Read our President and CEO, Ana Oliveira’s Letter to the Editor in response to The New York Times’ 4 Ways to Make Giving Large Donations to Small Groups Easier.
Generous, high net worth individuals wanting to support small, impactful organizations need not wait for the creation of a “community foundation for America,” as suggested by the Bridgespan report. Community foundations capable of managing and distributing large sums, and identifying and helping power grassroots social change organizations, have existed for over 30 years.
In 2017 alone, over 100 women’s foundations have granted more than $400 million to community-based organizations across the United States and internationally. One group, Prosperity Together, a nonpartisan coalition of 29 public women’s foundations, is on a five-year mission to invest more than $100 million in innovative programs and strategies within communities across the U.S. that create pathways to economic security for low-income women and their families.
Infrastructure and outlets are already in place to enable large donations to filter to small groups. To paraphrase Jane Austen, “An ultra-wealthy donor in possession of a good fortune must be in want of women-led change.”
Ana Oliveira
President & CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation, a member of the Women’s Funding Network and Prosperity Together
Advance Justice For Women