Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Engaging the younger generations of women in philanthropy

One of the unique attributes of Women Give San Diego is that we make grants to help low-income women by engaging local women of all ages to contribute. The organization recognizes the importance of engaging the younger generations of women in philanthropy now. By offering tiered membership prices, our organization allows women of all ages to be involved with philanthropy. Members in their 20s are asked for a minimum gift of $250 a year; members in their 30s, $500 a year; and founding members $1,000 to $25,000 a year. As a result, nearly 40 percent of WGSD members are under the age of 40.

Co-Founders, Jan, Gayle and Linda – all Baby Boomers – have been actively engaged in philanthropy for over three decades, with a particular focus on women and girls. Their philosophy is that families and communities thrive when women and girls thrive as fully contributing members of the community. From the start, they intended Women Give’s membership to be diverse through age, race and social standing. Tuttleman says: “We didn't want to start another organization with our own peers.” Katz adds: “As leaders in philanthropy, we must continue to grow and engage young female philanthropists.” The three founders take this responsibility very seriously and are committed to modeling and nurturing the next generation of female philanthropists.

Gen X member, Katie Collins, feels that Women Give San Diego gives her a unique and affordable way to make an impact in my community. Jan, Linda, and Gayle serve as role models for the next generation of philanthropists and have inspired her to do what she can to help make a difference.

Women Give San Diego offers younger women the opportunity to be philanthropists by contributing their own funds and participating in the grant making process. The younger generations (Gen X and Y) do not have the wealth of the older generation (Baby Boomers and Traditionalists) donors. Many are repaying school loan debt, struggling with unemployment, buying their first homes, and starting their own families. Despite the lack of wealth, the younger generations are important to engage now so they can learn to become lifelong donors. The great benefit of Women Give San Diego members is that members of all ages receive the same benefits for their donations, despite the difference in amounts.

Another Gen X member who joined Women Give San Diego because she was excited to support, through her time and resources, efforts to help women living in a variety of challenging situations to succeed in their professional and personal lives. Her participation in this group is exciting because “our group includes women of all ages, and in all stages of their careers who work together with those who have established themselves as savvy, successful business women, and with those who are striving to take on new opportunities and sectors.”

In order for Women Give to thrive, we value and need the opinions and points of view of a wide variety of women, each from differing backgrounds, cultures and professions. If we are going to make a significant difference in our community, it is imperative that our giving circle reflect our region to our best ability.

Tuttleman: “I feel that once younger women get involved, they are the ones to be the champion of this cause in the future. They will be the ones to carry forth the mission of our organization in the future and raise awareness in our community.” Women Give San Diego honors all of its members through an age-based fee structure, acknowledging that, while the financial resources among us may differ, the perspectives each of us brings to the table is equally as important in effectively achieving our mission.

Katz sums it up: “Did I mention, that it's just more fun to work with women that are younger and smarter than us?” We absolutely agree with you, Linda.

Blog post written by Women Give San Diego member, Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE who writes a popular profit on nonprofit topics: reneeherrell.wordpress.com

How can Philanthropy and Policy intersect to create more impact for Women, Children and Communities?

Friday was our Women Give San Diego lunch with Judy Patrick the CEO of the Women's Foundation of California. As background, the Women's Foundation of California has spent 30 years on the ground supporting, training and fueling the fiercest women leaders, fanning the winds of change for women and girls throughout California. Women Give San Diego is a unique and powerful donor circle of the Women’s Foundation of California. The topic of discussion at our lunch was how philanthropic efforts and policy can intersect to create a greater impact for women and children in California. Judy gave us some background on why the Women's Foundation of California was founded and what we as a donor's circle could do to create this synergy for greater impact. 31+ years ago when the foundation began less than 1% of philanthropy dollars went to women and children. Today there are at least 140 funds that are focused on women and children.

Judy also addressed the goals of the Foundation.

1. The first goal is to add resources into communities to increase support for women who are on the ground creating change.
2. Second, to create a place where women can learn to be philanthropists.

Their overall mission is for everyone in communities to be safe, economically secure and healthy. With this theme and these goals in mind, Judy addressed how to create greater impact through policy advocacy and philanthropy. These two categories are already intersecting and areas we can continue to enhance:

• Through their Women's Policy Institute, the foundation trains leaders to be agents of change for policies that impact the lives of women of all ages, their families and their communities.
• They have advocated for legislation for safer cosmetics, increased measures addressing violence in the workplace and an expansion of protections for noncitizen victims of trafficking, domestic violence and other serious crimes. The foundation calls these efforts “movement building work,” where unlikely parties come together to advocate for the bigger picture.

