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| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Women and men donors: the same, but differentMay 27, 1999; Canadian FundRaiser
Women philanthropists are motivated differently from their male counterparts, a distinguished panel of women agreed recently. Speaking at a forum sponsored last month by the Canadian Women's Foundation on behalf of the foundation's various female-support causes, Margaret McCain, former Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick and a founder of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation, summarized the view: "That's one of the differences between men and women. Men write a cheque and might want to see their name emblazoned on a plaque or whatever, but basically they walk away. Women give with their heart. They want to be agents for change, to create new structures, attitudes, and organizations. They invest time, energy, and themselves, as well as money, in their search for 'now' change."
Agreeing, Amina Bhaloo, executive director of Centres for Early Learning, said: "women don't grab the spotlight. They give a lot of time and energy to the causes they believe in, which is just as important as money. They want to make sure any project they invest in is the right project, going the right way."
"We can move the world"
Their fellow panelists were Rosemary Brown, feminist and human rights champion and the first black woman elected to political office in Canada; Sonja Smits, actor best known currently for her leading role in the TV series Traders; Julie White, social progress advocate and leader in a variety of organizations including the CWF and the Trillium Foundation. The moderator was Avril Benoit of CBC Radio One.Women, who often have less money to give than men, need to focus their giving on a few well-chosen causes, the panel agreed. "I used to give $25 to everyone who asked me," Brown put it. "Then I listened to a speech by Gloria Steinem, who said you can always tell what a women's values are by how she spends her money. I realized I was spending more on deodorants and cosmetics than charity." From that moment on, she said, she treated herself "as though I were a foundation."
Brown set criteria for causes to which she would donate and established the percentage of her after-tax income she was prepared to share with those needier than herself. The causes she chooses tend to lean toward meeting the needs of women and children, because they often get the worst of what society dishes out, she said, but she does not restrict herself to local issues as many women do: "My village is the world". She has supported CWF since its establishment in 1991, she said "because I was tired of constantly having to beg money from men and explain the importance of women's issues to them."
Focusing your effort
While also leaning toward women's and children's needs in her giving, Smits pulled in her horns to the local level when she, like Brown, decided to abandon the shotgun for the rifle. She has strongly supported Foster Parents Plan and continues to do so, but she also spearheaded creation of a recent Traders Challenge program to raise funds for a Toronto women's shelter, as well as increasing awareness of its needs, especially in the Bay Street financial community.Directing the 'focus' effort, McCain said, is difficult but necessary. Finding recently that she'd overspent her charitable budget, she forced herself to become more strategic and oriented to the long term, avoiding 'Band-Aid causes'. Bhaloo agreed, noting that "when I give, I want to see the results, and to know I'm making a difference and really helping. If I give to a project educating women, I want to see that through the program they gain the skills to get a job and become independent, no longer a care on society."
Applauding the philanthropists' willingness to get involved with the causes they support, White sounded a warning note to the panel and the very large audience: "It's important to make strategic choices and assess the track record of a charity you're considering. But it's also important to be a 'good donor'." Donors have to learn to let go of the cheque, she warned. Involvement is good, but constant second-guessing of an organization can force it to skew its mission in a direction which may meet the biases of a major donor but may not fulfill its original and still vital mission.
Trust the agency's judgment
Alternatively, an agency may need to change to adapt to changing societal situations, and be constrained by donors' commitment to the way things had been done in the past. "Let them have flexibility in their use of your funds," she appealed. "Empower them. Trust their judgment and skill level. They need to use their resources to grow."The first and only national Canadian public foundation specifically targeted at women and girls, the Canadian Women's Foundation raises funds and makes grants to charitable projects across Canada which help women and girls achieve greater self-reliance and economic independence. Its Economic Development Fund, Violence Prevention Fund and Women's Future Fund (which it launched in May as a joint venture with nine other national women's organizations) are supported solely by individuals and corporations, taking no money from government or the United Way. Since 1991 it has granted almost $3 million to more than 400 such projects.
For further information, call Shannon Doherty, Canadian Women's Foundation, (416) 365-1444, fax (416) 365-1745, e-mail info@cdnwomen.org.
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