Martha Taylor is the International Fundraiser of the Year

We are all so proud of Martha Taylor, my good friend and colleague, shown here receiving the International Fundraiser of the Year award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in San Diego recently.  Martha has led the way in philanthropy for women as well as for her university, church, and community.

Andrew Watts, President and CEO of AFP said, "Martha has been a trailblazer and pioneer in fundraising all her life.  Our professional--and all of philanthropy, would look very different without her work and inspiration."

This award also marked the twenty fifth anniversary of the Women's Philanthropy Council at the University of Wisconsin Foundation and Martha was the founder of the Council.  Former chair, Christine Lodewick, had this to say to Council members: "Our work together on the Women's Philanthropy Council (WPC) has not only made a powerful difference in advancing giving to higher education but also has served as a catalyst to influence women to be more generous to all causes."

Martha's twenty five years of unstinting service to humanity through her work with women and philanthropy, have resulted in a genuine women's philanthropy movement.  She will be recognized forever as one of the outstanding leaders of this effort which helped women understand their passion, their philanthropic power, and their desire to make the world a better place.

Congratulations Martha.

Jewish Women's Giving

The following is an article I found on the Internet.  Since Jewish women have always been in the forefront of women's giving, I thought this interesting, thoughtful and helpful.

Women in Philanthropy Panel – GIJP Camp Conference

Lessons learned for camps from candid interviews with women philanthropists - Sue Kline

"In preparing for this session, I did a considerable amount of reading – Sondra Shaw Hardy and Martha Taylor’s book 2010 Women & Phil and many articles. I was interested in current research about the differences in men’s and women’s motivations for giving. Men, it seems, tend to give for more superficial reasons – to compete with peers, to get their names on a wall, to play in an exclusive golf tournament – and are more likely to give to preserve venerable institutions – hospitals, museums, universities. Women philanthropists eschew superficial reasons for giving; they want to do the 6 C’s to create and change and connect and commit and collaborate and celebrate.

Whether or not, this giving description is accurate (suggesting that men are “wired” differently than women) for our purposes today it was more important to concentrate specifically on what was said about women. So I decided to conduct my own unofficial research project.

I selected five women whom I know to be thoughtfully philanthropic and scheduled conversations with each of them answering questions about how they became philanthropic, what passions drove them, whether personal volunteering was integral to their giving, what role husbands played in decision making, whether they thought they went about their philanthropic decisions differently from men, what they hoped to accomplish during their lifetime through their philanthropy.

The women were all in their 50s and 60s, 4 in Western Mass and one in Boston. Four were married, one single. Three worked. All were leaders at some level; three were recent or current presidents of Jewish organizations.

These turned out to be fascinating and sometimes surprising conversations. My subjects enjoyed talking about their philanthropy as much as I enjoyed listening. And now I’d like to share what I heard, condensing my learning into 5 insights that could impact camps as they fundraise with women in mind.

One: Whether they had independent incomes, were supported by their husbands or were single, all five women said they were the ones who drove the philanthropic decisions. two felt their husbands simply didn’t care as much; the 3rd said her husband was simply too busy; the single woman made her own decisions The 5th referred to having to negotiate with her husband – who had his own giving agenda -- but she said he always listened to her wishes and ultimately agreed. So whether or not men give to different organization on their own is really not an issue. The women hold the decisive card.

With this in mind, camp leadership and development staff are missing an opportunity unless they meet with women or husbands and wives together.

Two: Women are nurturers, and they are motivated by causes that fulfill that instinct. They
all said something like this –“Of course, women are nurturers so I like to give to women and children, education, social services...those causes resonate with me.”
One example of giving of this type was actually initiated by the husband, who was moved to commit the largest gift the couple had ever given to build a state-of-the-art playground at the JCC in honor of his wife’s significant birthday. He was acknowledging her passion for serving the needs of all children in the community, especially poor children and children with special needs. Jewish camp seems like a natural philanthropic source of interest, even passion, for the nurturing Jewish woman...who might indeed mark a life cycle event with a gift.

Now one philanthropist said, “I’m a nurturer, true, but I when I give to help the poor, the abused, the homeless, I consider that to be charity. I’m not going to change a cycle – I’m just relieving individual suffering. On the other hand, I look at my philanthropy as an investment. I think my money is best spent in nurturing children through day school education – children who develop to maturity with strong Jewish values –they have a chance of changing the world. Really changing it. That philanthropist, as much as or even more than the other, could no doubt be influenced by understanding the impact of Jewish camp in engaging children in Jewish life and thereby strongly impacting Jewish continuity.

