A History of Women's Philanthropy

Posted on March 23, 2011 by WAWF

In the spirit of the theme of this year’s Women’s History Month, “Our History is Our Strength,” I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the history of women’s philanthropy specifically, since it is a particularly important part of our organization’s history.

The relationship between women and philanthropy has evolved significantly over the past 250 years. Starting in the 1800s, women began aligning their philanthropy with their volunteering – a model that persists today. Early on, many women chose to donate their time to aiding soldiers and their families during times of war and disasters. Providing assistance to widows and children – especially the poor – began to grow in popularity in the 19^th Century and wealthy women were devoted volunteers and donors to these efforts. Typically, however, women’s giving was usually tied to their husbands’ or family’s wealth and was more about “charity” and meeting the needs of the “less fortunate” than addressing the sources of those inequities.

The 1960s brought a significant amount of change and activism around civil rights and anti-war ideologies, changing the face of engagement, volunteering and activism in profound ways. In the 1970s, a number of organizations developed for and by women emerged; organizations that also started to challenge the status quo. At the same time, women were moving into the workforce and sought higher education as a means to better their economic and intellectual standing. Their power to gather together and promote women’s issues and interests increased and their desire to fund their own movements was a powerful motivator. As the late, great Audre Lorde said: “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Being in control of their own resources was a critical piece of this model for change.

Women’s Philanthropy Today

Today, women own one-third of America’s private businesses and control more than 51 percent of the wealth in the United States. Among the nation’s top wealth holders, 43 percent are women, according to the Treasury Department.

No longer having to rely on spousal or familial resources, women with increased access to personal resources stepped into philanthropy with gusto. A recent study of women’s philanthropy found that women give 3.5 percent of their wealth compared to 1.8 percent for men and that single women are more likely to give to charity than single men. Women also tend to be the decision-makers in their family philanthropy (both individually and for family foundations). Given this, it is probably not surprising that both married men and married women are more likely to donate than single men.

The Six Cs

But not only are women giving more… they bring a new giving paradigm to their philanthropy. Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha Taylor – gurus of women’s giving – developed the six “C”s as a way to summarize women’s motivations for giving. These characteristics of women’s giving have been fundamental to the way that women give as individual donors, and in the development and operation of women’s funds.

#1: Create: Women want to create new solutions to problems. They like to be entrepreneurial with their philanthropy.

#2: Change: Women want to use their money to change the community. They want their giving to make a difference. They’re less interested in providing unrestricted support to preserve the status quo of an organization or institution.

#3: Connect: Women prefer to see the human face their gift affects. They want to build a partnership with people connected with the project they fund.

#4: Commit: Women commit to organizations and institutions whose vision they share. They often give to an organization for which they have volunteered.

#5: Collaborate: Women prefer to collaborate with others as part of a larger effort. They seek to avoid duplication, competition and waste.

#6: Celebrate: Women want to celebrate their accomplishments, have fun together, and enjoy the deeper meaning and satisfaction of their philanthropy.

Sondra Shaw-Hardy says that this paradigm of women’s giving has had significant results that she sums up in three additional C’s:

Control: Women are taking control of their lives, their finances and their philanthropy.

Confidence: They have gained the confidence to become philanthropic leaders.

Courage: Women have the courage to challenge the old way of doing things and take risks with their giving to bring about change.

Ours is a rich history of giving, and one that has overcome many obstacles along the way, yet, what makes history useful, and not just an exercise in nostalgia, is how we use what we have learned to shape our future.

Today, we are in greater need of philanthropy than ever and most of us feel competing priorities about what needs our attention. The truth is, we need many more of our resources – our time, talent and especially our treasure – to meet the needs abroad, and right here in our own backyard. And like so many arenas, in philanthropy we are not fully leveraging the power and solutions that women bring to the table. History has taught us not to underestimate the talent and resources that women can bring to the table.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals

It is estimated that $41* trillion in wealth will be transferred to Baby Boomers over the next forty-five years. Women will stand to inherit 70 percent of this wealth. That translates to $28.7 TRILLION. Think about what we could do if we could harness even a fraction of that wealth and put it in the hands of critical change-agents in our communities!

