Women's Philanthropy: Shaping a Just, Humane, and Sustainable Capitalism

Women philanthropists are no longer content with charity-as-usual; they are architects of systemic change, leveraging wealth to build a world where justice, humanity, and sustainability are non-negotiable pillars of economic systems.

The Quiet Revolution in Giving

Women’s philanthropy has always been rooted in stewardship over spectacle. Unlike traditional models prioritizing visibility, women donors often focus on:

• Collaborative impact: Funding networks of grassroots organizations rather than siloed projects.

• Trust-based giving: Providing unrestricted, multi-year grants to empower local leaders (as seen in the Global Fund for Women’s approach).

• Intersectional solutions: Addressing overlapping inequities—gender, race, climate, and economic disparity—through holistic strategies.

The numbers speak volumes: While women’s and girls’ organizations receive just 1.8% of total U.S. charitable giving, women donors are disproportionately driving support for these causes. Single women, for instance, increased their giving during the COVID-19 pandemic even as overall donor participation declined.

Redefining Capitalism Through Feminist Principles

The $30 trillion “Great Wealth Transfer” to women by 2030 is not just shifting who holds wealth—it’s transforming how wealth is used. Women are rejecting extractive models and instead advancing:

1. Regenerative Economics

   • Funding climate solutions led by women and Indigenous communities, who manage 80% of global biodiversity yet receive <1% of climate finance.

   • Supporting initiatives like the Roots Rising campaign, which channels resources directly to feminist grassroots movements combating environmental degradation.

2. Equitable Systems

   • Investing in upstream solutions: education, healthcare access, and policy reform over temporary fixes.

   • Prioritizing organizations like Constructing Our Future, which uses trust-based philanthropy to empower marginalized communities without bureaucratic hurdles.

3. Inclusive Leadership

   • Backing women-led funds and movements, such as the Global Greengrants Fund, which directs 90% of grants to grassroots environmental activists.

   • Rejecting the “white savior” mindset by centering voices of women of color and other marginalized groups.

Recent studies underscore the efficacy of women’s philanthropic models:

• Resilience: Women’s giving remains stable during crises. From 2000–2020, single women’s participation in philanthropy declined less sharply than men’s.

• Impact: Organizations led by women of color report higher community trust but receive just 0.5% of foundation funding. Yet when funded, they deliver outsized results (e.g., advancing voting rights, climate resilience).

• Scale: The Women Give 2024 report reveals that women’s philanthropy is growing strategically, with a 94.9% increase in support for women’s causes over the past decade.

Breaking Barriers, Building Futures

Despite progress, challenges persist:

• Underfunding: Only 28% of private foundation funding reported to the OECD targets gender equality.

• Structural Bias: Philanthropy often replicates patriarchal power dynamics, favoring short-term projects over systemic change.

Women philanthropists are tackling these gaps head-on by:

• Demanding accountability: Advocating for foundations to exceed the 5% payout minimum and align endowments with feminist values.

• Leveraging collective power: Platforms like Co-Impact pool resources to amplify grassroots gender justice movements across 40+ countries.

• Championing policy: Funding litigation and advocacy to protect reproductive rights, democracy, and climate justice.

The Path Forward

The future of capitalism hinges on embracing feminist principles: redistribution, equity, and collective care. As Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott demonstrate—donating billions with no strings attached—women are proving that philanthropy can be both generous and revolutionary.

At Finsdeq, we stand with this movement. By facilitating strategic partnerships, impact investments, and donor-advised funds tailored to women’s leadership, we help transform wealth into meaningful, lasting change.

Join us in reimagining capitalism—one where power is shared, resources flow equitably, and every act of giving plants seeds for a just tomorrow.

Inspired by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, Global Fund for Women, and the rising tide of feminist philanthropy.