Allinbklyn, a women’s giving circle committed to strengthening Brooklyn nonprofits, marks its 10th year of grantmaking this month. Over the past decade, the group has granted more than $2.5 million to more than 65 nonprofits, many of them small, early-stage organizations.
Last month, Allinbklyn announced its 2024 cohort: The Brave House, CHiPS, Documented NY, Emma’s Torch, Meals for Good, and Ruth’s Refuge. Each will receive three years of funding, beginning with $20,000 in the first year.
Eliza Winans Rossman founded Allinbklyn in 2014 to fill a void in she felt in local philanthropy. “I knew there were organizations in my own backyard that I didn’t have the opportunity to support. And I knew if I couldn’t access them, they couldn’t access me, either.” she said. “I had friends who felt the same way. Their dollars were going to the usual places or to where their friends suggested, but their knowledge of Brooklyn organizations was limited. I knew that, together, we could make a meaningful difference.”
The group started with seven women and has grown into a community of 60 that grants more than $300,000 each year. Members nominate and evaluate Brooklyn nonprofits and often become volunteers and board members.
In a giving circle, a group pools individual donations, as well as ideas and research, to make a much larger impact. There are over 4,000 giving circles in the U.S., and women-led giving circles are one of the fastest growing forms of philanthropy.
“Receiving a grant from Allinbklyn is like getting the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,” said Julie Stein Brockway, Co-Executive Director of the The Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, a 2022 grantee. “It acknowledges that you are doing the best work possible to meet the needs of the people of Brooklyn.”
The 2022 and 2023 cohorts, each receiving $13,000 this year, are: RaisingHealth Partners, BCS Fatherhood Program, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, The Family Center’s Leekong Institute, Flatbush Tenants Association, Mixteca, People in Need, Power of Two, Read718, Red Hook Initiative, St. John’s Bread & Life, and Thompson Drive. Brooklyn Org will receive $10,000.