My colleague Donna wrote a blog post where she shared the recent return on investment from out Stepping Stones Initiative (our $270,000 investment yielded returns of $5.9 million!) and challenged us to see what we could do with the Macy’s million dollar makeover. Taking that challenge one step further, I think about our foremothers who dared to have B.H.A.Gs – big, hairy, audacious goals – and I want us to set our sights even higher! $41 trillion…people! Just imagine!

Our history is indeed our strength. It has taught us so much and prepared us for this moment. How we step into it is up to all of us. Let’s do our foremothers proud!

*In the interest of transparency, this was the number quoted before the recession, I am not sure what the impact of the economic downturn has been on this estimate.

Nicole Cozier is the Philanthropic Education Officer at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Women’s History Month Q&A of the Day: March 23, 2011

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Ladaesha Jackson

Q: Who was the former slave who became the first black woman in America to win a court case against a white man? She sued to get back her five-year-old son who had been sold to a plantation owner in Alabama. She later became an outspoken abolitionist, giving her most famous speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention.

A: Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter in 1826. After her escape, she learned that her five-year-old son, Peter, had been sold to a plantation owner in Alabama. With the help of a family that took her in after her escape, Truth sued the man who’d sold Peter. After months of legal proceedings, Peter was returned and Truth became one of the first black women to take a white man to court and win the case.

Later, Truth spoke out against equalities, giving her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the 1851 Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. Over the next decade, Truth spoke before many audiences. Later, she recruited black troops for the Union Army during the Civil War and desegregated street cars in Washington, DC.

What's A Million Dollars Worth?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Donna Wiedeman

million dollars In case you haven’t heard, Macy’s is giving away a $1-million makeover to one lucky recipient. As fashion maven Clinton Kelly tells us breathlessly on the ads, the winner will get a chance to completely transform her life.

One million dollars. One person.

In the last year, through our signature Stepping Stones initiative, Washington Area Women’s Foundation invested $270,000 in job-training and asset-building programs run by local nonprofits that transform women’s lives. In that time, the 484 low-income mothers enrolled in these programs increased their income and net assets by $6.2 million. They’ve trained for and gotten jobs that pay living wages and health insurance benefits. They’ve started savings accounts. They’ve gone to college. They’ve bought homes. They’ve filed taxes and received tax credits when appropriate. Many have achieved economic security—all are striving for it.

The immediate economic return on our investment was 2196%. The human return is far harder to calculate. Nearly 500 women’s lives were transformed, as were the lives of their children, and in some incalculable way, their communities. What is that worth?

I suppose Macy’s one-million dollar investment will give them the return on investment they’re looking for—increased or continuing awareness of the Macy’s brand. One person’s life transformed.

Just think what the return would be if they gave that $1 million to Washington Area Women’s Foundation!

Donna Wiedeman is the Executive Assistant to the President at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Women’s History Month Q&A of the Day: March 22, 2011

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Ladaesha Jackson

Q: Who was the first American postmistress? Hint: she was also the first person to print the Declaration of Independence with the names of the signatories.

A: Mary Katherine Goddard became postmaster of the Baltimore post office in 1775. The daughter of a postmaster, Goddard and her brother were both involved in the postal and printing businesses. When the Continental Congress moved that the Declaration of Independence be widely distributed, Goddard was one of the first to offer up her printing press, even though the Declaration was considered a treasonous document by the British.

In 1789, Goddard was removed from the postmaster position by Postmaster General Samuel Osgood who said the position required more traveling than a woman could undertake. Baltimore residents rallied behind Goddard, but their efforts to get her reinstated were unsuccessful and Osgood appointed one of his political allies to replace her.

Portrait Project 2010: Education, Employment, Earnings & Work Supports

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Mariah Craven

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re not only celebrating women’s past accomplishments — we’re looking at ways in which we can make the future better for women and girls right here in our own community. We’re exploring what we can all do to help women and girls achieve more, go further and have a brighter future.

Throughout the month and beyond, we’ll be highlighting findings from our new report 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area in a wide variety of areas. Portrait Project 2010 gives a clear and current look at the lives of women and girls across the region and it is divided by subject matter.

