Women outnumber men, live longer, and often are more generous than men with their giving. Yet many fundraisers overlook the subtleties of cultivating female donors, experts say.
“Fundraisers have to understand that what works for men may not work for women, and vice versa,” says Debra Mesch, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
A fundraiser who uses a male-derived strategy when communicating with a potential or current female donor risks alienating her.
While some of the tips that follow may seem obvious, they’re worth keeping in mind, as a few simple changes could have a major impact on a nonprofit’s bottom line.
Make sure your database gives credit where it’s due. When a woman makes a donation to her alma mater, the “thank you” note should not be addressed “Mr.” by default. This remains a common donor complaint, Ms. Mesch says.
Though some of the major database systems still default to giving males credit for joint gifts, that should no longer be an excuse. “The database should be able to work the way [you] need it to work,” Ms. Mesch says.
That means being able to identify gender and properly credit gifts from women. It should also be able to identify the lead contact when a couple (married or not) makes a gift together, the contact information for both members of a couple, and the donors’ preferred way of being recognized.
For each gift, donors should be asked to indicate whether they want their donation credited to the individual or the household.
When meeting with a couple, choose a comfortable location and engage both people. Fundraisers have to remember that a woman often influences her husband in the couple’s giving, says Ms. Mesch.
Especially for major gifts, try to schedule the meeting with both the husband and wife. Don’t just meet the man in his workplace. Martha Taylor, vice president of the University of Wisconsin Foundation and the co-author of three books on philanthropy, recommends having the meeting at the donors’ home in the evening or over lunch or coffee in a neutral place. But, she adds, the meeting shouldn’t be held in a public place if you’re directly asking for a donation.
During the meeting, ask both partners open-ended questions about their interest in the organization and what motivates them to give. For example, if a fundraiser for a university is meeting with a couple and only the husband is an alumnus, it’s up to the fundraiser to engage the woman to find out what interests her about the institution. “Try to connect her passions and values with the organization,” says Ms. Mesch.
Fundraisers should also be conscious of body language and eye contact, says Ms. Taylor. “Don’t turn toward the man the whole time,” she says. “If you’re only talking to one of the individuals in that couple, you may really lose out in gaining that couple’s trust.”
Get her involved and keep her engaged. “Women, more than men, are more likely to give to an organization because of their personal experience with it,” Ms. Mesch says. “They don’t want to just write the checks.”
Fundraisers have to think about ways to engage female donors early on and then on an ongoing basis.
A female prospect needs to see the organization’s mission firsthand, says Beth Mann, vice president of institutional advancement at the Jewish Federations of North America. “It’s really about touching and feeling and seeing” how her gift will bring about “positive change in the world,” she says.
Invite her to meet the organization’s leaders, clients, and volunteers. If you’re with an arts organization, invite her to a concert or show. For a college or university, consider inviting her to watch student presentations or to have lunch with students and faculty.
Female donors are looking for two things: meaning and community, Ms. Mann says. “Provide both of those things and the donor will be loyal, because that’s in essence what they’re seeking in life. It becomes part of who they are.”
Get her family involved, too. The idea of leaving a legacy resonates with women, says Ms. Mesch.
“They’re much more interested [than men] in involving their children, involving their grandchildren,” she says. “They want to pass on that philanthropic legacy to their family.”
To keep women engaged, find ways for younger generations to get involved through volunteering or events.
Send thanks and share the impact of her gift. More so than men, women like to have ongoing communication, particularly about the impact a gift is making.
“These are all significant differences that we found between men and women,” Ms. Mesch says of her research. “You have to communicate regularly; you have to share details about the impact of their giving; you have to gain their trust and their loyalty to increase their giving long-term.”
Female donors want more accountability and detailed information, says Ms. Taylor. For example, nonprofits should give women donors impact reports that tell them how their money is being spent and that show the face of the student who received the scholarship, the faculty member who got the endowed chair, or the kids at an after-school tutoring program.
“Men give based on who’s asking, and women give based on who’s receiving,” says Ms. Mann.
Provide leadership and networking opportunities. An effective way to maintain long-term support from a woman is to provide opportunities for her to lead. Ask her to serve on boards or to speak on behalf of the organization at important meetings or events.
While some groups may just provide these opportunities for major donors, women often want to get on a board to find out more before making their major gift, Ms. Taylor says. Men usually think they make a gift and then get on a board.
“[Have] other women leaders cultivate them and show them the benefits of being in that cohort,” Ms. Mann suggests. “People are looking for those connections.”
Think long-term, and think like a gift planner. Gift planners often know more than other fundraisers about appealing to female donors, Ms. Taylor says. “They tend to listen more and they tend to ask more rich and deep questions because they’re asking people to reflect on their lives and their legacy,” she says, and that kind of engagement works well with women donors.
Because gift planners are largely focused on older people, they’re often more sensitive to age issues and generational issues — and because women outlive men on average and are often interested in leaving a legacy gift, gift planners are paying even closer attention to what kind of cultivation works for them.
A woman may not make a six-figure gift right away, but if you can engage her in the long term, that will pay off, says Ms. Mesch. “If fundraisers establish a longstanding giving pattern with a woman donor, that demonstrates that she’s loyal to you,” says Ms. Mesch. “She might be leaving a very significant gift for you in a planned gift or at the end of her life.”
Ms. Mann says she tells female donors that their gift “is a taste of immortality — you can leave your mark on the world, and it will have an effect on the world long after you’re gone.”
