Accounting for the Role of Gender is Critical to Maximizing Philanthropic Impact, According to Study
April 24 2024 - 12:03PM
A new report by The Bridgespan Group, Illuminating Impact: Why
Gender Matters for Funders in Any Issue Area, looks at the ways
that considering gender in all philanthropic endeavors, beyond
those explicitly allocated for women and girls initiatives, can
accelerate the pace of progress in any sector.
According to Bridgespan Partner and coauthor of the paper
Elizabeth Bibb Binder, “For funders in every field, we have a clear
message: To achieve equitable and lasting change, we must pay
attention to the on-the-ground realities of how society works, and
those realities are shaped profoundly by gender.”
Bridgespan research indicates that in 2021-2022, US donors made
roughly 200 grants of $25 million or more to social change causes,
but just 16 percent of gifts in the sample named gender as an
explicit focus of their grant. Globally, funding for Black women,
girls, and trans people is a much smaller piece of the pie,
amounting to just 0.1 to 0.35 percent of foundation giving in
2018.
Debby Bielak, a co-author and Bridgespan partner says, “The fact
is, many funders don’t consider gender equity when they think about
impact, and even when they do, they approach gender only as its own
discrete program area. But gender matters in every issue area, so
the opportunity here goes far beyond ‘gender funders.’ It is an
opportunity for every funder.”
The report highlights examples such as a health funder who seeks
to improve health care outcomes for all but may not consider that
women are often excluded from clinical trials, most notably for
cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mental health disorders. With
drug efficacy and treatment recommendations largely being based on
men, diseases are misdiagnosed and undertreated in women, and
health disparities widen.
Bridgespan’s research includes interviews and engagement with
more than 80 funders, nonprofit leaders and global experts, and
learnings from a facilitated learning community of funders. They
surfaced five practices funders can apply to effectively consider
gender in service of speeding progress in any issue area:
- Understand your starting point on gender: Take
stock of how you are approaching gender in your work today and
where you might want to go.
- Analyze gender in your issue area: Research
the current outcomes by gender together with other dimensions of
identity where inequities often exist, such as race, socioeconomic
status, ability, and sexual orientation, and consider root causes
for places of disparity.
- Design a portfolio that addresses gender in your issue
area: Whom and what might you fund differently? Consider
funding more women-led organizations and collaboratives that focus
on gender equity, including feminist funds. And choose from many
strategies that can deepen your impact, from meeting basic needs to
addressing root causes over the longer term.
- Invest in women’s leadership: Women leaders
bring unique attributes that can help unlock impact in any issue,
yet they face distinct barriers to accessing decision-making roles
and remaining in them over time. Provide steadfast and flexible
funding to women leaders across sectors so that they can stay and
thrive.
- Evolve your organization to support your gender
aspirations: Revisit your organization’s culture,
grantmaking processes, measurement, and structure to ensure they
align with your gender equity goals.
“In sum,” says Bridgespan’s Head of US Advisory and co-author
Nidhi Sahni, “funders who consider gender in their giving stand to
accelerate their progress; those who don’t risk failing to achieve
the impact they seek.”
Read the full report at
https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/why-gender-matters-for-funders-in-any-issue-area.
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About The Bridgespan
Group
The Bridgespan Group (www.bridgespan.org) is a global nonprofit
that collaborates with social change organizations,
philanthropists, and impact investors to make the world more
equitable and just. Bridgespan’s services include strategy
consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership
team support. We take what we learn from this work and build on it
with original research, identifying best practices and innovative
ideas to share with the social sector. We work from locations in
Boston, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Singapore,
and Washington, DC.
Liz London
The Bridgespan Group
646-562-8906
liz.london@bridgespan.org