get her master's degree in Nonprofit Management at CU Denver. She was first introduced to the idea of 'giving circles' from her work at LCF.

Giving circles are philanthropic groups where members pool their donations together to make a larger donation, and LCF was managing two giving circles at the time - Silver Dollars, a giving circle composed of a group of senior citizens, and Quarter Fund, which was made up of a group of young professionals. Dutkin decided to study giving circles as her Capstone Project at CU, and from these experiences, the idea for Left Hand Giving Circle was born.

Left Hand Giving Circle (LHGC) was launched in early 2017 with a group of 20 local women, and has since grown to almost 50 members. LHGC members contribute a minimum of $300 per year, and those funds are pooled together to make financial donations ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 to local nonprofit organizations. Twice a year, LHGC members vote on a theme (such as education, homelessness, food insecurity), solicit grant applications from nonprofits, review them, and make collaborative decisions on where donations can be put to the best use. By pooling resources together, LHGC is able to make a large impact in the local community, and in the four-plus years since its founding, has granted a total of $78,000 to local nonprofits.

In addition to making philanthropic donations, Left Hand Giving Circle members participate in group volunteer events. Over the years, members have volunteered at Niwot's Rock and Rails summer concert series, manned the registration desk at a nonprofit's fundraising event, packed school supplies for Crayons to Calculators, participated in home builds at Habitat for Humanity, organized athlete bags for the Boulder Ironman Triathlon, served lunch at the OUR Center, and much, much more. The group's goal is to help out a worthy nonprofit while having some fun along the way, and to date, the group has invested more than 1,000 volunteer hours in the community.

Finally, Left Hand Giving Circle provides opportunities for like-minded local women to socialize. spend time together, and make new friends. Members have gone on bike rides, had a pool-side cocktail party, and even visited the Denver Women's Correctional Facility with a local nonprofit to see how they were putting their donation dollars to use.

Dutkin has headed up this group since its founding, and is supported by several members. Jen Klein has taken over the entire grant-making process, while Jenine Rubin and Cathy Hawley have managed the OUR Center lunch volunteer program, which Left Hand Giving Circle has participated in for five consecutive years. In addition, Lauren Greenfield has recently taken over organizing the group's annual party, and leads group bike rides every summer.

Every decision made by the group is decided by majority vote of the members. This includes where to direct donations, funding policies, granting themes, and when it was first formed, the group name.

In the spring of 2021, the grant theme was Affordable Housing/Housing Security, and Left Hand Giving Circle made grants to the winning applicants, Habitat for Humanity ($5,000) and Center for People with Disabilities ($2,500). This fall, the theme for grants will be Health & Well-Being, and LHGC will make grants to organizations that help to improve the physical and mental health of members of the community, improving their resilience and ability to overcome challenges.

Left Hand Giving Circle is specifically set up so that members can participate as much or as little as they want, understanding that members lead busy active lives, and don't need another item on their to-do list. There are no regular meetings, but instead voluntary meetings are set up for reviewing grant applications, and sign-ups are available for group volunteer projects.

Sponsors include local businesses such as Tool Studios, Nourish & Company, Niwot Wheel Works, Old Oak Coffeehouse, Begin Fitness Studio, Peak Performance Tutoring and Deborah Read Fowler of Colorado Landmark Realtors.

For more information, go to http://www.LeftHandGivingCircle.org For questions or to find out how to join, contact Virginia Dutkin at [email protected].