A Message from Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha A. Taylor

The most rewarding part of our work over these past several years has been meeting women across the country who care deeply about their communities and others.

We thank you for the opportunity to speak to so many groups, visit with so many wonderful donors and consult with hundreds of organizations.

We have dedicated our lives to women’s philanthropy because we believe so strongly in its power to make a difference in our world. We hope you will join us in whatever way you or your organization can.

Read our books and other materials, start a book club about philanthropy and talk to your families about giving. Invite us to speak to your organization or group or just speak and meet with each other around this topic. Start a women’s philanthropy group in your institution or favorite non-profit. Email us. We are here to help you in whatever we can to achieve a better world.

Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha A. Taylor
Foundational Concepts of Women’s Philanthropy

Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha A. Taylor discovered the 6 C’s for women’s philanthropy while doing extensive focus groups and interviews for their first book, Reinventing Fundraising: Realizing the Potential of Women’s Philanthropy. These characteristics: create, change, connect, commit, collaborate and celebrate. They have been widely used by women philanthropists, organizations, fundraisers and financial advisors.

Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha A. Taylor use a generational and life style approach to women’s giving, studying women’s ages and life styles differences concerning their attitudes and readiness for major philanthropy and planned gifts. They have developed the five stage journey of a woman to become a philanthropist: motivation (finding her passion); knowledge (two-fold—about her own finances and projects in the non-profit sector to carry out her passion); action; leadership; and legacy.

In working with development officers and institutions, they train staff on changing standard operating procedures in development that can better connect women to institutions, and conduct focus groups with women donors for the organization. A second stage is working with the organization to establish a more formalized women’s philanthropy program.

They have helped create and develop scores of women’s giving circles and women’s donor councils in higher education institutions, hospitals, community foundations, and organizations.  Their goal is that every city in America will have at least one women’s giving circle.

One of the primary concepts of their work is to establish that every women’s philanthropy program include an ongoing donor education and leadership development initiative. They and colleagues in the movement have initiated hundreds of donor education programs nationally. Their dream is that every higher education institution, community foundation and other non-profit will have a substantial donor education program annually for both women and men. They encourage donor education programs for children and youth.

Other concepts that are foundations of their work are advancing women in board and campaign leadership, and increasing family philanthropy and women’s philanthropy research.  They also counsel, advise and inspire individual women and their families to become major donors for the causes they care about.