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As the Great Wealth Transfer moves trillions into new hands, women’s longer life expectancy, growing financial decision-making power and dual inheritances as spouses and daughters position them to direct a significant share of philanthropic capital.
Let’s explore five key trends shaping the landscape and how women can lead with clarity and confidence.
Trend No. 1: Wealth is flowing toward women
Many researchers have cited the Great Wealth Transfer that’s underway from Baby Boomers to successive generations. But what isn’t often noted is that women will have more time to spend as inheritors than men, as they generally have five years of additional life expectancy.
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In addition, women stand to inherit twice from the impending wealth transfer over the next decade: Both from their parents and by outliving male partners. This transfer occurs in addition to the money women have earned and invested themselves.
Furthermore, the receipt of assets in divorce settlements also reflects a lateral transfer of wealth that can empower women’s independent philanthropy. Significant charitable activity by MacKenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates post-divorce are two significant examples.
As a result, by 2030, American women are expected to control a substantial portion of the financial assets that Baby Boomers possess. For philanthropy specifically, one projection estimates that $18 trillion will pass to charities before 2048.
Consequently, women will have an increasing role in the oversight and disposition of the assets that pass for the benefit of charity, as they inherit this responsibility for private foundations, donor-advised funds and other charitable vehicles.
For many wealthy families, philanthropy often emerges as the first arena in which women begin to exert authority. Doing so requires an expanded awareness of the family’s larger goals, as well as a strategy to optimize impact with the assets earmarked for charity.
Opportunity: Women can empower themselves for this sea change by:
- Distilling their core values to clarify their philanthropic philosophy
- Identifying common interests among the family to guide the establishment of its charitable vehicles
- Understanding the investment strategy in place for the family’s charitable assets and checking for alignment with their purpose
Trend No. 2: Women give more than just money
Compared to men, women more often express their philanthropic spirit in various ways beyond traditional check-writing. Common examples include:
Volunteering
Historically, more women than men have volunteered in the U.S. overall.
While American men tend to volunteer through risky acts of rescuing and protective behaviors, such as safeguarding and firefighting, women favor activities that encourage “group-orientation, group facilitation and reciprocal relationships” and will remain in volunteer positions longer if they feel a sense of intimacy and belonging within the organization.
Volunteering spans a wide range of activities, from informal, ad hoc assistance to formal nonprofit board service.
While women represent the majority of board members for charities with up to $1 million in expenses, the reverse trend occurs for organizations with more than $1 million in annual expenses, for which the majority of board members are men.
Opportunity: Women have a chance to make a significant impact by joining nonprofit boards, contributing their strategic thinking and fiduciary leadership as well as their dollars.
Values-aligned investing
Investing in companies with positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) attributes, as well as impact investing beyond just a financial return, often accompanies philanthropy as another means of deploying capital toward positive change.
Women exhibit a greater inclination toward ESG or impact investing than men.
However, they express lower levels of familiarity with ESG, with only 23% indicating they are at all familiar, compared to 33% of men surveyed.
Opportunity: While the degree of actual knowledge varies among individuals, women can empower themselves further by learning more about investing to align with their values, in the context of asset allocation in general.
Civic participation
Interest in civic engagement also arises more for women as a means of effecting positive change.
In one study, women were more likely than men to leverage in-person networks by participating in a public event in discussing political views, volunteering for a candidate and/or talking to a child or teen about civic engagement.
In addition, as of 2020, “in every U.S. presidential election dating back to 1984, women reported having turned out to vote at slightly higher rates than men.”
Opportunity: As voters, women can further encourage positive change beyond donating funds, casting their ballot not just in federal elections but also in state and local elections, and serving as a family role model in demonstrating the importance of voting.
Trend No. 3: Women recognize the power of giving collectively
Supporting common causes alongside other donors aggregates valuable intel and action, in addition to dollars.
Giving circles have emerged as a way for donors to align their philanthropy by pooling their research and capital in distributing grants in a specific area.
In the U.S., 70% of U.S. giving circles report that women make up more than half of their members.
Opportunity: Women can explore the potential of bonding and giving with others through resources hosted by Charity Navigator.
Trend No. 4: Women value giving based on trust
Compared to traditional donations limited to specific projects and detailed prerequisites, trust-based philanthropy has emerged as an approach rooted in open and transparent relationships between funders and grantees.
Under this approach, unrestricted general operating support allows leaders to respond quickly to changing circumstances and community needs, especially during times of crisis.
Women show a greater inclination to donate based on trust and transparency than men.
MacKenzie Scott has exemplified this approach by giving more than $19 billion in unrestricted support to more than 2,000 organizations, with research confirming that Scott’s donations have transformed and strengthened the recipients.
Opportunity: Women may experiment with trust-based philanthropy by:
- Identifying their most gratifying giving experiences
- Meeting with the receiving charity’s leadership
- Understanding the charity’s overall challenges
- Considering unrestricted donations to further advance their work
Trend No. 5: Supporting women and girls remains an untapped opportunity
Research has verified that women globally spend more time in poor health relative to men. But it has also confirmed the return in investment in their well-being would have a multiplier effect on their families and communities.
Specifically, improving the health and lives of millions of women could boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040.
Despite the outsized benefit of supporting the health and well-being of women and girls, who represent at least half the population, the allocation of all giving in the U.S. to women’s and girls’ organizations hovers at roughly 2%.
Opportunity: Women can address this relative underinvestment by exploring organizations specifically focused on supporting the health, education and well-being of women and girls.
A new era of philanthropic leadership
As women face an unprecedented wave of opportunity for charitable capital, they can maximize their impact both financially and personally within their families and communities by strategically partnering with nonprofit organizations and allying with others.
In doing so, they can commence a pivotal era of philanthropic leadership.
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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.