The Real Power of the Purse
	Posted by Cheryl Black at Jul 24, 2012 01:00 PM CDT Categories: Fundraising, Nonprofit Trends, NPtech

As a grown up Girl Scout who also served as a camp counselor, assistant troop leader and staff person, I’m a certified geek for all things girl power.

Imagine my excitement when I read “Women exert new influence on philanthropy” on MSNBC last week. You should read the full article but I’ll share some of my favorite gems here:

• “…female-headed households are more likely to give to charity than male-headed households; and that in nearly all income groups women give more than men.”
• “’We raised over $6 million in 30 seconds,' said Melanie Sabelhaus…”
• “A $34.7 million Red Cross text campaign to aid victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake was put together by a team of women…”
• “But the real surge in woman's philanthropy may be yet to come.”

Holy guacamole. Look at the first three points and then think about the fourth. Women are doing all that and the real surge isn’t even here yet? Wow.

If you aren’t already purposefully targeting women, it’s probably a good time to start.

I wish the next part of this post was “5 things you can do to woo women donors” but alas, I don’t have a fail-proof plan. Like any segment that is half the population, there’s a lot of variance. However, I can happily offer you more resources for learning. So, here you go:

• The 2011 Study of High Net Worth Women's Philanthropy
• Marketing to Women Quick Facts
• What do Women Want in a Laptop? (a what-not-to-do story)