Female donors are a force

Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen, in their book The She Spot, maintain that women are a large and growing force that offers fertile ground for nonprofit fundraising.

To prove their point, Witter and Chen note the following:

• Women’s economic clout is growing. A survey of data from the Federal Reserve Board reveals that women control slightly more than half (51.3 percent) of the personal wealth in the United States. They make 83 percent of household purchasing decisions, including items such as cars and riding lawnmowers.
• Women care – and give. Women contribute to twice as many charities as men, and they are more likely to take greater risks in organizations with strong vision for change.Women pay it forward.
• Women pass good information to each other. Word of mouth is more prevalent among women than among men.
• Women can tip the election. In the 2006 election that ushered in the first Democratic Congress in 12 years, 51 percent of the electorate was women.
• Women volunteer more. About 32.4 percent of women volunteer, compared to 25 percent of men, and more women than men are volunteering in every state and across age groups and education levels. When you “sell” to a women, you reach men too. Many for-profits have learned that when they meet women customers’ expectations they increase customer satisfaction with men as well.