WUNRN
Direct Link to Full 52-Page Report:
http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/untapped_potential.pdf
“Untapped
Potential: European Foundation Funding for Women & Girls”: A Study of
Foundations Providing Funding for Women & Girls
By fundsforngos,
on June 23rd, 2011
European foundations have been providing funding for programs to
support women and girls around the world. But
despite their substantial presence and grantmaking approaches, it may be
difficult to identify the exact areas of support, issues of interest and the
allocation of funding for such programs. However, this study, “Untapped
Potential: European Foundation
Funding for Women and Girls” commissioned by Mama
Cash has managed to comprehensively document and present the scope,
distribution and diversity of European-based funding focused on women and
girls.
The study covered 145 foundations across 19 countries in
In general, 73% of foundations in this study were found to be
active in the area of education.
Other areas of funding including health, arts and culture and community
development. Children and youth
were the top beneficiary population for these foundations.
Although a considerable number of foundations were found to be
involved in some kind of grantmaking or programmatic activities targeted at
women and girls, it has also been recorded that a majority of foundations (58
percent) allocated less than 10 percent of their expenditures benefiting women
and girls.
The foundations surveyed also identified eight issues of interest
for women and girls. “Particularly high levels of interest were noted for
violence against women (74 percent), poverty among women and/or girls (73
percent), and women’s and/or girls’ access to education (71 percent).”
Only 30% of foundations expressed interest in issues related to
lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
The study has also recorded the key practices identified by the
foundations for successfully supporting women and girls. These practices are:
1)
developing strong board and executive staff
leadership who understand the importance of giving to women and girls,
2)
providing ongoing professional development for staff to build organizational
capacity related to women and girls,
3) creating foundation practices, policies, and strategies that
are flexible and adapted to fit the unique needs of organisations serving women
and girls, and
4) paying close attention to the importance of data and impact.
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