Women were giving time, tears, aspirations and hopes toward strengthening women, but not yet giving their money. Women at Ms. had this epiphany: Let's give money and let's give a lot of it. That was a modeling for all of us." Helen LaKelly Hunt

Movement Funded by and for Women

Today, there are more than 100 women's and girls' funds thriving throughout the United States and abroad. In the last 15 years, we've raised more than $400 million; in 2001 alone, we raised $79 million and gave away $30 million - nearly a third more than in 1999.

But how did we get here?

On the backs of a handful of wealthy women joining forces to spearhead the movement in the early-1970s - visionaries who rode the wave of feminism began seeding initiatives to support women and girls, despite a lack of training in money management or philanthropy. In a process buttressed by the women's movement, but also challenged by it…

The earliest traces of women raising and granting funds for their own causes go back to the establishment of the American Association of University Women's Educational Foundation in 1888, and the creation of the Business and Professional Women's Foundation nearly seventy years later in 1956. However, it wasn't for two more decades that the idea of women supporting women really took root.

As the 60s generation focused on expanding rights and fighting wrongs, more and more women were also becoming wealthy and empowered by controlling funds they previously had little access to. In large part, women's foundations grew out of the women's movement's emphasis on economic equality - through fair pay, opportunities to create their own wealth, and greater decision-making power over money. Feminists and women philanthropists did not become fast partners however: on the one hand, some well-to-do women were turned off by stereotypes of a hairy armpit, bra-burning crowd, and on the other, many that were interested found themselves unwelcome because they hadn't 'suffered' enough.

So, in 1972, when Gloria Steinem and her co-editors at Ms. Magazine started the first and largest national women's fund, with the profits from a Free to Be You and Me educational program, many of their early appeals fell on deaf ears. But other women were beginning to merge women's issues and philanthropy too. Women like Helen LaKelly Hunt and Abigail Disney, who had inherited fortunes and wanted to channel their resources toward something besides hospitals, museums or universities by starting private funds like the Sister and Daphne Foundations and regional ones like the New York Women's Foundation. By the early '80s, these funds and others were giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars - to shelters for homeless or abused women, family planning services, or training for women reentering the workforce.

A key organizing force behind these women was Tracy Gary, an heiress to Pillsbury and GTE money, who had set up her own regional women's foundation in San Francisco, and quickly became an adviser for prosperous women unsure of how to handle their wealth. Gary formed a group called Resourceful Women, which still offers seminars full of practical, technical and managerial tips on skills from balancing checkbooks to starting new foundations. As these affluent women have gained confidence in controlling their assets, Gary has seen them used to support women and girls time and time again.

By the mid-1980s, women's foundations had gained momentum, with more than 60 spread across the U.S. In 1985 the Women's Funding Network was formed to bring together the various foundations in support of the burgeoning "women's funding movement." Its members have not only supported programs to help women start businesses, leave violent homes, gain access to health care, raise their self-esteem, and advocate for fair public policies, but they have been on the forefront of identifying emerging needs and developing cutting-edge strategies to confront social injustices. We've proven that when you strengthen women and girls in a community, the whole community rises.

Even in the face of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the economic downturn that followed, women's foundations maintained their level of funding, and, in some cases, gave away more.

While the achievements of women's funds over the past thirty years have been tremendous, we still have miles to go. Just seven percent of all philanthropic dollars are earmarked for programs for women and girls. As women gain more access to wealth, clearly we can do more. More to maximize our resources; more to support the solutions of women and girls; and more to show the world what happens when they truly thrive.

For more on the history of the women's funding movement:

Women's Funding Network
Women's eNews
COMM-ORG
Women's Philanthropy and Funding Sites
The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society
The Women in Philanthropy