Community Investment Network Focuses on the Importance of Giving Back

By Linda Powell

Frustration is the driving force behind many successful ventures. It’s what Darryl Lester, president of HindSight Consulting, Inc. says led him to become involved in giving circles and ultimately led to the development of the Community Investment Network (CIN).

The giving of African Americans, Lester felt, was being ignored because it was thought that they had nothing to give. “Institutions of philanthropy have not spent much time talking to folks who look like me,” he said. “For many years, they have sought out only those of high wealth. But research shows that it’s generally not the wealthy who give; it’s those who aren’t. What he wanted to do, and is doing, is flip the paradigm.  “I wanted to talk to ALL people who had a desire and a will to give back. Unfortunately some of the traditional institutions engaged in philanthropy have established very high hurdles for the average person to participate; it takes a certain amount of money to establish certain types of funds. The giving circles provide them with another option.  It’s about giving people all of the necessary information and letting them decide what they think is best for them.” 

“I told God that if he allowed me the opportunity, I would go out and engage people in conversations about giving their time, talent and money. I began to connect with people who had the same passion. He [God] laid everything out and made it very plain that providing a table for people to come and talk about that which they had been given and how they can use it to benefit their communities is something that people needed. We are not talking about people coming based on surplus; we are talking about people coming based on substance.”

The History Behind the Project

Let’s start from the beginning. In 2002, Lester’s organization, Hindsight Consulting Inc., began dialoguing with young African-American adults across the South about giving back to their communities. Research concluded that for many of these young adult leaders, their intellectual capital, as well as their financial capital, was undervalued and not being tapped. The result of these discussions yielded the creation of nine giving circles throughout the United States, organized by local African-American philanthropists. These community philanthropists have taken the theory of collective giving and have launched the circles in partnership with traditional philanthropic institutions in their communities. 

Hindsight’s strategic thinking, along with conversations with giving circle members, led to the launch of The Community Investment Network (CIN). The Network seeks to sustain existing giving circles through strategic donor education and civic engagement, and also provides a broader arena for deeper learning and analysis about community philanthropy, as well as issues of race and equity.

CIN affords members an opportunity to come together and talk to each other about lessons learned, the success of grant-making projects and what challenges they face,” Lester said.

There are a lot of people who aren’t involved in government work, or don’t work in the non-profit or philanthropic sector who are asking themselves, ‘how can I make a difference in my community?’ They may be connected to their church which might be civic-minded -- but they are looking for other ways to be engaged. We feel CIN is a place where people can come to learn more about how to do that. Some folks may feel a need to create a non-profit. We are saying to them that there are some levels and steps in between. We want them to know that a giving circle is a hybrid in which they can get involved without starting a non-profit.

Lester said data that has been collected on African-American giving only provides a snapshot of what goes on in our community, and primarily it only gives a snapshot of the giving of treasure. It does not take into account that someone may be taking care of an extended family member. It does not take into account that a cousin or a nephew might be getting subsidized to attend college. Data does not capture this, so the structure in which we give sometimes does not convey the whole picture.

Giving back whether talent, time or treasure is important because it indicates the love that folks have for one another, Lester said. If you look within any community, there is always an aspect of survival in how people take care of each other. CIN is building upon an old concept. It was the concept I saw growing up in South Carolina. I would not be here if it weren’t for my community taking care of me. CIN is trying to revive an old tradition, but trying to do it with a generation who may not have quite embraced it.

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