Every organization has struggled through the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, but none more than the nonprofit.  The light at the end of the tunnel is finally appearing, but new strategies and perspectives are urgently needed as organizations confront the cultural changes ahead.  

A series of essays edited and written by the Skystone Ryan consulting team, Building Strong Nonprofits: New Strategies for Growth and Sustainability explore how the philanthropic sector is evolving in areas such as social media, the global economy, social entrepreneurship and cause-related marketing. In the following excerpt, Co-Editor, Lisa Barnwell Williams shares her thoughts on how women are changing the face of philanthropy:

It should come as no surprise that women's role in philanthropy has increased along with increasing financial power.  After all, responsibility for charity has been in the female domain for centuries.  Bake sales, Ladies' Auxiliaries, and casseroles delivered to the sick:  the scale is small, but the motives are indisputably philanthropic.

By assuming an active role in the world of commerce and finance, women have, during the past few decades, developed both the capacity and the confidence to translate the female tradition of small-scale charity to a larger stage.  Statistics draw a clear picture of the changing role.  Women are engaged in the business world to an extent barely imagined not so very long ago:

• More than 60 percent of women are in the workplace, compared with half that number in 1950
• Women's median income has increased more than 60 percent over the past 30 years, a period during which men's median income remained largely stable
• Some two-fifths of privately held U.S. businesses are majority-female owned, with 10.1 million businesses employing 13 million people, according to the Center for Women's Business Research
• The 2008-2009 recession affected men more than women; dramatic slowdowns in historically male fields such as construction and manufacturing coupled with the relative strength of traditionally female industries like health care and government led to unprecedented male/female parity in the workforce

The consequent scaling-up of women's giving is equally apparent through the numbers.  Accounting firm Grant Thornton's analysis of Internal Revenue Service data reveals that women donated more than men in 2005, $21.7 billion compared with male donors' $16.8 billion.

When it comes to philanthropy - women are in the game!

Building Strong Nonprofits: New Strategies for Growth and Sustainability is available for purchase through Civil Sector Press.  Purchase your copy for just $54.00.