What is collective giving?

Collective giving is people pooling money and deciding together where it goes — through giving circles, community funds, and place-based grant programs. In Australia it moves billions, builds belonging, and reaches places that large institutions miss.

How do I start or join a giving circle in Australia?

You can browse existing Australian giving circles in the directory and join one, or register your own group to get shared operating tools — pooling, democratic decisions, grant tracking and transparent reporting — and, where it fits, help finding capacity funding.

Collective giving · Australia

The power of giving together

Some of the most effective giving in Australia happens in groups — giving circles, community funds, and local grant programs. It moves billions, builds belonging, and reaches places big institutions miss. It just hasn't had the shared infrastructure it deserves. That's what we're building.

One field, many forms

These aren't competitors — they're one ecosystem of Australians giving together. We think of them as a single field worth backing.

Giving circles

Friends and communities pool money and decide together where it goes — social, transparent, powerful at any scale. Browse the directory.

Community funds

Community foundations and place-based funds that hold capital and grant into local need over the long term.

Community-bank grants

Local grant programs — like the community-bank model — that return profit to the towns that generate it.

What the field is missing

Research into collective giving in Australia keeps landing on the same two needs: a backbone to connect and coordinate the field — building capability, visibility and shared data — and core capacity funding so groups can stabilise and grow. Both are described as “force multipliers”: resource the groups, and you unlock far more capital, participation and compounding impact. (See the numbers behind the field.)

That's exactly the role we play. Elevate is the shared operating layer — pooling, democratic decisions, grant tracking, transparent reporting — and a way to make each group more visible and better funded. We're not here to replace community foundations or banks. We amplify them.

We recycle. Capital can come back and be given again — the same pool funds cohort after cohort.

We make it visible. A public profile and clear reporting for every group.

We advocate. Registered groups get help finding capacity funding.

Register your giving group

Run a giving circle, a community fund, or a local grant program? Put yourself on the map. We'll give you the operating tools — and, where it fits, advocate on your behalf for capacity funding with community banks and funders. The more of the field we can see, the better we can back it.

For community banks, foundations & funders

If you fund local good — a community bank returning profit to its town, a foundation, or a corporate giving program — Elevate helps you deploy into the collective-giving field with less friction and more proof: transparent capital-flow tracking, and the option to structure grants so capital comes back and gives again. Same generosity, more mileage.

Talk to us about partnering