Women seek relationships, not recognition. As more women are seated at the nonprofit boardroom table, and not just on auxiliary or other volunteer committees, they are influencing the way male board members view their roles. Enter women into the boardroom. Interested in a relationship with the organization and with each other, they modeled a more curious philanthropic interest, and the tone began to change. We're now in a very balanced period where we can look at men and women both as having an interest in creating relationships and becoming more involved with the vision, mission, and programs of our organizations.
Women have very personal motives, and an ethic of personal commitment, in their giving.
The stories of women who become involved in organizations because of their direct personal experience with a family or community crisis abound. Personal motive and commitment have long been recognized as strong motivations for women's involvement in philanthropy. 3.Women give from a greater sense of tradition. That concept of philanthropy, developed by Robert Payton who was the first Director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, is a particularly apt description of most women's involvement with nonprofits. Young girls see their mothers volunteering in school, church, and community organizations, and that is the way girls growing up learn philanthropy.