U.S. nonprofits working to advance women's and girls' causes received $8.2 billion in charitable contributions in 2018, up from $7.1 billion in 2017, the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy finds.

Based on data from 47,449 charities dedicated to serving women and girls and collectives of women and girls serving general philanthropic purposes, the report, Women and Girls Index 2021: Measuring giving to women's and girls' causes (26 pages, PDF), found that support for those organizations as a share of total individual, foundation, and corporate giving grew slightly, to 1.92 percent from 1.8 percent the previous year. While women's and girls' organizations consistently accounted for 3.4 percent or 3.5 percent of all U.S. charities between 2014 and 2018, their share of total support grew slowly but steadily, from 1.73 percent in 2014.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the study found that while women's and girls' causes receive far less funding than traditional issue areas, during that five-year period they significantly outpaced other charities in the growth of their philanthropic support (36.4 percent vs. 26.5 percent), revenue (35.4 percent vs. 22.6 percent), expenses (35.5 percent vs. 23.9 percent), and assets (28.5 percent vs. 24.8 percent). Within the subsector, organizations focused on women's health received the most funding in 2018 ($1.6 billion), followed by reproductive health and family planning ($1.3 billion), women's and girls' human services ($1.2 billion), family and gender-based violence ($1.2 billion), and women's and girls' education ($1.1 billion). Women's and girls' charities that saw the largest year-over-year increases in philanthropic support were those focused on animal welfare and the environment (up 37.1 percent to $24.1 million) and civil rights and advocacy (up 32.3 percent to $300 million). The data can be accessed via the Women & Girls Index website.

The report also notes that the funder landscape has been evolving since 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. A 2020 report from the Ms. Foundation for Women highlighted the lack of funding for women and girls of color, new funds such as the Black Girl Freedom Fund were established, and donors such as Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott made significant commitments, including to the Co-Impact Gender Fund. In addition, there has been a shift in giving strategies, including a movement toward trust-based philanthropy. And in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement, several corporate and other funders have announced commitments in support of women of color.

"Gender equity is top of mind as the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women, particularly women of color," said Jeannie Sager, director of the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. "As these conversations gain attention from the public and the media, the new WGI data reveal that a significant gap persists between that attention and philanthropic support in the U.S. For organizations and donors invested in gender equity, the Index continues to serve as a powerful tool that can help us work collectively to identify funding opportunities and shortfalls."

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