May 27, 2009
How Women Approach Philanthropy Differently Than Men
A growing number of scholars have documented the different approaches that women take to philanthropy compared with men. Writing on the Tactical Philanthropy blog, Sara Hall of New Philanthropy Advisors, summarizes some of the recent studies and then adds her own thoughts.
Swanee Hunt, a philanthropist and the co-founder of Women Moving Millions, says in a recent article that female donors are more likely to want to build relationships with beneficiaries and other donors.
Alice Eagly of Northwestern University, in a study of how gender differences influence leadership styles, said that women are more likely to want to serve as mentors and coaches, writes Ms. Hall.
Ms. Hall lists six traits she believes characterize female philanthropy. Among them: women often come to their cause through personal experiences; they like to build ties among grant makers, nonprofit groups, advocates, and others; women use philanthropy to enrich their family life; and women are more willing to be perceived as novices when they begin learning about the world of philanthropy.
Does this jibe with your experiences working with female donors (or giving yourself)? What other factors characterize female philanthropy?
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A similar finding was yielded when women & men were studied and asked about their motivation on careers in politics, which is similar to the “social service sector.”
The dichotomy that resulted was that men pursued politics as a means to move ahead in their careers, while the women were drawn there because they wanted to change some aspect of society for the better, due to personal circumstances.
Convio’s “Wired Wealthy” study is showing these trends in online donors as well: the more engaged donors, compared with the transactional donor, who simply wants to make the gift…not hear all the details.
— Valerie Lambert May 27, 12:34 PM #