If we are to create change we must start by engaging in conversation with our local officials. Judy encouraged us to meet with our elected officials to speak from our experiences and about areas important to us. It is well known that elected officials are constantly contacted by lobbyists and rarely by constituents.

Judy clarified whether non-profits could advocate on policy: Non-profit organizations can engage in advocacy policy as long as there isn’t a bill number associated with it, which would then categorize as lobbying.

To partner philanthropy and policy, Judy suggested that we look to define priorities for funding through a policy-advocacy lens by:

• Encourage organizations applying for grants to apply for a general operating grant allowing the organization to use funds at their discretion;
• Supporting groups that focus on advocacy and outlining a plan with a sequence of outcomes on the road to achieving a larger goal such as the passing of a bill.

With California at its current state, Judy couldn’t emphasize enough the importance of evidence-based research to help support advocacy efforts. Data can often be the best tool to support advocates in their efforts. With legislative day coming up in early May, Judy encouraged us to consider traveling to Sacramento and playing a role in advocacy policy. The Women’s Policy Institute will be forming teams for various bills and there is no better way to learn and help then to engage in the process. As a group we know that women are phenomenal at making connections and building relationships. The task at hand now is to leverage our relationships, knowledge, and philanthropic efforts to advocate for better policy in order to create a safe, economically secure, and healthy environment for communities in California and across the world.

Sasha Clines is a WGSD member who creates and implements marketing and communication strategies for start-up businesses and writes a popular blog: http://betterinheels.blog.com

Luncheon with Judy Patrick: "Where Philanthropy and Political Action Meet"

Women Give San Diego is proud to host Judy Patrick, President/CEO, Women's Foundation of California for a luncheon on Friday, March 18th, NOON-1:30 p.m. at the Alliance Healthcare Foundation Conference Room.

Judy Patrick is President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California. Prior to her appointment in 2008, Judy held the post of Executive Vice President of Programs for nine years where she led the Foundation’s advocacy and policy change work, including the development of the groundbreaking Women’s Policy Institute. Prior to coming to the Foundation, Judy directed the work of several nonprofits. Including the San Francisco-based Women’s Philharmonic, Girls Count in Colorado, and Mi Casa Resource Center for Women in Denver organization. She has served on the faculty of the University of Colorado at Denver and Regis University, where she taught program development and evaluation. She serves on numerous boards of directors.

Ms. Patrick will be speaking on "Where Philanthropy and Political Action Meet." She will discuss the California state budget cuts and the threat it poses to women and families as well as how women philanthropists, like Women Give San Diego members, can take action.

As we know, the “Great Recession” has depressed revenue collections, while increasing demands on the California state budget. As a result, California’s families have turned to public programs to help make ends meet during the recession. The Governor is proposing to cut CalWORKs, a cash assistance for low-income families with children, by 15.7 percent, reducing the maximum monthly grant for a family of three from $694 to $585. This impending cut would leave a lot of low-income women in California unable to support their families.

Ms. Patrick will discuss how philanthropy and advocacy can successfully work together. Recently, a donor circle at the Women’s Foundation of CA along with additional funds from the Foundation, supported a portion of the research of The California Research Project 2010 that examined the effects of California state budget cuts on women. Ms. Patrick will be sharing the results of this research study to help us better understand how women can be negatively effected with these budget cuts.

Ms. Patrick will also clarify what the law says about how nonprofits can advocate so that we can understand how to support women’s needs at the political level. If you want to engage more deeply in the advocacy process, she will provide opportunities and ideas.

At this luncheon, you will gain a deeper understanding of the state budget and this year’s proposed cuts, some potential options for ways you (as a philanthropist) can engage more deeply in advocacy work, and an opportunity to test your own ideas during the Q&A and discussion.

What: "Where Philanthropy and Political Action Meet" Luncheon

Who: Judy Patrick, President/CEO, Women's Foundation of California

When: Friday, March 18th, NOON-1:30 p.m.

Where: Alliance Healthcare Foundation Conference Room, San Diego Grantmakers Offices, 5060 Shoreham Place, Suite 350, San Diego, CA 92122,

Why: To learn how advocacy and philanthropy can successfully work together

How: RSVP to Linda Katz at lindalouisekatz@me.com or (619) 840-6462; cost is $12 and limited to 20 attendees.

Blog post written by Women Give San Diego member, Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE who writes a popular profit on nonprofit topics: reneeherrell.wordpress.com