A diverse range of funders are pushing toward the targets set out in the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls by 2030. The opportunities for the field of philanthropy and for funders of all sizes are significant. In fact, smaller foundations and individual funders are increasingly a crucial part of the mix, learning from relationship building and convenings about how to address critical gaps. Through research and interviews with funders leading in this area, we identified four philanthropic strategies that offer great potential in funding women and girls.

  1. Support women’s voices and leadership. Funders should ask themselves who is doing the real work on the frontlines, then prioritize making opportunities for those women to be heard and included.
  2. Focus on girls in particular. Funders can make girls a focal point as they tackle so many issues like refugee migration, emergency contexts, as well as within sexual violence and child marriage.
  3. Change mindsets. Funders have opportunities to shift entire cultural narratives from ones that hinder women in the areas of education, employment, finance, health care, inheritance, and decision-making opportunities, to ones that reframe gender power structures for the benefit of all.
  4. Provide support that uses a gender lens in times of armed conflict, humanitarian, and natural disasters. Funders can keep watch for opportunities to tackle the challenges of increased sexual and gender-based violence rates in crises and to support initiatives that provide safety nets to the most vulnerable groups.

Read the full article about funding women and girls by Maggi Alexander at The Philanthropic Initiative.