How Dallas Women are Forging New Ground in Women's Philanthropy

When you think of major moments in women’s history, certain events come to mind: the famous 1848 suffrage convention in Seneca Falls, the appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor to be the first female on the U.S. Supreme Court.  It is possible someday historians will look back at Dallas, Texas as a place where women’s philanthropy gained national attention.
 
Dallas is home to the Dallas Women’s Foundation, which is in the midst of a $30 million comprehensive campaign with a goal of investing in women and girls as the most efficient way to strengthen families and entire communities.  To date, 19 women donors have made gifts of $1 million or more to the Foundation’s comprehensive campaign, putting Dallas philanthropists at the forefront of the international fundraising campaign called “Women Moving Millions.” 
 
The Dallas Women’s Foundation has garnered more million-dollar-plus gifts than any other women’s fund participating in “Women Moving Millions”, a virtual campaign that is raising the bar on giving to women and girls by high net-worth women.  Over a three-year period, more than 90 women donors committed $1 million or more to one or more of the 150 member organizations of the Women’s Funding Network.  Eighteen of these women donors made gifts to the Dallas Women’s Foundation.
 
“The unprecedented generosity of Dallas women in this campaign is historic,” said Becky Sykes, CEO of the Dallas Women’s Foundation.  “For decades, women have generously given of their time and talents to charities.  Now that more women are coming into their own financially and as philanthropists, they are also taking the lead on making gifts that strengthen the entire community by investing in women and girls. We are at a new juncture in history when women are leveraging the power of their purses to help support social change,” said Becky. 
 
Leading by example and sharing their stories, these women donors in Dallas have encouraged others to consider gifts of personal significance. By educating women about philanthropy and linking their values with their giving, the Dallas Women’s Foundation encourages all women to be philanthropists. “Giving should be an alignment of strategy and joy,” said Cecilia Boone, co-chair of the Dallas Women’s Foundation campaign. 
 
The Dallas campaign has already begun to effect major changes for the Dallas Women’s Foundation and its work in the North Texas community.  Prior to the campaign, the Foundation was making $1 million in grants annually to programs addressing the critical needs of women and girls; this year, it will make $2 million in grants for the first time.  Before the campaign, the organization had received just one donation of $1 million or more; over the last three years, it has received 20 gifts of $1 million or more.  In addition, the generosity seen during the campaign has made Dallas Women’s Foundation the largest of the 150 women’s funds, in terms of investment assets, throughout the world.
 
“We have been honored to have such incredible, visionary women as leaders and volunteers who have embraced Dallas Women’s Foundation and taken our investment in women and girls to the next level, including Dallas-born sisters Helen LaKelly Hunt and Swanee Hunt who founded “Women Moving Millions”,” said Lesly Bosch Annen, chief philanthropy & communications officer for Dallas Women’s Foundation.  “Dallas has always been a philanthropic community, and as women have joined together through the Foundation to invest in women and girls, they have found a community of support and like-minded donors who are now united in a common cause.”
 
What will Dallas Women’s Foundation do with the extraordinary generosity it is seeing?  The goal is to create a giant “ripple effect.”  The Dallas Women’s Foundation and its donors believe that by lifting up a woman, you raise the prospects of her children and her community too, creating a positive, exponential effect.  Together, women are making Dallas an epicenter for the beginnings of social change.