Wealthiest Women Cite More Reasons to Give; One-Size-Fits-All Marketing Does Not Work

New research shows that the wealthiest women cite more and different reasons for giving to charity but also that high-net-worth women and men are more alike than the general population in their philanthropy. The 2015 study from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University also found that one-size-fits-all fundraising programs are inadvisable for nonprofits.

The study reviewed voluminous data from several other studies, including that of high-net-worth Americans and million-dollar givers. There are three sections to the study report:
"How and Why Women Give?"
"Do Women Give More?"
"Where Do Men and Women Give?"

The wealthiest women have more reasons to give
When it comes to whether they give, how much they give, and where they give, high-net-worth men and women were found to be more alike than men and women in the general population. But when it comes to why women and men give to charity, differences emerged. And that is particularly significant when it comes to planned giving marketing.

The study was able to do an in-depth analysis of high-net-worth data, including dividing the wealthy into two subcategories by income. And it was among the richest of the rich that the difference in motivations was most pronounced, with those women citing more different reasons to give - including:

• Believing that their gifts can make a difference.
• Giving to remedy issues that have affected them or someone close to them.
• Giving back to the economy.

Those reasons are in addition to motivations cited more often by women at all income levels, such as volunteering for an organization, confirming other research that women have a much wider range of motivations for their philanthropy.

Similarities in high-net-worth women and men
"In a new finding, we show that high-net-worth single women and single men do not significantly differ in their incidence or amount of giving, either in total giving or in giving to religious or secular causes," the study states. "For the general population, women are more likely to give, and give more, to nearly every charitable subsector; yet for the high-net-worth sample ... we see only significant differences in men's and women's giving in three subsectors as compared to ten in the general sample."

The three sub-sectors with significant differences among high-net-worth women and men are:

• Women are more likely to give (and give more) to the arts.
• Women are more likely to give (and give more) to the environment.
• Women are less likely to give to combination organizations such as the United Way, United Jewish Appeal, Catholic Charities, and local community foundations.

"Why do we see far fewer differences among male and female high-net-worth donors than among the general population?" the study asks. "Within this population, there is less variation among household variables such as income and wealth. And when couples marry, being a high-income household is far more important than who is earning the money ..."

Pentera wrote a whitepaper that offers tips for working with women donors that can be requested here.

One-size-fits-all programs do not work
The study found that charitable giving was affected by numerous factors that would make a generic program ineffective. For instance, women in most generations were found to be more likely to give - but not among Gen Xers. And women and men at the highest and lowest income levels were found to be similar in their charitable behavior - but those in some of the middle income levels were quite different.

"More than ever before, organizations today must engage and steward donors on a more individual basis," the study authors wrote. "This study demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all fundraising model is obsolete."

That echoes what Pentera's president & CEO Claudine A. Donikian, who sits on the advisory board of the Women's Philanthropy Institute, has been saying in presentations for years: "cookie-cutter" and "one-size-fits-all" planned giving programs and marketing communications do not work - which is one of the many reasons why Pentera leads the industry in customizing content and marketing campaigns.

To access the full WPI study, go here.