For women in our community, the surest path to economic security is a job with family-sustaining wages, benefits and opportunities for career progression. But not every woman has access to these critical elements, and Portrait Project 2010 takes a look at why this is the case – and how to improve the situation – in two sections titled: “Education, Training, Employment, and Earnings” and “Work Supports.”

An Overview of Education, Training, Employment & Earnings

A look at the gaps:

In the first section, the statistics about education and wages really highlight the divide in region. Women in the DC area have much higher than average education levels: half of all women have bachelor’s or graduate degree compared to 27 percent of women in the U.S. overall. Women in the region also have higher labor force participation rates (68 percent) than the national average (60 percent). And 72 percent of Latinas and 71 percent of black women are in the labor force, compare to 66 percent of white and Asian women.

Additionally, the median annual earnings for women working full-time in our area are $51,338 – significantly higher than the national median of $35,471.

Despite those strengths, 27 percent of the women in the region only have a high school diploma or less. And Latinas and African American women are especially likely to have low educational attainment: 57 percent of Latinas and 39 percent of African American women have a high school degree or less.

And there are wage gaps that are dictated not only by gender, but by ethnicity, too. The median annual earning for white men in the region is $83,299. For white women, it’s $60,779. African American women who are employed full time make 45 percent less than white men ($46,138), while Latinas make 63 percent less than white men ($30,831).

Starting With Stronger Foundations:

According to Portrait Project 2010: “education is crucial to women’s economic success, with higher levels of education consistently leading to higher earnings.”

Starting early with a strong educational foundation is critical and research shows that quality early care and education can provide children with skills that will help them improve their chances of completing high school. The benefits of a good educational foundation early on are particularly profound for low-income children.

Nationwide, community colleges are playing a significant role in helping adults gain skills and credentials to improve their career and earning prospects. This is particularly true for women who make up the majority of community college students.

Portrait Project 2010 suggests educating policymakers, opinion leaders and funders about the unique education, training and employment needs of women and girls to ensure that they are well-prepared for lifelong learning and economic success.

The report also notes that it is likely that, in the future, more jobs will require post secondary education or training beyond high school; it recommends that we work to determine which industries and occupations are likely to grow in the futures so as to determine the best ways to prepare women for those positions.

Work Supports Can Help Level the Playing Field

Having a job with good wages and the opportunity for mobility isn’t enough. In spite of a major shift in womens’ work patterns, women continue to shoulder the majority of childcare, eldercare and household responsibilities, leading to substantial stress. Work supports can help women better balance work and family. “This is especially important for low-income mothers who typically face steep work-related costs,” according to Portrait Project 2010.

Subsidized child care, paid sick leave, assistance with transportation costs and public assistance can help women get jobs and keep them.

Portrait Project 2010 found that the average annual cost of full-time, center-based infant care in DC is 52 percent of the median annual income of a single mother. The cost is more than one-third of the average annual income of a single mother in Maryland and Virginia. In spite of those high costs, federal cutbacks led to significant reduction in the number of subsidized child care slots in our region.

Although it is women who handle most of the child care in our country, women receive less sick and vacation leave in comparison with men. Nationwide, 47 percent of women lack paid sick days. And low-wage workers – most of whom are women – are the least likely to have paid sick days.

Portrait Project 2010 also points to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program as one way to provide support for low-income families. “States can use TANF to provide financial support for services needed by low-income families to enter the workforce and stay employed. For example, states can choose to finance child care both through direct TANF expenditures and by transferring TANF funds to CCDBG [Child Care & Development Block Grants],” according to the report.

For more details, you can read Portrait Project 2010 online by clicking here.

Women’s History Month Q&A of the Day: March 21, 2011

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Ladaesha Jackson

Q: This woman was known both as “mother” and as “the most dangerous woman in America.” She organized mine workers and their families and organized a children’s march in 1903 to protest weak child labor laws.

A: Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was an Irish immigrant who became prominent in the American labor movement and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World. She became involved with the labor movement after a series of tragedies in the late 1860s and early 70s claimed the lives of her husband, four young children and dress-making business. She often led strikes and, as a union organizer, she led the wives and children of striking workers to demonstrate, too.

She got the nickname “Mother Jones” because she claimed to be older than she actually was and referred to male workers as “her boys.”

