the problem with gifting circles - it isn't a gift or a circle

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The problem with “Gifting Circles” It isn’t a Gift or a Circle To read the blog, visit www.green-ideas.com

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Have you ever been invited to a Women's Gifting Circle? I have been invited three times in the past few months. In the past few weeks more than five of my friends have been invited by multiple groups. "Gifting Circles" are not circles and the "gifts" are not gifts. These groups are illegal pyramid structures. Learn more about the details, structure and non-viability of Gifting Circles. I describe in detail how they operate and ultimately fail. They neither create abundance nor empower women. These systems need to stop. We need REAL, sustainable economic empowerment opportunities for women, not scams.

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Page 1: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The problem with “Gifting Circles”

It isn’t a Gift or a Circle

To read the blog, visit www.green-ideas.com

Page 2: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Why am I doing this?

This information is needed

I am passionate

I have the knowledge

More than five of my closest friends have been invited into a

“Gifting Circle” in the past three weeks.

I am committed to a radical re-

visioning of our economy one

that moves into alignment with

Earth’s rate of regeneration

I have spent a good portion of my career exploring economic empowerment of women.

I have been invited to three different “gifting circles.”

Page 3: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

This is URGENT!“Gifting Circles” have caught like wildfire

Most women don’t understand that this type of growth always has a collapseMany women are in desperate economic situations

The women who profit don’t see other women in the subsequent circles get hurt

Women need to understand

the math on why this

system isn’t sustainable. The more

women involved, the more get hurt.

Turning $5k into $40k is

very alluring

Page 4: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The economic need is significant

Over 24 million women live below the

poverty line in the US

25% of women with infants live

in poverty

Only 6% of mothers in

poverty receive public

assistance

Women are desperate for new economic opportunities

That enable them to

provide for their families

Women need truly sustainable economic

opportunities

We need sustainable alternatives to an unhealthy economic system!

Page 5: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

What you will see in this presentation

Introduction to a Gifting Circle

The Visual Math of Gifting Circles

Why They Must Always Collapse

The Impacts and Consequences

Sustainable Alternatives

Page 6: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

“Each woman gives a gift of $5,000 to another woman to support her in financial empowerment and manifesting her dreams.”

“Each woman moves through the circle, arriving at the Dessert position, where you receive eight gifts of $5,000, totaling $40,000.”

“The Circle is a way to achieve personal growth, remove blocks to manifesting, and participate in a path to personal empowerment that teaches us to support each other on many levels.”

I was invited to a “Gifting Circle” called “Women Empowering Women” where:

Page 7: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Why the Gifting Circle attracted me

A close group of women creating abundance together

Money - I could turn $5,000 into $40,000 in just a couple of months – this could pay back my student loans or help with a house downpayment!

Sisterhood - I could have an amazing support group of other spiritual women – something that I have been missing in my life.

Trust - A close trusted friend invited me – she and I share a lot of the same values and perspectives on the world.

Page 8: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

This is what I was told about the circle

“Our Circle is NOT a hierarchy; it is a Circle. There is no one at the ‘top’

or at the ‘bottom.’ Unlike a ‘pyramid,’ women are constantly

cycling through ALL the positions on the Circle.”

“Since the early 1980’s, this circle has remained unbroken, and has grown in numbers, strength and integrity. Today it is a powerful moving force, providing many blessings to the women who

participate.”

“Nobody loses in order for you to win. Our intention is to benefit

women, PERIOD.”

“It's very important that we understand we are truly giving a gift when we come into the Circle, like a birthday or Christmas present. It is

not an investment.”

Page 9: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Sounds great right? But . . .

Here is what I learned:

I researched the legal issues . . .

I did the math . . .

Something didn’t seem right . . .

Page 10: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The Story of a Gifting Circle

DessertThe first woman didn’t make any investment, but suggested that the women who followed

her could earn 8x on their “gift.”

She asked them to “trust their intuition and disregard the negativity bias perpetuated by

patriarchal nay-sayers.”

The circle I was invited to used a “dinner party” theme to differentiate the levels

Page 11: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

DessertTally = $10,000

Entrée Entrée

Then she found two “Entrées” to give her $5,000 each . . .

$5,000$5,000

Tally3 women$10,000

Page 12: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

And with weekly “abundance calls” they found four “Salads” who also gave $5,000

$5,0

00

$5,0

00

$5,000

$5,000

DessertTally = $30,000

Entrée

Salad Salad

Entrée

Salad Salad

Tally7 women$30,000

Page 13: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

And with all the good vibes they found eight “Appetizers,” each gave $5,000

$5,000$5,000

$5,000

$5,000$5

,000

$5,0

00

$5,00

0

$5,000

DessertTally = $70,000

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer

Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer

Appetizer

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer

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Salad

Appetizer

Appetizer

Round 115 women$70,000

Page 14: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The first Dessert walked away with $70,000 and nobody knows who she is!

DessertRemember, the first woman didn’t

make any financial contribution

Page 15: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Dessert

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

But, what do you do if both Entrées want to be Dessert?

And now the Entrées are ready for Dessert!

