Twelve Ways to Tell Your Story to Engage Women as Donors

We have spoken earlier about Eight Best Strategies to Communicate With Women with the last strategy being, "Tell your story."  The methods of telling your story that I want to share today will be through the written word and pictures.  They will be general methods.







1.  Help her find her passion

2.  Talk about change

3.  Understand her desire to nurture

4.  Demonstrate a brighter future for and with children

5.  Show diversity

6.  Think globally

7.  Discuss the chance to work with others

8.  Personalize the images and the message

9.  Walk in her shoes

10. Use humor

11. Respect her time

12. Be a dream maker

Women's Philanthropic Leadership

At the recent Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference in San Diego (where Martha Taylor was awarded the Professional Fundraiser of the Year) Martha and I presented a program, “Moving Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Forward.” 

We were able to “coattail” onto Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, urging women to step up and in and be leaders.  But we went straight to the source: the organizations and institutions to show them why it is important to have women in leadership positions.  Martha and I developed:

Six Compelling Reasons to Bring Women to the Board Table

1.     Financial capital

Over 50% of the nation’s wealth is currently held by women

2.     Values

Family, peace, a better world, compassion, and social justice

3.     Intellectual capital

Women outnumber men in college and with advanced degrees

4.     Leadership styles

Collaboration, relational

5.     Altruism

The Women’s Philanthropy Institute research indicates that women are more altruistic than men.

6.     Spouse and friends

In nearly 90 percent of high net worth households, women are either the sole decision maker or an equal partner in decisions about charitable giving.  Women like to give collectively, with other women.

Bring women to the table: it makes (sense/cents) and “it pays.”

           

Finance the World You Want

I read an article today in the Harvard Business Review Blog written by Whitney Johnson, co-founder of Rose Park Advisors.  She says, "Investing is about financing dreams. Some of the dreams I finance are close to home. As we become fluent in the realm of the coin, money can be much more than a jar from which we pull assets in order to subsist, but rather a storehouse from which we can fund our child's education, buy a home, assemble the resources needed to write a book, start a business, or, as I would eventually like to, produce a documentary. Investing also finances the kind of world we want. I dream of a world, for example, where there are more and better employment opportunities, people parent well, appreciate one another, and volunteerism abounds. There are companies I can invest in that will help all of this happen."

I definitely agree with Whitney and know that giving philanthropically is about financing dreams as well.  And about creating the world we want.  Women have the money, now we must use it to make big changes.

Gerda Lerner's Legacy Will Live On

Gerda Lerner in her office in Madison, WI, in 2002.

Gerda Lerner, a longtime friend and colleague of Martha Taylor's, was a strong supporter of women and philanthropy from the time Martha first talked with her about the subject.  As the women's movement moved forward over the last thirty years, women from all walks of life have made it's progress possible and Gerda was the scholar who, as the New York Times said in her obituary published January 3, 2013, "...helped make the study of women and their lives a legitimate subject for historians and spearheaded the creation of the first graduate program in women's history in the United States," at the University of Wisconsin Madison.  She will be sadly missed but her legacy will live on as she has helped empower millions of women through her actions, her research, and her works.

I AM HERE: Barbara Arredondo

With Barbara at dinner the last evening.

Two weeks ago I was visiting my granddaughter in Monterrey, Mexico. Zinzi is in medical school there and I was thrilled to not only see her again, but to meet a fascinating young woman.

Barbara Arredondo is only 28 but her gifts are already incredible and I know for sure that her serenity and abilities will change the world.

Her hometown of Monterrey is Mexico's 3rd largest city and ranks as the world's 63rd wealthiest. However the drug cartels have moved in and created carnage in what was Latin America's safest city. Barbara decided that she needed to do something about this and in 2011, she created a peace conference that 6000 people attended, including the Dalai Lama and Zanier Salbi, founder of Women for Women International. She wanted to find the next Gandhi and Mother Teresa. I truly think that, in herself, she has found that person.

This year Barbara began a new series of programs called I AM HERE. The 4-month series features 10 unique women who share their messages to an audience of 300 women in Monterrey. The purpose is to create a heart shift of what women's role can be towards generating positive and long-lasting change in Mexico and to encourage their involvement and their philanthropy.

The first speakers in August were Abigail Disney and Kathy Lemay. In September, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Christina Berton and Marisa Fernandez. October's presenters were Lily Yeh, Patti Smith, and Lili Navarro. And at the closing session, November 29, she will have Zainab Salbi and The Color Purple author Alice Walker.

Today Barbara wrote and said they had lost a $20,000 sponsor for the November session and could I help? She thinks she can raise $10,000 through a concert but is still short $10,000. Please let me know if you can help. Outside of my family, I have never believed in anyone as much as I do in this young woman and I hope you will join me in helping to move her, move women's philanthropy, and move peace forward. Your financial gift will bring untold returns to you personally about the ways women can and will save the world.

Thank you,
Sondra

I AM HERE http://iamhereseries.com/en/

Women Give 2012: New Research About Women and Giving

New and exciting research about women and giving was released today by the Women's Philanthropy Institute.  The research focused on single Boomer and older women (I call us Prime Time).  The part of the research that is so mind boggling is that most women will outlive their spouses and thus this research shows how important it is to engage women now, as they are and will be the donors of the future. The entire report can be found at Women Give 2012.  Congratulations to the Center on Philanthropy and the Women's Philanthropy Institute.

Next Generation Family Philanthropy

At a recent Michigan Council of Foundations family foundation retreat, the participants of both genders were asked how they thought the next generation would give differently. Their answers were: 

• Stronger focus on the environment and global issues
• More liberal
• Use their hearts versus their minds
• Give more to women and children
• More personal in their giving
• Have an immediate sense of ownership
• Give closer to where they live
• Want their gifts to go to causes rather than just to those who ask them to give
• Give to help eliminate human trafficking. 

Based on this survey, there surely are some very clear differences in this generation's giving from their parents.  Global giving is a very big one and an area where women also are tending to give more. In fact, a number of the ways the next generation will give are those that have been pioneered by women such as using their hearts, be cause driven as opposed to who does the asking, giving to women and children, and being more personal in their giving. The next generation's giving reflects the fact that women's giving has and is leading the way in philanthropy.