Nonprofit Adviser

How have your donors changed over the last year? One new study shows that men and women are placing greater importance on their giving. Before the pandemic, 75 percent of women said charitable giving was an important part of their lives compared with 69 percent of men. The gap between men and women is closing: Now 81 percent of men say charitable giving is important to them, compared with 84 percent of women. The study, conducted by Fidelity Charitable, surveyed donors who gave at least $1,000 in 2020 and in 2019.

Women cited a deep desire to make a difference in the world as their main motivation for giving to charity, while men said they are more motivated to give out of a sense of obligation or personal benefit, such as tax incentives.

The study showed women are more focused than men on addressing issues related to immediate needs like providing access to food, shelter, and medical care while men are more likely to focus on finding cures for diseases or economic development.

To dig deeper into the findings, read my colleague Maria Di Mento’s article summarizing the study, The Pandemic, Racial Reckoning and Other Crises Are Helping to Close the Gender Gap in Giving by the Rich.

You’ll also want to join Maria and two expert guests as they dig deeper into the motivations and giving patterns of women donors in a free online briefing tomorrow.

Liz Thompson, head of the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education, and Abby Falik, CEO of Global Citizen Year will join Maria to discuss whether MacKenzie Scott’s largess will inspire other women to give boldly, whether women will inspire fundraisers to shift away from tactics designed to appeal predominantly to white men, and whether women from different backgrounds will change the giving landscape. Register for How Women Will Shape Philanthropy in the Decade Ahead, Tuesday, June 29 at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Take care,

Emily Haynes
Staff Writer

Tip of the Week

If you are creating an annual giving program, start small. Develop a plan that fits your organization’s budget and capacity, says Brittini Lasseigne, former director of philanthropy at the YWCA Clark County in Vancouver.

If you don’t have the budget to send several mailings throughout the year, start with just one strong appeal at year’s end, she says. That’s when you’re likely to get the best return on your investment. When you’re ready to take another step, Lasseigne suggests developing a newsletter for donors that reports the impact of your work through stories and includes a call to action and a donation envelope.

Find more tips in How to Jump-Start Individual Giving. And don’t forget, our site has nearly 1,200 how-to articles and tools to help you work smarter.

New Grant Opportunities

Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities. Among the latest listings:

Native Americans. The AmeriCorps Indian Tribes Grants program seeks to strengthen communities through the use of AmeriCorps volunteers. Priorities include Covid-19 recovery efforts; programs addressing racial equality; economic opportunity efforts, such as broadband, agriculture, and low-income housing; education, including STEM; environmental stewardship, including traditional food systems; healthy futures, including reducing and preventing prescription drug and opioid abuse; veterans and military families; and programs that reduce child poverty. The application deadline is July 23.

Youth Homelessness. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program supports comprehensive community approaches to serving homeless youths ages 24 and under. The objectives are to build national momentum toward addressing homelessness, promote equity in the delivery and outcomes of homelessness assistance, evaluate the coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness, expand capacity, and evaluate the use of performance measurement strategies designed to better measure youth outcomes. The application deadline is July 27.