Three:Womenalsomadeitclearthattheygivewhentheyarepersonallyimpacted. A woman whose 4th child was born severe special needs now makes that her primary cause. Prior to her child’s birth, she had never supported children w special needs.

Another whose daughter was successfully treated for a serious eating disorder through a local hospital now funds an educational program at the hospital because her family will be eternally grateful -- even though she admitted that it would never have been in her plan to give the hospital a major gift. Personal impact is critical. Clearly, camp fundraisers should do the research to identify those cases where potential donor was personally impacted by Jewish camp.

Four: Relationship with an effective leader is sometimes the impetus for giving.
While we often say that women’s volunteer involvement usually precedes significant giving – and that is probably true -- I also saw that the spur to give can come from a positive relationship with an institutional leader One woman exuded enthusiasm about AIPAC, “I love the executive director – he’s effective, he keeps in touch, comes to visit, makes sure we are invited to high level events. I don’t have to personally volunteer to know that I want to support that important organization. So as fundraisers – camp directors, development staff, recognize the need for relationship-building rather than transaction-based fundraising (in which the number of contacts is valued over the quality of the contacts.) Gifts from women –or from couples where women drive the decisions – may take longer but the results can be very worthwhile. ”

Five: It is true that while they don’t need recognition, women really want to celebrate.

Giving is serious –but they must feel good have fun doing it –a sense of “joie de vivre,” said one. 

Another woman commented that when she wasn’t having fun she stopped giving. She had been included in a Jewish women’s event because of the level of her gift, but felt ignored and a definite “outsider” at the event itself. The cause was good but she herself didn’t feel good.

Another interviewee, the current president of a major federation’s women’s division - said that she was changing the culture and making her 2-year stint fun and engaging – “We’re all in this together,” she said. Because the women are doing serious good and having fun, their giving has increased significantly. 

Conclusion-Jewishcampisfun–andcampscouldcontinuetofind new and creative ways to celebrate with alumni, families and donors not only when camp is in session but throughout the year.

To make the most out of your interactions with women philanthropists:

•   When you meet with couples, pay lots of attention to the woman.
  
•   Position Jewish camp as nurturing all children and as a pillar in engaging the next
  generation of knowledgeable and caring individuals through whom Jewish continuity
  can be ensured.
  
•   Identify the personal impact of Jewish camp on the donor.
  
•   Take the time to build a relationship with the donor and achieve high respect; avoid
  thinking of the “ask” as a transaction.
  
•   Create and embrace opportunities to celebrate."
  
  
  
  

As more women enter the upper reaches of wealth, should we expect to see different results from their giving?

Interesting article by Anya Kamanetz of Fast Company Magazine.

Sara Blakely, founder of the privately held Spanx, just became the first self-made female billionaire to sign onto The Giving Pledge, an effort spearheaded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett that has had dozens of the world’s billionaires sign on to give away more than half of their wealth, either during their lifetime or after their death.

Laurene Powell Jobs

Another member of the still tiny circle of female billionaires, Steve Jobs’s widow, is stepping out publicly for the first time as a philanthropist. Steve Jobs was criticized for not giving much money away, at least publicly, during his lifetime. But Laurene Powell Jobs is now speaking to issues as diverse as education and gun control.

The phenomenon of women being personally responsible for giving away billions is really new. Currently women hold almostthree-fourths of all jobs, and almost half of all CEO positions, in the nonprofit sector. But they are much more underrepresented at the board and executive level at the really big large charities, the ones with more than $25 million in the bank.

In big philanthropy, as in politics or business, it’s worth asking how or whether having women calling the shots will make a difference in the way things are done. As we’ve seen in our coverage of the League of Extraordinary Women, women seem to stand out for their personal involvement with the causes they support and especially for their commitment to women’s and girls’ economic development.

Feminist philanthropy is not special treatment. Besides the moral imperative to combat widespread violence and exploitation, there’s strong empirical evidence to support the strategy of aiding an entire economy by educating and empowering the female members.

But does the tendency to make giving personal really make for the most effective giving? Or does it cut against the grain of impact analysis and bottom-line-driven accountability? The multiple scandals plaguing girls’ schools started by both Oprah and Madonna in Africa are cautionary tales of what can happen when the desire to identify with a cause eclipses due diligence--though arguably they are examples of the weaknesses of celebrity philanthropy, not women’s philanthropy per se.

One hopes that Powell Jobs, Blakely, and future women who ascend to positions of real power in the nonprofit world will follow the same tendencies that make women, statistically, better investors than men: a lack of overconfidence, a desire for self-control and financial discipline that stops them from chasing a risky market.

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.