The group has to grow!

Page 16: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

DessertDessertReceive $40,000

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

DessertReceive $40,000

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

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Entrée

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

Salad

Appetizer Appetizer

They split into two groupsRound 22 circles30 women$80,000

Tally in Round 2 31 women now involved $150,000 “gifted” or invested3 women have profited

NOTE: Appetizers pay $5,000 directly to Dessert. When

Dessert receives $40,000 she steps off the “circle.”

Page 17: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Round 34 circles60 women$160,000

Tally – Round 3: 63 women now involved, $310,000 “gifted” or invested, 7 women have profited

Dessert

Entrée

Salad

Appetizer

Appetizer

Salad

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ThenFour

Groups

Page 18: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Round 4120 women$320,000

Tally – Round 4 - 127 women now involved, $630,000 “gifted” or invested, 15 women have profited

Dessert

Entre

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Appetizer

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Eight Groups

Growth is Exponential

Page 19: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Round 5240 women

$640,000

Tally – Round 5 - 255 women now involved, $1,270,000 “gifted” or invested, 31 women have profited

Dessert

Entre

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Appetizer

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16 groups

Page 20: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Can’t it just grow forever?

Human Population = Probably Not Sustainable: Growth at our current rate of consumption of the Earth’s ecosystem resources will probably

lead to ecosystem collapse.

Gifting Circle = Not Sustainable: The growth quickly exceeds economic

resource capacity (ability to bring in new women at $5,000), inevitably

leading to collapse.

Growth That Exceeds Resource Capacity Always Leads to Collapse!

Population doubling time for

the Gifting Circle is 6 months.

Global population doubling time is approximately

25 years.

Page 21: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

But isn’t abundance infinite?Gifting Circle Limit: At round

31 in the gifting circle, the number of participants

required is 17 billion women, investing $85 trillion,

exceeding our economic and human capacity.

Economic Limit: The total human population on Earth is 7 billion people and the value of the global economy is $69 trillion. It is estimated that the Earth can only support about 12 billion people.

In the non-physical realm, abundance

is infinite, for example:

Love = infiniteJoy = infinite

The physical world is finite: We are

limited by population,

economy, etc.

It’s exciting to live in a finite world. It causes us to be more creative!

Page 22: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

But what about The Law of Attraction (thought + allowance = manifestation)?

The Law of Attraction isn’t about fixating on a material object, such as money. Money rarely brings the happiness or

“abundance” we think it should.

The way to manifest using the Law of Attraction is to focus on the feeling of abundance and gratitude, which will bring more abundance and gratitude, arriving in the form most authentic to what is really desired, often not in the

form of money.

“I’m not hurting anyone else by manifesting financial abundance for myself, right?”

Manifesting “abundance” does not necessarily mean manifesting money.

Within the “gifting circle” structure, in

order for some to win, most women lose

Page 23: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

In order for the “Desserts” to profit, at least 88% must lose their money

Round Number of Circles

Women Involved

Cumulative Dollars Invested

# of women who have profited

# of women who have lost money

% of women who lose their money

1 1 15 $70,000 1 14 93%2 2 31 $150,000 3 28 90% 3 4 63 $310,000 7 56 88%4 8 127 $630,000 15 112 88%5 16 255 $1,270,000 31 224 88%6 32 511 $2,550,000 63 448 88%7 64 1,023 $5,110,000 127 896 88%8 128 2,047 $10,230,000 255 1,792 88%9 256 4,095 $20,470,000 511 3,584 88%10 . . . 512 8,191 $40,950,000 1,023 7,168 88%31 1 billion 17 billion $86 trillion 2 billion 15 billion 88%

Page 24: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Gifting Circles Increase the Divide Between Haves and Have-nots!

12%

88%

Gifting Circle Profit Distribution

Women who profit

Women who lose their money

At some point, the circle must collapse, leaving 88% without ever receiving a gift. Not exactly equitable.

Page 25: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

But isn’t this better than the 1% taking all the wealth in the US economy?

The US economy Gifting Circle SystemNo! The Gifting Circle is Worse!

Page 26: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The Bottom 88% Lose Big Time!

Top 12% Bottom 88%

$35,840,000

$(35,840,000)

Gifting Circle Net IncomeAfter Round 10

It’s the women who are shy, have less time or just a smaller network that lose their money.

Page 27: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Many women who join gifting circles can’t afford to lose

Page 28: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

The top 12% are taking from their community (friends and family)!

What does the loss of $35 million do to a community? How does this impact friendships?

Page 29: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

I haven’t yet measured the economic impact, but it has ruined friendships . . .

It destroys trust

It creates a feeling of inequality

Fosters feelings of hurt or judgment

I have heard many stories of broken friendships and have personally experienced the loss of friendship because of my

lack of support for a friend’s participation

Page 30: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

“But if Dessert reinvests, it’s not a pyramid, right?”

Dessert

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$5,000

Page 31: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Dessert becomes one of 16 appetizers

Dessert could reinvest her entire $40k, replacing all the other appetizers for ONE group (but since the group split, the need is now $80k). Also if she wants the 8x return (like $5k to $40K), she would need

to invest in 8 different groups and help bring in 64 new appetizers to make that happen.

