Harness the Giving Power of Women

Women, as a group, are increasingly impacting fundraising efforts in the U.S.  Research shows that women tend to the lead the philanthropic decision-making in many households and have the resources and desire to make their own impact on the world around them.  Almost 70% of women are employed and nearly half of them say that they are the family breadwinner.  Affluent women are on the rise:

• More than three million women have gross assets approaching $1 million;
• Nearly half of America’s top wealth-holders are women;
• Their wealth is often attributed to business ownership;
• Today, there are more than ten million privately-held women-owned firms and they account for 2 out of every 5 U.S. businesses.

Women’s charitable objectives differ significantly from men’s.  They tend to concentrate their giving to a specific group of causes including the needs of children, opportunities for women, education and health issues. They also support causes that provide economic opportunities for all, promote diversity, and support the arts and the environment.  Many of their gifts go to grassroots organizations or are restricted to grassroots programs if the gift is given to a larger or national-level nonprofit.

If you can easily identify affluent women among your constituents you are already well on your way to reaping the benefits they may want to provide you. If you cannot, you may want to purchase demographic data to assist in identifying key female philanthropists. Consider data appends such as:

• Age;
• Gender;
• Ethnicity;
• Religious affiliation;
• Household income;
• Liquid asset estimates;
• Business affiliation;
• Marital status.

Then, take a scan of your organization’s appeal letters, newsletters and stewardship materials to see if they represent and highlight your female constituents.  Review them to make certain that you are providing details on the distribution of funds to administration, program and mission accomplishment and fundraising.  Wherever possible, personalize your communications so that your donors get a greater understanding of the impact of their individual gifts.  Accountability goes a long way with women supporters.  To effectively engage them, you must speak to them differently and ask for their involvement both financial and with their time.

*Katherine Swank is a consultant for Target Analytics. You may reach her at katherine.swank@blackbaud.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katherine Swank, J.D.

Katherine has over 30 years of experience in the fundraising industry as a consultant, development officer and advancement team manager. As a member of Blackbaud’s analytics consulting team for over a decade, she facilitates strategic, client-facing content for Blackbaud’s custom modeling, wealth screening, and prospect research solutions to enhance clients’ development efforts with data-driven strategies.  Before assuming this role, she served as the national director of gift planning at
the National Multiple Sclerosis Society home office. Katherine has raised over $200 million during her career. She is a past president of the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable, a former lawyer and also served as an affiliation faculty member at Regis University where she taught development-related courses at the master’s level for more than 10 years. She is a frequent speaker at BBCON, NACGP, Apra, AFP and other industry conferences.