The Funding Landscape for Women & Girls In Relation to #MeToo, #TimesUp & More

by Natalie Rekstad, Founder & CEO of Black Fox Philanthropy, B Corp

On the heels of reading that in 2016 only 1.6% of philanthropic funding went to issues facing women and girls, I endeavored to unpack where we stand in 2019 in light of the #MeToo movement, severe cuts in government funding, and more.

In 2016, University of Indiana’s Women’s Philanthropy Institute’s report, “Measuring Giving to Women’s and Girls’ Causes,” found that of the 45,000 US organizations (3.3% of nonprofits) dedicated to women and girls, those organizations received only 1.6% of all charitable contributions. While this number isn’t entirely accurate as women’s issues are often tied to and counted under human rights, and other factors, it still tells a bleak tale about our culture’s values. With the current optics on women’s issues, like the #MeToo Movement, will we see a bolder change in funding for this area? 

While there are countless systemic reasons why this has been the case in the past, moving forward we can harness the momentum that is giving women’s voices its due here in the US and globally. We are in the sweet spot of human history where women do far more, and far more effectively. 

But we first need to own some powerful knowledge that point to the fact that this is our time to seize or to lose. As a group, we missed the first opportunity to rise up with #MeToo by standing beside Anita Hill.  Having lived in Washington, D.C. at that time in 1991, and entrenched in a culture where harassment tied to job threats and more was rampant, I watched her become demonized by both men and women, and stood by. It’s 2019 and I have a very different story to tell about voice and agency, as most American women now do. Yet the full awakening among women in the US has not fully taken hold.

For example, women have not leveraged the fact that we control the majority of this country’s wealth and have the power in our hands, right now, to change the narrative. That said, this is changing at a rapid clip. Since the #MeToo Movement, a fiercely committed cadre of women are leading the charge toward bold giving. As a nonprofit fundraising consulting firm, we see this change daily. Because of the greater sense of urgency surrounding issues facing women and girls, organizations are effectively engaging more women at every economic level to step into their financial power to affect change. 

Other factors related to the 2016 study found that women and girls’ issues are not a distinct category in charitable giving. The WPI study found female-focused giving difficult to chart. Instead, it gets bundled into pre-existing categories such as human services. Also, the nonprofits dedicated to helping women and girls tend to have small staff and budget sizes and therefore fewer resources for fundraising.

In 2014, the then co-chair of Women Moving Millions, Jacquelyn Zehner, addressed these issues in a Forbes interview. “Gender lens philanthropy is about creating a greater impact. We need to move away from ‘one size fits all’ approaches to more targeted programs that take into account the unique needs of the populations the programs intended to serve.”

The 2016 WPI study also showed that female donors were more likely to give to women and girls’ causes than men, although the differences weren’t as great as expected. One of the reasons for this was because many donors had personal experiences related to the causes they supported. I've often stated that our deepest passions often stem from our deepest wounds, and because of the recent breaking news relating to women’s issues, the need for greater assistance has been pushed into the limelight and women are answering the call.

Although there is no conclusive current study such as was done in the 2016 WPI report, trends should show that recent rallying against injustices against women—from the Women’s March to #TimesUp and the #MeToo movement— would impact giving towards women and girls’ causes. Another component in aggregating giving is a difference in age groups among women. Fidelity Charitable found that Millennials are less traditional in giving and more likely to use sources — like crowdfunding — than Baby Boomer women. This is supported in Gucci’s pro-female charity Chime For Change which appeals to younger supporters through the use of crowdfunding. 

On a grander scale, there are bold initiatives that are driving significant funding toward equality. For example, in March of this year, Canada’s unveiled its $300M Equality Fund, with plans to raise another $1 billion. The Collaborative Fund for Women’s Safety and Dignity was created in direct response to the #MeToo Movement. Through Pivotal Ventures, Melinda Gates pledged $1 billion toward expanding women’s power and influence. Other funding given to women’s organizations, such as CBS corporation’s gift, is more reparative in nature due to the movement. These build upon existing movements such as the success of Women Moving Millions and Gucci’s Chime For Change which is championed by Beyoncé and Salma Hayak. Chime for Change is a platform for women of all ages and economic backgrounds to join in the movement toward a more just and gender-balanced world. 

As Melinda Gates stated in her 2019 Times interview, “A window of opportunity has opened. Or, more accurately, it was painstakingly pried open by the hundreds of thousands of people who have joined marches across the country, the millions of women who summoned the courage to tell their #MeToo stories, the record number of women who ran for office in 2018 and won—and by the women who are working multiple jobs, caring for multiple loved ones, and proving you don’t have to protest or enter politics to challenge a system stacked against you.” 

So while philanthropic giving to issues facing women and girls is disappointing, it is not reflective of where we are headed. The power of giving to female-focused causes lies in the hands of those who should and are championing the cause — women. Women have the means, the motive, and the opportunity to bring to the forefront the need to increase giving in support of funding women and girls’s causes in the US and throughout the world.