Girls and Boys Charitable Giving

If you haven’t already seen the new research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) on Charitable Giving by Girls and Boys, do order it.  It is another in the excellent Women Give series.

The report includes ways to raise children to be more charitable and gets to the question: “Is philanthropy taught or caught?”

I was surprised to find that talking to children about charity has a greater impact on children’s giving than role modeling alone, and that it is equally effective regardless of the child’s gender, race and age.

As a co-founder with Martha Taylor of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, it is extremely heartening to see the research and programmatic results of the Institute moving to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.  WPI is now part of the new Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the report was made in partnership with the United Nations Foundation.  I highly recommend it and the other Women Give reports as well and particularly congratulate Debra Mesch, Professor and Director of WPI and Andrea Pactor, Associate Director.  They have been the heart and soul of WPI as well as the engine and tracks.  Bravo!

Women Give More Than Men to Charity Study Shows

Dr. Debra Mesch

Women across nearly every income level gave significantly more to charity than men, nearly twice as much in some cases, according to a study, Women Give 2010, by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Nonprofits have long suspected that women were the driving forces behind many of the gifts they receive, but they haven't had much proof. But the results of this study are so decisive and consistent, they can stop wondering, said Debra Mesch, director of the university's Women's Philanthropy Institute.

The study offered several factors the researchers thought contributed to the growing generosity of women: More women are working and their incomes have grown, more have college degrees that yield greater earning power, and the percentage of women who make more money than their working husbands is now about 26 percent.

The study released Thursday found women give more in every income bracket except one: Those with incomes of between $23,509 and $43,500.

The data used for the study was not broken down by gender, so researchers looked solely at households headed by single men or single women, including adults who have been divorced, widowed or never married. They looked at the donating patterns of about 8,000 American households.

Previous research has shown that women encourage their husbands to give to charity and that women seem to be making a lot of charitable decisions in married households, but it's difficult to get hard data on those trends.

"I think the general assumption is that women might be more likely to give, but that they give less money," Mesch said.

That assumption is only half true, according to the analysis of data from a 2007 Center on Philanthropy study. Women gave more often than men and spread out their giving to different charities, but they also give more in total dollars, Mesch said.

"It's going to be a wake-up call that I better pay attention to women," Mesch said.

Institutionalizing Women's Philanthropy: Creating a Critical Mass

Lesley Stahl
WOWOWOW

More and more websites are dedicated to women and women's issues such as It's All About Women and WOWOWOW started by such luminary names as Lesley Stahl, Jean Chatzky, Liz Smith, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin and Marlo Thomas.  Both sites are very interesting and provide a great deal of information ranging from money to relationships.  However, neither prominently mentions women's philanthropy.  In fact, WOWOWOW has a heading called "Sheconomics" which has five subcategories: earn, grow, invest, save, and spend.  Nothing about give.

I thought about this and decided to write the two sites and strongly suggest they add the category of philanthropy.  In our new book, Women and Philanthropy: Boldly Shaping a Better World, Debra Mesch and Andrea Pactor from the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, suggest that in order for women's philanthropy to become institutionalized, a critical mass needs to be formed.  What better advocates for creating a critical mass of women philanthropists and all that would mean, than websites devoted to women?  I applaud both sites in that other than the ads, they do not focus on fashion and makeup.  But wouldn't it be nice if they advocated an outcome of women's issues?  An outcome that will change the world because of the different ways women give.

As a sample of what to say, here is a modified version of what I wrote: 

I very much enjoy your website and glad to see it devoted solely to topics of interest to women.  And in that vein, I hope that you will add philanthropy as one of your topics.  Women's philanthropy is a leading topic of the day as women control more money, earn more money, give away more money, and influence couple giving.   

Based on research from the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, women's philanthropy is quite different from men's and women's way of giving is becoming the norm in philanthropy, as women set out to create a better world.  

Your support of women’s philanthropy is crucial as a major factor in women’s lives and that of people all over the world.  Please help create a critical mass of women as philanthropists and institutionalize women's philanthropy, by recognizing it as a separate and very important topic for your website.

PS
On my August 23 blog, I wrote about Bolder Giving receiving $650,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Anne Ellinger from Bolder Giving informs me that there is more to the story: in order to receive the money, Bolder Giving must match the grant by raising $200,000 annually in a three year challenge.  Anne said she wanted people to know that as wonderful as the support is, they still need your contributions.

Women and Philanthropy: The Time is Now

I was honored to take part in the course sponsored on by the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the New York Times Knowledge Network last week.  It was an incredible journey from the earliest beginnings of women's philanthropy to the present and featured scores of interviews with women philanthropists and practitioners.

Some of the featured speakers were Jennifer Buffett, Jacki Zehner, Ellen Remmer, Barbara Dopkin, Sara Gould, Deborah Tannen and so many, many others who shared their wisdom as well as their doubts, their theories and their practices, but most of all, their joy of philanthropy.

I urge all of you to consider signing up for the course online by contacting Andrea Pactor at the Women's Philanthropy Institute.  It is by far the most comprehensive treatment of this incredible subject and well worth the small amount of money it costs.  Not only are there videos of speakers being interviewed by Lisa Witter, but a thorough syllabus and online activities as well.  Congratulations to all involved, especially Debra Mesch, Executive Director of the Women's Philanthropy Institute and Associate Director, Andrea Pactor.  It's a "Wow!"