I ran across this Women Give 2012 (slightly dated) study comparing giving behaviors of women and men thanks to Gail Perry this evening.
The study compared only single adult households (excluded married households) in order to better understand gender-based giving differences.
Key findings…
1. Boomer and older women are more likely to give to charity than their male counterparts when other factors affecting giving are taken into consideration.
2. This trend is even more pronounced in households at the top 25% of income levels.
3. Senior women (age 50+) control $19 trillion and nearly 3/4 of the nation’s financial wealth.
4. According to Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, households headed by single females are both more likely to give and likely to give more $ than households headed by single males, regardless of age group.
5. Female Boomer and older single-headed households are nearly twice as likely to give 3% or more of their permanent income to charity than their male counterparts.
6. Female Boomer and older single-headed households in the top 25% of income brackets more than twice as likely to give 3% or more of their permanent income to charity than their male counterparts.
7. Baby Boomer & older women give 89% more $ to charity than comparable male counterparts.
8. Baby Boomer & older women in the top 25% of income brackets give 156% more $ to charity than comparable male counterparts.
All of these findings reinforce the need among nonprofits to have specific engagement and cultivation strategies for their female donors and other women throughout their communities.
Questions nonprofits should ask themselves based on this information:
1. Do we have appropriate female representation (by age, community stature and philanthropic capacity) on our board and corporate leadership team?
2. Do we know what motivates female donors and are we being intentional about integrating those items into our cultivation strategies (including who the right person is to cultivate the donor)?
3. Are our stewardship efforts aligned to be meaningful to key female donor groups?
4. Are we aggressively courting important female leaders and influencers in the community for strategic volunteer and philanthropic engagement opportunities?
5. Is the content in our planned gift marketing program designed to speak to a female audience?
6. Are we asking our high capacity female donors for the appropriate gift amounts compared to their male counterparts of similar capacity?
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