’Tis the Season for Supporting Women and Girls
By Felicia Davis Blakley, President & CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women
As we prepare for the holidays and what is considered the giving season, I’d like to reflect on some news that should encourage everyone to give to organizations addressing the issues impacting women and girls. The Women & Girls Index, recently released by Indiana University’s Women’s Philanthropy Institute, examines trends in philanthropic giving to organizations serving women and girls, found that giving to these organizations increased to 1.9% of total philanthropic giving in 2018. For every dollar received by charitable organizations in the U.S., nearly 2 cents get dedicated to the specific needs of women and girls. While this represents movement in the right direction, I am struck by how much has not changed since CFW’s founding in 1985. This report helps bring to light what we at CFW have known for some time; more investment is needed.
The report also finds that organizations serving women and girls are growing faster than other charitable organizations when looking at revenue and expenses. This growth is a clear reflection of the increased need for support for women and girls in our communities across the country. It’s important to note that the data analyzed is for 2018, before the onset of a global pandemic that acutely impacted women, especially Women of Color.
The report also highlights the increased philanthropic support of organizations serving women and girls focused on the environment at 37.1% and civil rights and advocacy at 32.3%. These signify an increase in awareness of the impact these two issues have on women and girls. A closer look into the focus areas for organizations serving women and girls also reflected that the highest philanthropic support is to women’s health with $1.6 billion. I can only hope that this trend continues as there is a renewed focus on the physical and mental health of women and girls, especially after COVID-19 and its subsequent impacts.
I encourage all of us as a community to think about how each of these focus areas intersects with each other, how the environment impacts health, jobs access, housing, and safety. If we take a holistic view of the lives of women and girls, the barriers they face, the issues that impact them, they compound one over another, especially for Women of Color. The dataset used in the Women & Girls Index report is available to review and analyze to track progress, which is an opportunity for all to begin tracking this information.
What I take away from this report is the opportunity to benchmark where we are in terms of philanthropic support for the issues impacting women and girls. This summer, CFW and CWIP hosted a conversation with Teresa Younger, CEO and President of the Ms. Foundation, discussing the Pocket Change report, which focused on charitable giving to organizations led by and serving Women of Color. During that discussion, and within the Pocket Change report, foundations and nonprofits were asked to ‘name it, track it, and increase it.’
We know that when women and girls are supported, whole communities thrive. We understand that addressing the issues that impact women and girls in a holistic manner has the most lasting impact. I hope you agree with me that women and girls deserve more than 1.9%. Join me and CFW in our efforts to increase investments for women and girls.
A version of this article was originally published as part of Chicago Foundation for Women’s “GoWomen” Monthly Newsletter which you can read here.
