Most Foundations Bypass Women's Needs
The Grants Index, published by The Foundation Center,
attempts to trace allocations made by the nation's largest
public foundations. These allocations represent about half
of all money given to nonprofits through foundation grants.
From 1981 - 1989, foundation giving increased 600%. Yet
the total dollars going to programs serving women and girls
grew from a minuscule 2.9% in 1981 to only 5.1% in 1989.
About one third of the foundations surveyed made no grants
to programs that specifically served women or girls.
Part of the reason for this discrimination, the nonprofits
say, is that many grants are based on what the recipients
have been given in the past. This perpetuates traditional
gender biases: Because programs for women and girls have
historically been underfunded, foundations justify continually
shortchanging women.
Pressure needs to be placed on private foundations and
public charities to measure the diversity of their clientele
and eliminate allocation biases where they exist.
Foundation Boards Lack Women
The gender bias in non-profit funding is not surprising
given that men usually make the allocations. As is often
the case, the persons with the fewest resources have the
least representation in how future resources are assigned.
Philanthropic decision-making bodies have made but small
progress in opening their doors to women, and even less
progress in opening those doors to women of color.
Here are some telling statistics:
- According to a 1990 report from the Council of Foundations,
71% of foundation members are male. A similiar
bias exists among foundation directors. At 14%, women
are better represented among chief executive officers
of foundations, but they tend to head the smaller foundations.
The largest independent foundations are headed by men.
- Ninety-four percent of foundation board members are
white, according to the Council. While the nember
of women who serve on foundation boards has increased
somewhat over the last decade, board representation among
persons of color has not. A similar gender and racial
disparity exists among university trustees.
- A 1990 report by Women and Foundations/Corporate Philanthropy
found that 23% of foundations surveyed had no women or
people of color as trustrees. Furthermore, women of
color made up only 5% of all foundation trustees.
Men Control Individual Giving
The source of individual donations is another root of
gender bias in non-profit funding. According to The Independent
Sector, most individual donations, the bulk of philanthropic
giving, come from older,white men with above-average incomes
and education. These donors favor groups that are more conservative
and offer greater benefit to men and boys.
Men made an average philanthropic contribution of $1,204
in 1989, according to Independent Sectoor. By comparison,
women contributed an average $683. Men also give a greater
share of their income. The average man gave away 3.1% of
his income to non-profit groups, while women gave 1.8%.
There is one key reason why men give more to non-profit
groups. Of course, men have larger incomes and more discretionary
money than women. For every dollar the average white man
makes, the average woman makes about 68 cents.
Women are not only paid less money than men, but they
frequently do not control the mony they have. Women who
live with men often feel they must seek approval from their
partner for discretionary spending. Many widows and divorced
women have their money controlled in trusts and/or divorce
settlements. Meanwhile, single women swell the ranks of
the poor.Simply put, most women have smaller amounts of
money to contribute.
Yet increasingly women are taking more and more control
of their money. Women comprise forty-five percent of the
workforce and today are paid a median average of $19,816
for full-time year-round work.
Women Donors Are the Mainstay of Women's
Programs
Despite male economic dominance, feminist and women's
programs generally are supported by individual women far
more than by male donors. For example, over 85% of the National
Organization for Women's and the Fund for the Feminist Majority's
donors are women. In fact, over 60% of direct mail gifts
generally to women's oranizations come from women.
Older women have been the mainstay of women's organizations.
According to Independent Sector, women tend to donate more
of their income to non-profits as they grow older. In
1989, women over the age of 65 gave 3.4% of their income
in 1989, compared to 2.4% for those aged 55-64 and 1.8%
for those aged 35-44.
It is essential, however, for giving to increase among
wealthy older women because there appears to be an inverse
relationship between income and giving for both women and
men. Women with household incomes of less than $10,000 gave
an average 5.4% of their income in 1989, compared to the
1.0% dominated by women with incomes between $40,000 and
$49,000. The percentage slowly increased with income, to
1.7% for women with household incomes of $75,000 or more.
Younger Women Are the Fastest Growing
Group of Donors
Women under age 45 today are the fastest growing group
of donors to progressive and feminist groups, and
their generosity tends to be greater than that of young
men. According to a recent survey by Peter D. Hart Research
Associates, newly empowered younger women are forming "the
financial core of the progressive movements that are leading
us into the next millennium."
Two out of five young women contributors give to six social
action groups or more, and two in three give more money
that they did five years ago. Half of these donors say they
intend to give even more in the next five years.
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