ISU Foundation Women & Philanthropy Committee

Why Women & Philanthropy?

The roles of "volunteer" and "giver" are traditional ones for women, yet few people have thought of women as philanthropists. Until recent years, philanthropy has remained uncharted territory for many women. Today, women view philanthropy not
so much as giving as they do investing — investing
in change, investing in the future and investing in causes that are personally meaningful.

Women are learning the benefits and rewards of leveraging their time, talent and resources on behalf of their interests. They are merging power, money
and the desire to act as catalysts for change within their communities. Through
strategic giving, women are at the leading edge of a new era in philanthropy. You might call this era the power of the purse.

• Women currently make up 53 percent of the workforce and are increasingly moving into higher-paying professional careers.*
• Women make up 1.6 million of the top wealth holders in the United States, with a combined net worth of almost $2.2 trillion.*
• Because women live longer than men, they will end up in charge of much of $41 to $136 trillion expected to transfer from generation to generation over the next 50 years.*
• The IRS reports that women now make up 39% of the 6.5 million top wealth holders in the U.S., defined as adults with total assets of $625,000 or more. This equals 2.5 million women with combined assets of $4.2 trillion. Forty-two percent of the women in this group are single or widowed.
• The Federal Reserve Board data revealed that 51.3% of the personal wealth in the U.S. is controlled by women.

Women are poised to make a major philanthropic impact as they make choices about what becomes of their money — how much they spend, how they invest, how much goes back to society in the form of taxes and what they accomplish through strategic philanthropic giving.

*"A Plan of One's Own: A Woman's Guide to Philanthropy," a brochure published by New Ventures in Philanthropy.