"Daughters of the Declaration: How Women Social Entrepreneurs Built the American Dream"

Professor, author and former college president, Claire Guadiani has been a very strong supporter of women and philanthropy and we greatly appreciate all she has done, particularly in pointing out how women's past contributions have changed society and created national prosperity.

Her new book with her husband, David Burnett, Daughters of the Declaration, makes it clear that women have always been on the cutting edge of dealing with the social issues of today; that women have used their entrepreneurship to create America's unique not-for-profit, or social profit sector.  And that women's idealism and optimism have played a major role in the increasing prosperity of our nation.

In the book, she points out, "…the notion that the great industrialists created America’s social profit sector is simply wrong.  It suggests that citizen responsibility for building a just society was led by very wealthy, politically connected men…: In fact, the social profit sector was developed not by the great men of industry, but by women….long before the “robber barons” created foundations and universities bearing their names.  Women did so before elected officials defined a meaningful role for government in such matters as public health, education, workplace safety, or the ownership of slaves.  Women began this work at a time when they were not even entitled to own property or inherit wealth."


Now women have not only the natural instincts to deal with the social issues of today, we have the money and the clout as well.  We are positioned, as never before in history, to make a huge difference with not only our time and our feelings of responsibility, but with our money as well.  As Claire has said in the past, "We are the generation of women the world has been waiting for.  We should do more than soak up the good life to make up for what others did for us in the past."


This new book shows us what women have done in the past and against all odds.  The odds are now in our favor and it is up to us to show what we can do to make the world a better place, one by one and together.

Preparing to Launch a Women’s Philanthropy Program

With so much interest shown in developing women's philanthropy initiatives, it was time to include the following material written by my co-author and blog contributor, Martha Taylor, vice president of the University of Wisconsin Foundation.  Martha says:

"Before starting or expanding a women’s philanthropy program, make sure you have the following components to ensure your success.

1.    Staff and management commitment. One or ideally two (or more) staff members envision the role of a women’s program at the institution and decide to take it on as a project. Some organizations have formalized an internal “women’s philanthropy task force” and involved several staff persons. Management needs to endorse exploring the effort and back it up later with staff and budget.

2.    Core group of women volunteer leadership and major donors. Before beginning a program, seek the input of a core group of women volunteer leaders and donors. Brainstorm with them about how to engage women with your institution.

3.    Clear vision, mission, goals and values. The program will succeed long term if it has a well defined mission, vision, goals and values—all standard good practices in a development office. Volunteer leaders and staff work together to formulate goals and objectives.  You should know how many women are giving to your organization, how much and at what giving level.

4.    Business plan and evaluation method. Develop a business plan and analysis of how the program will fit into your development operation. This internal analysis includes benchmarking to assess your progress.

5.    Organizational culture that supports women’s giving. Complete an internal audit concerning your operations, the role of women in your organization, the potential of women as an audience. Standard operating procedures in the organization should respect women and women’s perspectives."

    

    Martha A. Taylor, Vice President, University of Wisconsin Foundation

    From Woman and Philanthropy: Bolding Shaping a New World

Generations, Gender and Generosity

I was pleased to have been part of the celebration of the Women's Philanthropy Council of the University of Wisconsin Foundation's tenth biennial forum on philanthropy"Generations, Gender and Generosity." My dear friend and colleague, Martha Taylor helped establish the Council twenty three years ago and it was the first women's philanthropy initiative at a public university.

The day opened with my moderating a four member panel of women of different generations discussing their philanthropy.  As you might imagine, the women did have some differences in their approach to philanthropy: Gen Y said she had no trouble approaching her friends for money while the others found asking friends to be somewhat difficult.  But most of the approaches to giving were very similar, despite the difference in ages from 21 years to 93 years.

When asked what they felt their responsibilities were as philanthropic leaders, the women said to educate others so they know how to give back, and to lead by example and not give anonymously.

I asked about the values they wanted to pass on to the next generation and they said making a difference, the responsibility to put philanthropy to its best use, compassion and giving to things that touch the heart.

As for the panel's expectations from giving a gift, the answers were knowing how the gift was used, that their gift was earmarked and not for the general fund, and looking at their contribution in the same way as when making a new investment; they want an accounting.

When the discussion turned to how they like to be asked for a gift, they said through the use of stories and knowing there will be collaboration with others.

And finally, we talked about where philanthropy is headed.  The responses were that more people will be giving locally as compared to giving to large institutions, and that philanthropy will become even more important with government cutbacks.

One panel member closed the session with the inspiring comment about the cup half full and half empty story and said what we really must do is give our cup to others to drink.  Her statement was a fine conclusion to the day's atmosphere of giving back, giving to basic needs, compassion, and generosity that was in abundance at the day long forum.