The Lighthouse’s RBG Program Prepares to Launch a New Giving Circle Partnership

Young Black women reclaim philanthropy, cooperative economics in Mississippi  

A quiet but meaningful shift in democratic giving is emerging in Mississippi.  A cohort of young BIPOC women in the Lighthouse’s Reese|Brooks|Gilbert Collegiate Leadership fellowship (RBG) is preparing to launch a new giving circle in partnership with the Mississippi Alliance for Nonprofits and Philanthropy. The Alliance selected only a small number of organizations statewide to participate and will match the funds raised by each group up to $2,500. The initiative arrives at a moment when cooperative economics and community-governed resource sharing are gaining renewed interest across the South. 

“Philanthropy comes from the meaning of the love of humanity,” she says. “Especially in our communities of color, we have always been philanthropic. We have always given. We have always helped our community. This takes giving back to its roots.” 

Nationally young Black women are stepping into new forms of economic and civic leadership, often in places where institutional support has been inconsistent or rapidly changing. Mississippi is one of those places. Here a growing network of community-based organizations and student-led initiatives is experimenting with cooperative economic models that not only redistribute resources but also reshape who gets to exercise power in public life. The emergence of new giving circles led by young people reflects a broader recognition that community sustainability depends on structures designed and governed by the very people who experience local needs most directly.  

This shift is unfolding at a moment when many rural and southern communities are grappling with shrinking public budgets, the rollback of diversity and equity programs and the destabilization of long-standing support systems. Yet even in the midst of these pressures, young Black women in Mississippi are choosing to build alternative pathways for resource sharing and community care. Their work offers a glimpse of what it looks like when the next generation refuses to wait for institutions to correct themselves and instead begins constructing new, locally rooted frameworks of empowerment from the ground up. 

For Ellen Collins, executive director at the Mississippi Alliance for Nonprofits and Philanthropy, the purpose of this project is to introduce a new generation of young women to the power of collective decision making, shared values and community directed philanthropy. “We want to teach that there is power in collective giving,” she explains. “This is not about individual giving because we all can do that. This is about collective movement and collective action.” She notes each giving circle develops a distinct identity. The young women will decide what they care about, which issues matter most to them and which nonprofit organizations they want to support. 

Collins sees this model as a return to the heart of philanthropy. “Philanthropy comes from the meaning of the love of humanity,” she says. “Especially in our communities of color, we have always been philanthropic. We have always given. We have always helped our community. This takes giving back to its roots.” 

The data conclusions around charitable behavior in Mississippi are complicated.  Some national rankings place the state among the least charitable based on volunteerism and nonprofit density, as in this WalletHub analysis. Some research shows southern states receive disproportionately low philanthropic investment, as noted in this Charity Navigator report. However, Collins argues Mississippi has long been recognized for its culture of generosity. She cites the long-standing tradition of mutual aid and collective care in rural and faith-centered communities. One thing is clear from the available data: Mississippi has a long history of charitable giving and community-supported care, with residents donating more than $1.5 billion annually, with the nonprofit sector serving as a significant employer and economic engine throughout the state, according to this Independent Sector profile. 

The Lighthouse was chosen as one of the host organizations because of its deep and long- standing work with young Black women and students through the RBG program. The Alliance intentionally looked for organizations already engaging the audience they hoped to reach. “It was easy for me to think about the Lighthouse,” Collins says. “Natalie has been doing this work for a long time, and this cohort model offered a natural opportunity.” 

To support the cohort, the Alliance is partnering with Philanthropy Together, a national initiative that trains and strengthens giving circles across the country. Students will learn how giving circles are formed, how shared values shape collective decisions, how to organize and distribute pooled funds and how to evaluate nonprofit organizations through direct engagement. They will also receive training in digital giving platforms such as Grapevine, which serves as a hub for collective giving efforts nationwide. From there, the initiative becomes entirely theirs. “Our role is to provide the tools,” Collins says. “They will establish the guidelines, the timeline, the processes, the priorities. Once the Alliance is out of the picture, this becomes their initiative.” 

Although the circle is still in its early stages, Collins hopes the experience will reshape how the participants view their own civic power. “I want to see young women becoming more thoughtful about the needs in their local areas,” she says. She hopes they will understand even a modest collective gift can be transformational, when guided by intention and collaboration. “Even if they only pull together a thousand dollars, I want them to understand how that can be used in an impactful way.” 

She also hopes the young women will cultivate relationships with the nonprofits they select. That includes meeting with organizational leaders, asking about budgets, learning how operational expenses affect a nonprofit’s survival and understanding why fundraising is a constant challenge in communities with limited resources. “There is a lot I envision them understanding about how nonprofits work and how they operate,” she says. 

Collins believes the significance of this work is heightened by the current sociopolitical climate. Across the South, states have imposed restrictions on diversity and equity programs, challenged public protections and destabilized the structures that many nonprofits have historically relied upon. “This generation understands that nothing is promised. … Structures that nonprofits were counting on can be dismantled. When we care about charitable giving in our communities, we have to understand that the power is still within our community. We are being challenged to step up and take care of our own.”  

She connects this moment to the long arc of Mississippi’s civil rights struggle. “We need to learn from the civil rights movement and the tactics that were used,” Collins says. “We are going to need them again. And I hate that we have to go through this, but I do believe we are seeing groups stepping forward.” 

The giving circle ultimately serves as both an educational tool and a community intervention. It invites young women to learn how to move collectively, to articulate shared priorities, to evaluate nonprofit structures with clarity and to make informed decisions about resource allocation. It reinforces the truth that communities can generate their own durability and power even when institutional protections weaken. Mississippi has always been a place where resilience, strategic cooperation and collective care have shaped the path toward survival and possibility. Through this initiative, a new generation is preparing to carry that work forward.  

The young women of the RBG program are learning not simply to give, but to govern the process of giving. They are stepping into roles as architects of philanthropic vision, and they are creating a model that may inspire similar efforts across the state.