by Robert A. Scott and Rory Shaffer-Walsh
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The following is a true story, but the names are pseudonyms. Alice Abel, a former corporate executive, wanted to honor her mother as a teacher who inspired her students. Bertha Brown, a retired Dean of Nursing, wanted to honor her profession and support new generations of students. Cary Clark, an officer at her family’s firm, wanted to strengthen the teaching of fine arts and art history. Each was relatively new to philanthropy, and each became a donor on her own terms.
Like other women donors, they did not focus on self-aggrandizement in their gifts, but wanted to support a cause they felt worthy and would encourage others.
While major gifts using charitable gift instruments, or estate planning, may be relatively new to older graduates, many of the more recent alumnae have pursued professional careers and have had access to expert accounting, legal, and tax advice. According to the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, they also are more likely to make most consumer decisions at home and have at least equal decision-making on donations.
At the oldest and most elite universities with a long history of alumni giving, men may predominate in making major gifts. However, even at these institutions, and especially at smaller, more regional institutions, philanthropy by women is a major story, even when financial strategies are new.
For example, an esteemed professional, when asked how she built enough wealth for a multi-million-dollar gift, Brown replied, “It just growed.” Her grin was wide with self-awareness. A practicing nurse and then a nurse educator and dean, she wanted to “repay” her alma mater for the role it played in her professional life.
Abel was a biology major who earned an MBA, after which she rose in the corporate world to become CEO of a pharmaceutical firm. Along the way, she had access to professional money managers so, when she sold her company, she had enough assets to create a sizeable private foundation.
Clark and her husband, who both worked in the family firm, started collecting art as a hobby they could enjoy together. She was so enthused that she enrolled as an adult to study art history. She brought her teachers and fellow students to her home to see, close-up, major works by renowned impressionist painters and sculptors. Her experience as a student, her friendship with classmates, and her admiration for the faculty had a lasting impact. When it came time for estate planning, she knew what she wanted to do.
These brief anecdotes of individuals reveal more universal themes. These three provided outright gifts, bequests, and structured instruments to make their passions manifest and fulfill their commitments. Their stories illustrate the potential of women as donors; each became friends and advocates, as well as donors, to the benefit of the campus. They also became models for others.
Their stories also underscore changes in the financial circumstances of women. There has been a decline in defined benefit retirement plans and growth in 401(K)-like plans that require more financial acumen and assistance than previous generations needed. Those in professional positions and those who inherited financial assets had to learn how to balance support for their interests with family obligations. Consequently, these and other donors often engage their financial advisors in discussions about their potential gifts.
Women live longer than men, make up an increasing share of college students, and many not only earn significant income but also inherit funds from parents and husbands. In total, women control $14 trillion of the personal wealth in the country. With longer lifespans, all alumni have more years to bring to volunteer service.
According to the Indiana Center, female donors want to be engaged in the organizations they support, seek meaningful leadership roles, and personal connections. One way to accomplish these goals is through the creation of campus giving circles. One example of this is the Women’s Giving Circle (WGC) at a well-known regional university. Inaugurated by seven women, donors pool and direct their donations to make an impact at the institution. The university identifies projects needing funding and the WGC not only debates the merits of each but also decides on priorities among them. In addition, the WGC created an endowment fund, which provides additional funds to allocate yearly.
Among their goals, the WGC raises “the visibility of women doing philanthropic work and being impactful and transformational philanthropists.” They promote “progressive social and educational change.” Change and impact are the operative words when speaking about women’s philanthropic giving.
At a Catholic college, class giving from the years when it was an all-women’s college, 1916-1971, is thriving. Many of these classes sponsor endowed and expendable scholarships that the alumni of those classes choose to support annually. Creation of the scholarships generally happen on a milestone reunion year, and, through the years, alumni continue to contribute. Large pledges and estate gifts are often directed to those funds as well.
