Report on Women’s Support of Nonprofit Fundraising and Giving Habits Part 1

Reports and surveys based on nonprofit fundraising and other philanthropic areas of interest are in abundance these days. Each focus on a different topic geared to assist those within the industry to better understand how to reach and engage supporters and stay current with emerging trends. I regularly cover the latest Blackbaud Giving Index and have also featured interesting reports such as the 2011 donorCentrics Internet and Multichannel Giving Benchmarking Report, the 3rd Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report 2011, The Nonprofit Research Collaborative report (and Part 2), the 2011 State of the Nonprofit Industry Survey and the World Giving Index 2011.

In December 2011, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University released “The 2011 Study of High Net Worth Women’s Philanthropy and The Impact of Women’s Giving Networks”. Sponsored by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the fourth in this report’s series, this latest edition sets out to find the motivations, behaviours and influence in women’s philanthropic involvement & characteristics. The study surveyed 911 high-net worth individuals with a split of 283 women (31.06%) and 628 men (68.93%).  This group had an average household wealth of $12.2 million and an average individual income of $639,924.

In the past 40-50 years, a women’s presence in the workplace has increased 20% and those with a college degree has tripled. These factors have contributed to an increase in women’s financial position and philanthropic initiatives.

Nonprofits should pay close attention to this very important donor group as past research has revealed that they are generally more altruistically inclined. Other studies have also shown that where women have a greater presence in society, nonprofits perform stronger as women have a higher influence.

Women’s motivations to give to charity versus men’s do not vary significantly in regards to reasons. However, a little more than 10% of women give for the same reasons as their male counterparts. These include:

• Moved at How Gift Can Make a Difference – Women 81.7% and Men 70.9%
• Giving to An Organization that is Efficient – Women 80.5% and Men 69.2%
• Give Back to the Community – Women 78.2% and Men 63.3%
• Volunteer for the Organization – Women 65.7%   and Men 49.8%

Factors that influence charitable decision making for women include:

• Personal Experience with an Organization – Women 81.9% and Men 73.0%
• Own or Public Knowledge of an Organization – Women 72.7% and Men 68.9%
• Organization Connection to Self, Family or Friends – Women 72.5% and Men 73.0%
• Organizations Communication of Impact – Women 46.4% and Men 32.0%

By and large, a woman donor gives because of a connection to the charity, through either personal experience or knowledge. Of the 48.5% of women who have reported to having stopped giving to a charity, the following are the top three reasons:

• Too Frequent Solicitation or Asked for Inappropriate Amount – Women 49.3% and Men 61.2%
• Decided to support Other Causes – Women 41.0% and Men 32.9%
• Household Circumstances Changed – Women 30.6% and Men 27.4%

Overzealous solicitations, asks or communications can easily turn off supporters regardless of gender and therefore nonprofits should take even greater care when planning their marketing outreach initiatives. Effective solicitation planning and respecting the channels of communication with the donor will go a long way in retaining a donor.

I will continue exploring this insightful report tomorrow and Thursday where I’ll touch on how women’s involvement in philanthropic networks can affect nonprofit fundraising compared to those who are not involved in philanthropic networks and how and where do male donors factor in the philanthropic landscape.
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