June 23, 2009

Foundation giving specifically meant to benefit women and girls has surpassed the rate of overall foundation giving in recent years, which has helped the funds become more influential within philanthropy, a new report from the Foundation Center and the Women’s Funding Network.

Funded in part by the Wallace Foundation, the report, Accelerat ing Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women’s Funds, found that  between 1990 and 2006 the nation’s private and community foundations increased their giving for activities targeting women and girls by 223 percent — from an estimated $412.1 million to nearly $2.1 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars — compared to an increase in overall giving of 177 percent. Although such growth bodes well for the future, the study noted that foundation giving
targeting women and girls remains a small percentage of founda tions’ overall giving.

Giving by the fifty-five women’s funds analyzed in the report also rose — by an inflation-adjusted 24 percent — between 2004 and 2006, compared to a 14.8 percent increase in overall foundation giving over the same period. In addition, the report found that women’s funds take a comprehensive approach to social change, focusing their giving on human rights, health, and economic empowerment, while foundation giving for women and girls is primarily focused on health.

“This study underscores that investments in women and girls can have big social returns,” said Foundation Center president Bradford K. Smith. “It suggests that women and women’s funds will be increasingly involved in reshaping philanthropy and bringing to the fore important issues like human trafficking and domestic violence that for far too long have been neglected.”

“Philanthropic Giving By and For Women on the Rise, Study Finds.”  Foundation Center Press Release 6/23/09.