In 1903, she organized children who were working in mills and mines to participate in a “Children’s Crusade.” The children, some of whom had injuries suffered on the job, marched 125 miles from Kensington, PA to Oyster Bay, NY, the home of President Theodore Roosevelt. Though the president refused to meet with the marchers, the demonstration did bring attention to the issue of child labor.

Later in life, Mother Jones moved to Adelphi, MD, where she continued to speak on union issues almost until her death in 1930.

Women’s History Month Q&A of the Day: March 18, 2011

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Ladaesha Jackson

Q: Who was the first woman to run a print shop in America?

A: Anne Catherine Hoof Green became the first women to run a print shop in America. She took over the Annapolis business after her husband died in 1767. In addition to being Maryland’s official printer, Green also published the Maryland Gazette, the province’s principal news source. The masthead of the newspaper read “Anne Catherine & Sons.”

Green was a supporter of colonial revolution early on and the newspaper often attacked British policy. A single mother of six, Green also pushed for women to play a more active role in the community.

Spotlight on Poverty’s Weekly Roundup

Posted on March 17, 2011 by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 3/11/2011: A new report about women in America. Plus, the difficulty homeless veterans have accessing services.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty. Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports that the county Public Health Department recently released statistics showing a drop in late-teen birth rates; the agency also said that “teenage mothers are less likely to graduate from high school [and] their children are at risk for poorer health and developmental disabilities.”

• A recent White House report, “Women in America,” stated that women still lag behind men in pay, health, and employment opportunities, adding that women are more likely than men to live in poverty, and the poverty rate of female-headed households is more than three times as high as that of married couples, as discussed in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

• In his weekly radio address, President Obama pledged last week to maintain a focus on women’s equality, saying that as a father he wants “his girls [to] grow up in a world where there are no limits to what they can achieve,” according to the Associated Press.

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram interviews homeless female veterans who often have a hard time accessing services like housing programs that are specifically tailored to serve them.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org

To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team

Women's History Month: Why Our History is Our Strength

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Sequoia Williams

As I reflect on Women History Month, it reminds me how incredible women are. We are so many things to so many people: we are mothers, friends, leaders, trendsetters, billionaires, politicians and whatever else our hearts and minds desire to be. That makes it kind of hard to believe that there was a time in history when we, as women, were not where we are today.

I’m proud to have a month dedicated to women to spotlight the struggles and fights won over time to make it possible for us to freely be who we are right now. There’s Josephine Baker, an inspired entertainer who not only fought racism, but also helped advance the civil rights movement in America. I am especially grateful for women like Elizabeth Blackwell for being determined to become a female doctor. Even though she was the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the 1800s, she was still not allowed to practice because she was a woman. This inspired her, along with other aspiring philanthropists and humanitarians, to participate in the women’s rights movement.

I mean really take a moment (a moment like your finding your IPod and turning it on) and imagine at this very moment that you had no freedom. Imagine that we never got the right to vote. Imagine that the outfit that you have on is not acceptable and you have to love it. And no, you can’t have fun with your best friend or friends because of color or gender and you’re denied that job that you find so rewarding just because of something so minute as gender or race.

So I guess what I’m saying is that we can’t forget the past because this moment that feels so right is actually not that far removed from a time when a lot was going wrong. So continue to strive for a better tomorrow and keep our moment now perfect the way it is, then ask me again who can defeat us incredible women and children of many races and endless talent?

Sequoia Payne is an office assistant at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Women’s History Month Q&A of the Day: March 17, 2011

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Ladaesha Jackson

Q: Who was the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city?

A: Sharon Pratt became the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. when she became mayor of Washington, D.C. in 1991. A D.C. native, Pratt initially wanted pursue an acting career. But after graduating from Howard University’s School of Law, she became an associate at her father’s law firm. She went on to become the first woman and first African American to hold the Vice President of Public Policy position at PEPCO. Pratt was an active member of the Democratic National Committee and became the first woman to be named Treasurer in the DNC.

Her first foray into public office was when she ran for mayor of D.C. with the campaign slogan “Clean House.”

Pratt currently owns Pratt Consulting, LLC, a management and technology consulting firm.

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