Giving circles

What is a giving circle?

A circle a person keeps and names, listing friends by their profile slug. Anyone with the board's link can see who's listed and, for each one, a single published total — never a list of individual gifts.

Why does a board show a total instead of individual gifts?

Because giving on this site is incognito by default and the platform itself can't read it — not even a circle's own keeper can see what someone gave to. What a board shows is something each person chooses to publish about themselves: one number, not their actual transaction history.

How do I start a circle, and how many can I keep?

Go to /circle and name it. You can keep up to 5 circles and list up to 16 people in each, by their profile slug.

How do I see a circle a friend shared with me?

Open the link they sent, or paste it into the "Paste the link a friend sent you" box on /circle. Opening it writes nothing — you're just looking. If you want it to show up on your own /circle page next time, choose Save this board to my circles; you can follow up to 50.

What does publishing my total actually do?

It writes one number to your own profile: your total giving across every organisation on this site, incognito gifts included, rounded to the nearest ₹1,000. That's why every figure on a board reads "about ₹N given in total" rather than an exact amount. Once published, it's readable by anyone — not only in the circles you choose to show it in.

Can I choose where my total is shown?

Yes. Publishing and showing are two separate choices. Publishing puts the number on your profile; for each circle you're listed in, you separately choose whether that circle displays it. Stop showing my total here removes it from one circle without touching the number itself, which stays published and visible everywhere else it's shown. Remove my published total deletes the number altogether — it disappears from every circle at once, and your giving goes back to being unreadable by anyone but you.

What does a board look like for someone who hasn't published?

Their card says "Giving not shown." That's the same card whether they haven't opened the link yet, opened it and said no, or published once and later removed it — nobody reading a board can tell which.

Is the member list private?

No. A circle's member list, and the board itself, are public to anyone signed in who has the link — not only to the people on it. If you're listed but haven't published, you'll see a box asking whether to publish your total for that circle; if you're not listed, the board offers a button to ask the keeper to add you.

What happens if the keeper closes the circle?

The board disappears for everyone on the list, including anyone who'd published a total there. Nobody's actual giving is affected — only the board and the per-circle display choice go away.