For the most part, alumnae of these classes are passionate and interested in the impact of their student scholarships. Endowment reports and information about student recipients are shared with the donors. Raising funds for the scholarships truly comes from inside the class, with classmates calling other classmates to encourage donations. At reunions of the all-women’s college classes, bragging rights are claimed as the amount raised is announced.
The women who attended during the all-women’s college years are passionate, loyal, and interested in impact and change. It is their strong belief that together they are stronger and can make a bigger impact, a lesson learned during their college years. Their desire to help current students achieve their academic goals is inspiring and is like “lightning in a bottle,” as one donor said. Such enthusiasm is difficult to replicate but a joy to behold and admire.
Nevertheless, there is a “tried and true” maxim for alumni and friend engagement in institutional support. It can be summarized in five words that begin with the letter “I”. The five steps to be taken are these — identify, inform, interest, involve, and invest — remembering that it is not about the money: it is about institutional purpose and student success, of particular interest to women donors.
First, we need to undertake the research necessary to ‘identify’ the people we want to include as prospects, to learn their passions, and then employ the four other I’s of inform, interest, and involve so that we may then invite them to invest. We may know these prospective volunteers from news stories about their accomplishments or may have met them at an event. Perhaps they enjoyed a performance and sent a note of congratulations, or even a donation. We have met those who became major donors in these ways and more.
We start by trying to ‘interest’ alumni and other potential friends of the campus through strategic and active, not passive, activities, and various forms of communications and engagement. Inviting potential donors for a cup of coffee or lunch can reignite a dormant interest. Inviting them to visit campus for special lectures, artistic performances and exhibits, student-faculty science fairs, or athletic events are good ways to introduce them to the activities produced on campus and its people. Invitations can be tailored to the known interests of the prospect.
Once we have piqued their interest, the next step is to ‘inform’ them more fully about how the campus mission is being fulfilled and about the success of faculty and students on and off-campus. We can keep informing them through newsletters, e-news blasts, special events, and similar initiatives. We can keep them informed about the various ways the campus is serving the broader community by sponsoring cultural events.
Too often, the primary communication with alumni is to ask for money. However, there are many more ways for people to be ‘involved’ and to help an institution. A sampling of possibilities includes the following:
- Attend casual events, with no need to “dress up”
- Speak on campus — sharing their expertise and experiences
- Provide career advice to students
- Be an advocate for the campus, introducing campus officials to friends and networks
- Help recruit talent, both students and volunteers
- Agree to be profiled in student and alumni publications as an inspiration to others
In our experience, these engagements often result in friendships, not just business relationships.
There are numerous ways for alumni and others to ‘invest’ their time, talents, and treasure.
They can contribute to a giving circle or the annual fund, knowing that the alumni participation rate can affect higher education rating guides, foundation grants, and bond-rating agencies, among others, to the benefit of the institution. Through a giving circle they can pool funds, choose priorities, and have greater impact than by giving alone.
First, of course, is time, a most valuable commodity, and women make up a smaller proportion of volunteer leaders than men.
They can invest time in these ways, among others:
- By interviewing prospective admission candidates
- Help improve admissions yield by hosting an “accepted student” reception
- By serving on a fundraising committee, such as an annual gala, a golf outing committee, or a campaign cabinet
- By serving as a consultant on a task force
- By serving on the Alumni Association Board
- By serving on the Board of Trustees
These five words beginning with “I” provide a useful guide for engaging alumni and other prospects in the life of the campus in helpful ways. Alumnae and alumni are unique constituencies, each an affinity group with an emotional bond. They are logical groups to be asked to share time, talent, and treasure.
Women are particularly interested in being engaged with their philanthropic priorities. As the stories of Abel, Brown, and Clark illustrate, it is not about the money: it is about the betterment of the opportunities for student success. The WGC and class giving examples highlight the strength of women pooling their resources for impact and change. These alumnae became friends, donors, and models for others as well as advocates for institutional progress.
