Women make contributions to twice as many charitable organizations as men do, and wealthy business owners are more generous than their male counterparts.
The anticipation and excitement surrounding this brand new decade and New Year is almost palpable. Many of us are promising to bury bad habits and replace them with actions that will ultimately benefit our families, our communities, and our nation. I am certain that there are women right now with plans in 2010 to donate money and precious time to organizations that have a larger mission to serve society. In her December 2009 blog post, Jocelyn Harmon, director of nonprofit services at Care2.com, talked about the generosity of women and cited some powerful statistics from The She Spot: Why Women Are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them:
Women make contributions to twice as many charitable organizations as men do, and they are more likely to take greater risks in organizations with a strong vision for change. … Even more striking, high net worth women business owners with assets of more than $1 million are even more likely than their male counterparts to contribute at least $10,000 a year to charity (50 percent for women compared to 40 percent for men).
A Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Study found that
when asked about their family legacy of giving, both male and female charitable givers generally agree that giving has always been a tradition in their family, they learned to be charitable by observing their parents and they consider it critical that their children continue their giving tradition. ... Women, however, appear to be more passionate about instilling this tradition. Nearly half of female charitable givers (48 percent) said they strongly agree that this is critical versus 39 percent of men.
According to Forbes, over the next 40 years $41 trillion will change hands from one generation to the next, with 70 percent of this amount ultimately being controlled by women.
As the head of a philanthropic organization for women’s education and economic security, I also see the generosity of women firsthand. Because of our members and supporters, AAUW is one of the world's largest sources of funding for graduate women who, through their intellect, dedication, and imagination, are forging new paths in scholarship and tackling the educational and social barriers facing women in the
