By Andrea Pactor, Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Foundations deal with complex issues. It is difficult enough to navigate those waters without considering the impact of gender on leadership, decision making, and organizational culture. Yet it is clear from a variety of disciplines – marketing, management, and leadership among them – that men and women are different and what works for men may not work for women. This is true in philanthropy too.
Women are deeply involved in foundation life, serving as donors, trustees, board members, volunteers, and staff. Although the more than 40,000 family foundations with assets of nearly $300 billion in 2011 represent a large swath of philanthropy, virtually no research has examined how gender affects these fast-growing and increasingly important organizations. The same is true for donor-advised funds with assets of $45.4 billion in 2012.
The Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy applied its understanding of gender differences in philanthropy to many lively conversations on the topic at its April 2014 symposium, #WomenLeading Philanthropy.
