Sunday, August 28, 2011

Communicating With Women

Eight Best Strategies to Communicate With Women
  1. Talk to her; she influences couple giving as well as her own; a major reason women don't give is because they're not asked or spoken with.
  2. Tell your story; make it brief, compelling, with a challenge that has been overcome. Help her identify with the story character.  When the story concludes, know she will want to support your cause.
  3. Respect her intelligence and individuality; understand where she is in her life stage.
  4. Use the 6 C's of women's motivations for giving; they are helpful in all conversations and communications.
  5. Explain how societal issues will be impacted by her giving; show how her gift will be transformative.
  6. Be aware of the importance of diversity to her; both on your boards and how her gift will be used.
  7. Provide role models; help her see others who are involved, past and present.
  8. Consider her capable of being bold and audacious; she will reward you with her entrepreneurial spirit.

I recently used these eight strategies at a seminar for the communication and development staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and was very pleased with the feedback I received.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Women Inspire Corporate Philanthropy

According to a new paper from Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee of the Harvard Business School, companies with more female senior managers give more money to charity.  The same study showed that companies with more female board members give more money.

Their conclusions are that since women tend to give more in general, women board members and senior managers are in a position to influence their company's giving.  Also, that women board members are more likely to come from the nonprofit world than are male board members and are more aware of nonprofit initiatives and the impact of corporate giving.

Because, according to a study from the Center for Women's Business Research found that half of women business owners with companies of more than $1 million in assets give at least $10,000 to charity annually compared to only 40% of men, a question remains as to whether women CEO's would give more money to nonprofits.  But unfortunately there are not enough women in this position yet to do a statistically accurate survey.  We have to believe that not only will there be more women CEO's but the research will show those companies with women CEO's also will give more.

The study, conducted with Fortune 500 companies to see which factors influence their generosity, is a very positive indicator of the ways women are changing philanthropy.