3 Key Ways That Women Donors Are Different from Men

New research in the last few years makes it clear that women donors think and act differently from their male counterparts. Not surprisingly, the key with women donors is to be “relational”—which includes establishing a meaningful working relationship with her but also means helping her deepen her connections to your cause, to the values behind your cause, and ultimately to your organization.

While there has been much anecdotal evidence from planned giving professionals about the desire of women philanthropists to establish deep connections, until recently there had been very little academic research on women donors. The 2011 Study of High Net Worth Women’s Philanthropy conducted by the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy provides the most comprehensive look at the differences between women and men donors in philanthropic motivation and behavior. Statistically significant findings from it and other recent studies lead to three key conclusions:

1. Women donors are less likely to be loyal to organizations and instead want to know more about impact when making philanthropic decisions.

2. Women donors care more about personal experience with an organization when making philanthropic decisions.

3. Women are more likely to use formal networks when making philanthropic decisions and give more when they do.

This first part of a 3-part series addresses the first statement above about women being more concerned with impact. The findings include:

• Women are more likely than men to spread their charitable giving among a greater number of charities.
• A significantly higher percentage of high-net-worth women than men said that the No. 1 reason to give is the belief that the “gift can make a difference.” Women tend to be more concerned with “transformational philanthropy”—foundational change that helps solve a problem rather than focusing on correcting its effects.
• High-net-worth men are significantly more likely to annually support the same organizations and causes, while high-net-worth women are more likely to stop supporting a charity they had supported the year before.
• Women are more likely than men to stop supporting an organization because they have “decided to support other causes.” Men who decide to stop their support are more likely than women to say that they were solicited too frequently or were asked for an inappropriate amount.
• Women are more influenced by an organization’s communication about its impact and are more likely to expect communication about organization effectiveness.

“Women tend to get much more involved in a cause than the typical male donor,” Pentera President & CEO Claudine A. Donikian explained. “A woman wants to know more, wants to do more, wants to feel more. She cares about the numbers showing the efficiency of the charity, but the numbers by themselves are not enough.”

Read much more about women donors in the Pentera whitepaper “Women in Philanthropy: They Have the Wealth. Do You Have the Tools You Need to Work with Them?” It is available as a free download here: www.pentera.com/whitepaper/women_in_philanthropy