What if a small group of people, pooling their resources, could create a big impact in their community? That’s exactly what the Acorn Fund Giving Circle set out to do

21 Mar 2025

The Acorn Fund Giving Circle is a great example of local philanthropy in action. In 2012, under the umbrella of The Community Foundation’s, Acorn Fund, the Acorn Giving Circle was formed by a group of women living and working in Derry who wanted to make a small but positive difference to issues impacting the lives of local people.

Giving Circles operate successfully when donors are in agreement about the level of money they want to raise, the causes which matter to them and the mechanism for distributing the funding.

‘We aren’t a savings club, we intend to spend down the money raised and start again each year’, said one of the founding members.

The journey for the donors of the Acorn Fund Giving Circle began with identifying who they most wanted to support and what was the most ‘light touch’ and accessible way for groups to receive that support.

Luckily, the Community Foundation is able to balance both the ‘light touch’ which donors favour and undertake the necessary due diligence and assessment checks required for charitable giving.

To date the Acorn Fund Giving Circle has distributed over £50k in small grants of between £500 and £1,000 to support children and young people, vulnerable and elderly adults, groups impacted by climate change events e.g. Floods, who live in Derry and Strabane area.

If you are considering ‘Giving’ in a more organised or strategic way then pooling regular donations into a single pot to distribute to a cause close to your heart, then why not try forming a Giving Circle. You’ll have nothing to lose and much more to gain knowing you are making a positive difference to the lives of local people.