Gender Equality and Grantmakers A Framework

Overview  Gender and recession  Are women’s issues dropping off the donor agenda?  Globally, women’s rights organizations tend to be small and under-resourced  annual budgets < $50,000 (Mama Cash, 2011)

Who funds women’s issues? Bilateral and multilateral development assistance Foundations Individuals Women’s funds INGOs Funders Individuals The Dutch government The Ford Foundation Local foundations Oxfam (AWID, 2008) Top 5 donors (2005)

US Grantmaking (2009) (The Foundation Center) There are 76,545 foundations in the US (independent, corporate, community, family, and operating foundations) The vast majority –90-percent—are independent (grantmaking) foundations Total assets: $590,188,365,000 Total given: $45,778,459,000, around 160,000 grants

US gender-focused grantmaking (2010) Amount: $1,236,933,620 (6.0-percent of total) Number of grants: 10,426 (6.8-percent of total)

Top 10 US Foundations awarding grants for women and girls 1. Gates Foundation $ 221,096, grants 2. Buffett Foundation $168,787, grants 3. Ford Foundation $81,781, grants 4. Foundation to Promote Open Society$38,784, grants 5. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $36,225, grants 6. David and Lucile Packard Foundation $32,760, grants 7. Huber Foundation$22,840, grants 8. The MacArthur Foundation $17,817, grants 9. W. K. Kellogg Foundation $17,684, grants 10. NIKE Foundation$14,167, grants Top 50 recipients: only 10 are outside of the US, and only 2 from the Global South (South Africa and Colombia, the rest are England, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland) Major focus: health, human rights

1/3 of European foundations fund women’s issues 13% specifically target women and girls (2009 EFC survey) 58% allocated less than 10% of their grant monies to programs benefiting women and girls 39% of Central and Eastern European foundations focus on women and girls The vast majority of European foundations’ money came from Western European foundations Main targets of grants: human and social services (e.g. domestic violence), human rights 90% expressed interest, particularly violence against women, poverty, and access to education European gender-focused grantmaking (Mama Cash, 2011)

Axioms of gender-focused grantmaking Gender not insulated Grantmaking not in a vacuum Gender focused grantmaking contingent, embedded

Frameworks of gender-focused grantmaking FairnessSocial justiceEffectivenessHuman rights

Gender and grantmaking approaches: focus on grantees Strengthen gender justice directly in grantees (beware power, and always listen to grantees): 1. General support for women’s groups 2. Programmatic support 3. Encourage a gender lens across the board for all grantees 4. Organizational focus 5. Collaborative work

General support NGO small size CapacityFunding

Programmatic support DataNeedsPrioritiesOutcomes Grantee selection Grant conditions Monitoring

Gender lens Gender analysis Gender is social It frames questions Improves outcomes and programs Intersectionality Assumptions Who does what? Who owns what? Who gets what? Key aspects Disproportionate impact Differential impact Gender roles Gender socialization E.g.: girls and juvenile justice, sports

Organizational diversity Diversity tables, e.g. MinorityNon-minorityTotal MenWomenMenWomen Board Professional staff Support staff

Clearsighted protocol (Chicago Women in Philanthropy) Budget and expenditures Training Expertise and collaboration Different needs and interests Serve women Women on staff and in leadership positions Women included in planning, staff development and evaluation Include women Benefits (e.g. child care, family leave) Compensation Opportunities Workplace policies (e.g. sexual harassment) Attract and retain women Programs that encourage participation, leadership for women Taking into account needs and interests of women Providing a support structure Using current events as catalysts for discussion and change Gender equity in programming

Collaborative work Institutionalized Membership-based organizations Networks E.g. KARAT, Association for Women’s Rights in Development, DAWN Decentralized Long and short term coalitions Issue-specific campaigns E.g. National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights, NYCHRI, European Network of Migrant Women

Gender and grantmaking approaches: focus on grantmakers Strengthening funders’ commitment to gender justice: 1. Grantmaking 2. Gender lens and gender awareness across the board for all grantmaking 3. Organizational focus 4. Enhance gender-focused philanthropy

Grantmaking Mainstream, gender specific or both? (e.g. Oak Foundation) Name gender in mission, guidelines, grants Toolbox to identify gender bias (King Baudouin Foundation) Show added value Specific grants for women Core support versus program support for small organizations Advocacy v services Local v national v regional (collaborative) Subgranting Build synergies with already existing programs, e.g. human rights, peace, health, migration Build internal staff capacity and commitment Data collection (e.g. microbicide v condom)

Organization Leadership Strong board and executive staff leadership who understand the importance of and are committed to giving to women and girls (Mama Cash, 2011) Staff Ongoing professional development for staff Build organizational capacity related to women and girls Laws Create foundation practices, policies and strategies that are flexible and adapted to fit the needs of organizations serving women and girls In/Out Importance of input (data and needs) and impact (outcomes)

The philanthropic field 1. Funder collaboratives, e.g. Women’s Funding Network, Learning Bridges Initiative (CEE) 2. Bring in other grantmakers 3. Increase the number of women involved in philanthropy (giving and/or working)

Monitoring and evaluation Ongoing monitoring Mid point reports Site visits Building staff capacity and commitment Trainings Evaluating impact Final reports, quantitative and qualitative Assessing grants from a gender perspective Gender impact statement/toolkit

Resources  The Foundation Center  The European Foundation Center  Association of Women in Development  Women’s Funding Network  Grantcraft  Mama Cash  Chicago Women in Philanthropy  UN Women  Global Fund for Women  BRIDGE