The definitive book on women and philanthropy--essential reading for scholars, students, donors, grantees, and philanthropists.

Women & Philanthropy Women's philanthropy has led the way in virtually reinventing the world of fundraising and ways of giving. When women make a gift, are in a leadership position, or volunteer their time to a nonprofit or charitable organization, they tend to base their efforts on solid principles such as compassion, values, vision, and responsibility. Women are increasingly engaged in giving circles, global giving, transformative gifts, entrepreneurial giving, faith-based giving, family and couple giving, and social change gifts. Based on extensive interviews and the authors' combined half century of experience, Women and Philanthropy shares new ways to better engage women in giving, as well as insights into developing women leaders in the nonprofit arena, and advises women seeking to develop as philanthropic leaders and shape the future for the better. Women and Philanthropy explores women's philanthropic endeavors, offering a wealth of information on key topics such as how and why women give, what it takes to develop a gender-sensitive fundraising program, how to develop a strategic plan to involve women as leaders and donors, and suggestions for working with women of wealth.

Joan Marie Johnson examines an understudied dimension of women's history in the United States: how a group of affluent white women from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries advanced the status of all women through acts of philanthropy. This cadre of activists included Phoebe Hearst, the mother of William Randolph Hearst; Grace Dodge, granddaughter of Wall Street "Merchant Prince" William Earle Dodge; and Ava Belmont, who married into the Vanderbilt family fortune. Motivated by their own experiences with sexism, and focusing on women's need for economic independence, these benefactors sought to expand women's access to higher education, promote suffrage, and champion reproductive rights, as well as to provide assistance to working-class women. In a time when women still wielded limited political power, philanthropy was perhaps the most potent tool they had. But even as these wealthy women exercised considerable influence, their activism had significant limits. As Johnson argues, restrictions tied to their giving engendered resentment and jeopardized efforts to establish coalitions across racial and class lines. As the struggle for full economic and political power and self-determination for women continues today, this history reveals how generous women helped shape the movement. And Johnson shows us that tensions over wealth and power that persist in the modern movement have deep historical roots.

This book illuminates the philanthropic impulse that has influenced women's education and its place in the broader history of philanthropy in America. Contributing to the history of women, education, and philanthropy, the book shows how voluntary activity and home-grown educational enterprise were as important as big donors in the development of philanthropy. The essays in Women and Philanthropy in Education are generally concerned with local rather than national effects of philanthropy, and the giving of time rather than monetary support. Many of the essays focus on the individual lives of female philanthropists (Olivia Sage, Martha Berry) and teachers (Tsuda Umeko, Catharine Beecher), offering personal portraits of philanthropy in the 19th and 20th centuries. These stories provide evidence of the key role played by women in the development of philanthropy and its importance to the education of women. Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies -- Dwight F. Burlingame and David C. Hammack, editors

This multi-disciplinary collection blends broad overviews and case studies as well as different theoretical perspectives in a critique of the relationship between United States philanthropic foundations and movements for social change. Scholars and practitioners examine how these foundations support and/or thwart popular social movements and address how philanthropic institutions can be more accountable and democratic in a sophisticated, provocative, and accessible manner. Foundations for Social Change brings together the leading voices on philanthropy and social movements into a single collection and its interdisciplinary approach will appeal to scholars, students, foundation officials, non-profit advocates, and social movement activists.

Interpretations of women in the antebellum period have long dwelt upon the notion of public versus private gender spheres. As part of the ongoing reevaluation of the prehistory of the women's movement, Carolyn Lawes challenges this paradigm and the primacy of class motivation. She studies the women of antebellum Worcester, Massachusetts, discovering that whatever their economic background, women there publicly worked to remake and improve their community in their own image. Lawes analyzes the organized social activism of the mostly middle-class, urban, white women of Worcester and finds that they were at the center of community life and leadership. Drawing on rich local history collections, Lawes weaves together information from city and state documents, court cases, medical records, church collections, newspapers, and diaries and letters to create a portrait of a group of women for whom constant personal and social change was the norm. Throughout Women and Reform in a New England Community, conventional women make seemingly unconventional choices. A wealthy Worcester matron helped spark a women-led rebellion against ministerial authority in the town's orthodox Calvinist church. Similarly, a close look at the town's sewing circles reveals that they were vehicles for political exchange as well as social gatherings that included men but intentionally restricted them to a subordinate role. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the women of Worcester had taken up explicitly political and social causes, such as an orphan asylum they founded, funded, and directed. Lawes argues that economic and personal instability rather than a desire for social control motivated women, even relatively privileged ones, into social activism. She concludes that the local activism of the women of Worcester stimulated, and was stimulated by, their interest in the first two national women's rights conventions, held in Worcester in 1850 and 1851. Far from being marginalized from the vital economic, social, and political issues of their day, the women of this antebellum New England community insisted upon being active and ongoing participants in the debates and decisions of their society and nation.

Shows how foundations, nonprofits, and organizations in other sectors can be more effective by institutionalizing deeper understanding of diversity and gender.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite's efforts to "change the world" preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve. An essential read for understanding some of the egregious abuses of power that dominate today’s news. "Impassioned.... Entertaining reading.” —The Washington Post Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can—except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. They rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; they lavishly reward “thought leaders” who redefine “change” in ways that preserve the status quo; and they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm. Giridharadas asks hard questions: Why, for example, should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes? His groundbreaking investigation has already forced a great, sorely needed reckoning among the world’s wealthiest and those they hover above, and it points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions and truly changing the world—a call to action for elites and everyday citizens alike.

This newest edition of the classic book shows how anyone can align and integrate values, passions, and dreams for their communities and families into their plans. Inspired Philanthropy explains how to make a difference by creating giving and legacy plans, tells what questions to ask nonprofits, and spells out how to help partner with advisors and nonprofit leaders for inspired outcomes. In addition to overall updates to statistics, the new edition includes a discussion of the implications of the Buffett gift to the Gates Foundation; new legacy planning tools; expanded resources on youth, giving circles, and communities of color; key questions for advisors and donors; and worksheets and resources available on the enclosed CD.

Strategies for advocacy, fundraising, and engaging the community Social Change Anytime Everywhere was written for nonprofit staff who say themselves or are asked by others, “Email communications, social media, and mobile are important, but how will they help our nonprofit and the issues we work on? Most importantly, how the heck do we integrate and utilize these tools successfully?” The book will help answer these questions, and is organized to guide readers through the planning and implementation of online multi-channel strategies that will spark advocacy, raise money and promote deeper community engagement in order to achieve social change in real time. It also serves as a resource to help nonprofit staff and their boards quickly understand the evolving online landscape and identify and implement the best online channels, strategies, tools, and tactics to help their organizations achieve their missions.