With more than 2,500 giving circles around the world, We Give Summit is the place for giving circle members, community leaders, philanthropy experts, and social impact newcomers to come together, forge new bonds, strengthen our work towards community change, and celebrate the power of collective giving! With live and on-demand sessions, We Give Summit will inspire and connect individuals across a growing grassroots movement. Last year, We Give Summit attracted 1,100+ giving circle members and supporters and we can’t wait to see what next year holds!
This year’s theme, Bolder Together, calls on the collective giving community to ask ourselves: How can we give with deep meaning and intention while remaining true to our values? How can we most boldly and imaginatively strengthen the growing collective giving movement? How do we embrace and continue developing powerful innovative tools, ideas, and methods? What unique and bold solutions can we explore to support today’s most pressing challenges? At We Give Summit 2023, we’ll explore these questions and push ourselves as a collective giving field to further disrupt institutional philanthropy in creative ways.
We Give Summit is seeking session proposals from giving circle members, donor collaboratives, community leaders, organizational and company leaders, major corporations, philanthropy networks, high net worth individuals, and community foundations that represent a diversity of identities, experiences, geographic locations, and communities. Special consideration will be given to proposals that highlight the voices of youth, Native Americans, individuals with disabilities, and those from rural communities. In true spirit of collective giving, we strongly encourage collaboration among groups and giving circles of different racial and class backgrounds. Please note: the We Give Summit team may propose modifications to your session if accepted, including recommending speakers and requesting multiple organizers collaborate.
What are the different types of sessions?
- Fireside Chat (1-2 speakers): Cover high-level findings and perspectives on topics that are timely, innovative, and thought-provoking (eg. Wealth & Power Sharing, State of Women & Girls)
- Skill-Building Workshop (1-2 speakers): Provide an interactive learning experience that creates opportunity for skills development and collaborative learning (e.g. Meeting Facilitation 101, How to Create Your First Impression Toolkit, Starting an Endowment, Useful Technologies to Know, Designing Engaging Virtual Membership Events, Membership Retention)
- Panel Discussion (3-4 speakers): Present diverse perspectives on specific issues and/or communities (e.g. State of LGBTQ Rights, Women of Color in Climate Justice, The Excellence of Black Philanthropy, Young People in Philanthropy, Strengthening Local Ties)
- Lightning Talk (1-2 speakers): Short, engaging, pre-recorded presentations that focus on narrating the key points of findings, project goals, research, and insights (e.g. Grassroots Media Relations 101, How to Start a Youth Giving Circle, Building a Multigenerational Giving Circle)
This year, we particularly hope to see more workshops, interactive sessions, facilitated open conversations, and case studies. The final curated sessions aim to reflect the interests and needs of our diverse audience across the field. Note: All session proposals should have a clear, direct link to collective giving.
We hope to provide our attendees, who last year represented 275+ giving circles and 25 countries, with a rich diversity of perspectives, topics, and ideas on how the giving circle movement can move bolder together.
Please submit your proposal using the form below by December 1, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. This is the final deadline to submit session proposals.
All sessions will be held virtually over Zoom May 2-4, 2023 and will be scheduled for 50 minutes. If you’re unable to present live, we are able to accommodate pre-recordings.