Our mission. Inspire and enable a community of women to learn, grow, and engage in collective giving to support nonprofit organizations that address systemic inequities impacting individuals and families within the greater Boston area.
Why we do this. Women are unique philanthropists: they donate more, take a more active role in organizations’ operations, prefer different causes than men, and want to witness the impact of their giving. Men tend to give based on who is asking; women give based on who is receiving. At The Philanthropy Connection, we instill in our members the confidence to know that every dollar of her membership donation will make a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families.
Many women we know are willing and able to give, but don’t, simply because they have not been asked, or because they don’t have enough information to be confident that their donation will be put to good use. Many women who do give would increase their giving if they knew more about local organizations that are doing work they are interested in funding.
At The Philanthropy Connection, we ask women to give, while instilling the confidence to know that every dollar of their membership contribution will be put to good use.
Our beliefs
- We believe that diverse women pooling their time, skills, and dollars, can positively impact their communities.
- We believe that understanding and dismantling systemic inequities, and intentionally including diverse experiences, perspectives, and voices in our community enables TPC and its grantees to achieve more informed, impactful outcomes.
- We believe in creating and sustaining a community that is inclusive, equitable, diverse, and fosters a brave space to which all people can bring their whole identities and authentic selves.
- We believe that building relationships and genuine connections is critical to cultivating the next generation of diverse women philanthropists.
How collective giving works. To join The Philanthropy Connection, women choose, based on their ability to give, to make an annual membership investment of $2,500, $1,200, $600, or $300. Members’ donations are pooled and awarded as grants to Boston-area nonprofits in the spring. The more women who join, the more money we have to invest in our grantees.
We keep our administrative costs low by using a largely volunteer staff and tapping into the talent pool of our membership.
We do not hold galas or fundraising benefits. Our events are educational and create opportunities for members to learn skills that help them become more informed donors (e.g., how to read non-profit financial statements and assess grant proposals); to learn about issues in the Boston philanthropic landscape and to meet and partner with non-profits addressing them; and to connect with and to learn from each other.
Each member decides for themselves how involved they would like to be. Some members choose simply to write a check and attend our Grant Awards & All-Member Meeting to participate in voting for thoroughly vetted nonprofit finalists. Others choose to become deeply involved in committee work – evaluating grants, conducting site visits, or planning our member education events.
We are honored to have been awarded the 2020 Gold Seal of Transparency by Guidestar, the largest source of information about non-profits, in recognition of our processes and financial transparency. The Philanthropy Connection is also proud to be a member of the Philanos, a national network of over 80 women’s collective giving groups. Together, over 17,500 women in the WCGN have given $150 million to non-profit organizations throughout the US.