CHRISTIANSBURG — They call themselves the New Mountain Climbers and they are out to show the black community in Montgomery County that philanthropy is not limited to the wealthy.

The idea of a new Christiansburg-based giving circle is to pool donated funds over time to make grants for programs ranging from education to political action to economic empowerment.

It is all part of a national trend known as “rural philanthropy,” said Paula Shoecraft, who is with the Washington, D.C.-based Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, which includes the New Ventures in Philanthropy initiative.

Churches, book clubs and other groups have often taken up donations to give to worthy causes, but “giving circles” like the one formed in Christiansburg are formalizing the process. “The tradition is long-standing but the form is new,” Shoecraft said by telephone.

The Christiansburg-based giving circle grew out of The Community Group, which came into being about four years ago. It was organized by the late Rev. John Price Jr., pastor of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Christiansburg, and Penny Franklin, a member of the Montgomery County School Board, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Human Relations Council for Montgomery County, among other groups.

The Community Group has organized political forums, cultural activities, after-school events and other projects before its members decided to get into philanthropy.

Its members have taken part in Vision 2020 workshops where participants look to the future of the region. They have handed out pamphlets encouraging involvement in Montgomery County’s comprehensive planning survey. They have increased the visibility of black residents in governmental and political activities.

The Community Foundation, which raises money and makes grants to nonprofits throughout the New River Valley, is helping launch the new circle. Andy Morikawa, executive director of the 11-year-old foundation, called it a logical extension of his group’s efforts.

The New Mountain Climbers’ name comes from the Martin Luther King “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech given in 1968 on the day before he was murdered. The group has secured backing from the Ford Foundation, which will provide a 2-1 match to whatever the group raises in its first year and a 1-1 match the second year, Franklin said.

Morikawa said such ventures “demonstrate to the community that philanthropy is not the domain of the super-rich.” He said giving circles are the next step in the kind of sharing that has been part of the African-American community for centuries. “It’s a great privilege to be a part of that,” he said.

Other members of The Community Group gave their own reasons for participating. Brenda Brand, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech, called it “my way of connecting with the community and my way of supporting investment in the community.” Her big concern is the education of black adults, she said, and their understanding of what makes them special.

For Walter Price III, a retired Verizon employee, it was an interest in black political participation.

Elaine Carter had already been working for years to revitalize the Christiansburg Institute, which had been the first high school for blacks in Southwest Virginia. She graduated from it at age 14, before going on to graduate from Howard University in 1952.

“I have a passion for my own heritage and I despise the things that tear us apart,” Carter said. “All that speaks to me a civic life. I think that I have to be very active and contribute to build the kind of life I would want.”

The Rev. Glenn Orr of Blacksburg’s Saint Paul AME Church, by contrast, is a relative newcomer, having arrived in the New River Valley a little more than a year ago. “So I’m learning about some of the things that are going on here,” he said. “But when we come together, things happen.”

John Nowlin said he became involved because “I got a challenge from the Rev. Price,” he said. “He challenged me not to get too comfortable.” Nowlin said he did not really know what he was getting into, but has found himself enjoying the group. His wife, Nancy, said she “joined this group because I had a lot of respect for the Rev. John Price.” A son, Garnett “Johnny” Nowlin, became part of it to “give back to the community.”

Rosalie Page, who came to Montgomery County in 1949 and worked at what was then the Hercules plant, said she got caught up in the civil rights movement through the NAACP. As for her involvement in the Community Group, she said, “I woke up one day a few years ago and found out there was still work to be done.”

She is currently chairwoman of the Montgomery County Electoral Board. She is also Penny Franklin’s mother.

“I started to understand several years ago, when I met Andy, people give away money to do things,” Franklin said. Now, she said, the group is “getting ready to launch this and shake up a whole lot of people.”

On the Web: givingforum.org

Giving circles across the country

From recent report from New Ventures in Philanthropy that followed a study of 77 giving circles in the United States:

“Across the country, African Americans are coming together in groups called giving circles. Members of a giving circle pool their money and decide collectively how to use that money to make a difference. Giving circles are bringing together new donors, especially women and people of color, and new dollars that are changing the face of traditional philanthropy.”

There are at least 220 giving circles in 40 states.

Giving circles involve people of all races and ethnicities — 12 percent of circles studied are racially or ethnically mixed and 5 percent are African-American.

Participants range in age from 5 to more than 90 years old.

The amount donated by each participant varies from as little as a dollar a day to $20,000 each year.

The 77 giving circles in the study have raised a combined $44 million, largely in the last five years.