Women and philanthropy : making a difference in higher education

American colleges and universities are presently functioning in a state of financial unrest. Rising costs and declining support from federal, state, and local governments are increasingly leaving institutions to rely upon the private financial support of individuals to help supplement their deteriorating budgets. The monetary gifts and pledges received from individuals often make the difference between adequate and great institutions.One group of donors that remains an untapped reservoir are women. Today,demographics indicate that women will be in control of vast amounts of money in the near future; placing them in a position to dramatically effect the course of philanthropic activity. If institutions of higher education are to secure the fiscal allegiance of women, a greater understanding of the factors that motivate women to give will be needed.What we know about female donors comes largely from widely repeated, untested expressions of personal opinion and assumptions. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the motivations for giving of women donors. Specifically, to learn:1. What factors were important to women when making the decision to contribute financially to the institution?2. What factors were important to women when being solicited for a gift?3. What type of recognition do women want after making a contribution?4. What are the charitable giving preferences of women donors?A questionnaire was sent to 250 women donors to one large, public, land grant institution in the southeastern United States. A 72% response rate was received. TheStatistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the analysis of data and four measurement tests were performed: descriptive statistics using frequency analysis,Mann-Whitney U Test, one-way analysis of variance, and a Dunn-Bonferroni post-hoc test. The results support the current literature written on female giving. They suggest that women give primarily because they want to make a difference in the lives of future generations. At the same time, they want to know what their money will be used for and they expect follow-up and accountability. Among the donors studied, student scholarships and awards were among the most highly supported funds within the institution, while contributions to arts, cultural or humanities organizations, along with religious organizations, were the most financially supported not-for-profit agencies outside of the institution.When testing for differences in the giving level of donors and how they preferred to be solicited for a gift, women giving less than $10,000 wanted to be solicited by mail;whereas women giving more than $100,000 wanted to be solicited in person. Similarly^donors giving more than $100,000 felt the desire to make a difference with their gift more important than donors giving less than $10,000.When testing for differences between two independent samples (graduates and non-graduates) and their preferred type of recognition, it was discovered that university graduates preferred their name on a personal plaque to put in their home or office,appointment to an advisory committee, and the invitations received to special donor events. Similarly, university graduates felt more influenced to give due to a loyalty to the university, personal involvement, and the desire to repay the institution for all that they received from their education