Dessert

DessertReceive $40,000

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DessertReceive $40,000

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Remember the group splits!

Previous dessert at $5k

It’s still a pyramid!

Page 32: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

No matter which way you frame itDessertEntrée

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Page 33: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Or what you call it . . .DessertEntrée

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Page 34: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Or how you make it look . . .

Page 35: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

A “Gifting Circle” isn’t a Circle

Dessert

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Nothing circular in this shape!

Page 36: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

It’s a Pyramid!One that grows through

repetition, not accretion (like MLMs) . . .

Instead of one big pyramid, you end up with a bunch of small

pyramids that replicate faster than rabbits – yikes!

Page 37: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

And the “gift” is not a gift

ANY expectation or hope of financial return by definition means that it isn’t

a gift.

If the “Appetizers” were truly giving a gift without expecting a return, why do

they try to move up to the “Dessert” position?

There are many reasons women participate, but the biggest one is the

hope of a $40,000 return. If this weren’t so, many women would also be participating in abundance circles

that don’t involve a financial commitment. I don’t know anyone

participating in such a group.

If women were truly in the circle to gift $5,000 to someone in need, the

structure would look very different – more like a philanthropic organization or charity (it would probably have the

tax exempt status too).

Page 38: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

If it isn’t a circle or a gift, what is it?

It’s an Investment

Pyramid!

Page 39: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Which is why it’s illegal

Learn the Law!• http://oag.ca.gov/consumers/gene

ral/pyramid_schemes• http://www.dca.ca.gov/publication

s/legal_guides/u- 2.shtml‐

Participation is a felony governed under the “endless chain scheme law.”

Have you ever heard of a Ponzi Scheme or Bernie Madoff?

Page 40: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

A number of women who reached “Dessert” have felony convictions

Guilford, Connecticut – May 2013 - two

women found guilty and

sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiracy, fraud, and tax

evasion.

Sacramento, California –

2003, 20 women arrested. Plead guilty to felony charges, paid

$150,000 each in fines.

This is much worse than getting caught with a few illegal plants . . .

Page 41: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Links to Stories of Other Women Convicted of Fraud for Gifting Circles

Page 42: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

However . . .

THERE ARE SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES

Page 43: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Sustainable Economic Empowerment Opportunities for Women are Growing

44% of coops are still in business after 10 years, vs 19% survival rate for non-coop businesses

Cooperative Businesses

Women will create over half of the 9.72

million new small business jobs expected to be

created by 2018

Women are leading the way in

social enterprise and outperforming

standard businesses

Page 44: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Lending Circles• (Savings Clubs)

Sisterhood Circles• (Women’s

Groups)

Investment Circles• (Group

Investments)

Giving Circles• (Charity

Groups)

Women pool their money and make small-med

investments in women-run businesses.

Philanthropic women’s groups that pool their money and give it to a particular charity or cause with a 501c3 tax status.

No financial commitment, but emotional and spiritual investment and support.

10 people put in $100/month and at

different points of the year, each

person gets back exactly what they

put in: $1,200.

And yes, there are sustainable Women’s Circles that do economically empower women!

This is VERY different from the pyramid “Gifting Circle!”

Page 45: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

There are lots of other ways to give, invest and receive money that empowers women

Micro-lending • Kiva, Prosper,

Accion, TrickleUp, etc.

Social Impact Investments• Investors Circle,

RSF Social Finance, etc.

Crowd Sourcing• Kickstarter,

Indiegogo, etc.

Low interest loans • Small Business

Administration• Rural

Development

This is a way to legally fund

your friend’s project or

business with a gift!

Women-run businesses qualify for specific low-interest loans

If you have the money to invest, Social Impact Funds vet new ventures

If you have a small project, you can apply

for micro-credit

Page 46: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Why “Gifting Circles” or Investment Pyramids Don’t Work

You will probably lose your money (you only have a 12% chance of winning).

If you win, you do so by taking from other women.

It doesn’t empower women or increase abundance!

It’s an illegal pyramid scheme – you could face jail time.

It isn’t sustainable! It requires 8x growth, inevitably leading to collapse.

There are many other ways to invest or give $5,000. There are many sustainable systems and circles that

actually empower women.

Page 47: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Who put this presentation together?Amber Bieg, MBA, Sustainable Management •Sustainable Business Consultant•Social Entrepreneur•Economic Feasibility Analyst

Wife and Mama•Theo – 4 years old•Toby – due in 4 weeks•Chloe – 15 month old puppy

Artist, Explorer, Spiritual Seeker•Fiber Artist•World adventurer•Philosopher

Page 48: The Problem With Gifting Circles - It isn't a Gift or a Circle

Stop the “Gifting Circles”Invest in REAL abundance!

Share this with everyone you know

Thank you for taking the time to read this! For more visit www.green-ideas.com - Amber Bieg

Remember . . . “Gifting Circles” are not circles and the “gifts” are not gifts. These groups are neither creating abundance nor empowering women.