Women Take the Lead in Couples’ Charitable-Giving Decisions

Chronicle of Philanthropy

May 19, 2009

By Paula Wasley

Women are taking an increasingly prominent role in determining their household’s charitable giving, with high-income women in particular more likely to seek financial advice and use sophisticated methods when making donations, according to a new study sponsored by Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.

An online survey of 1,000 adults who had given $1,000 or more to charity in 2007 — half of whom had donated $5,000 or more — found that more women than men act as their household’s primary decision maker in determining how much to donate to charity and which causes to support.

Among participants in the survey — 80 percent of whom were married — the majority of male respondents named their spouse as the primary influencer in charitable-giving decisions, while women in the…

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