For the past few years, there has been a shift in philanthropy at girls’ schools. Many of us have been exploring the trends around giving to girls’ education. As a proud alumna and former advancement team member for St. Paul’s School for Girls in Baltimore, I know firsthand that raising money for girls is different. While our male counterparts are often encouraged to give by peers and responsive to friendly competitions and challenges with other classes, the same approaches with female graduates have not been as successful. In fact, girls’ schools have traditionally raised less funds than their all-male counterparts and co-ed peers.  

I wonder about the why. Are girls’ schools not investing the same focus and resources on advancement? Are female graduates not as likely to give? Do they have less access to wealth? What about our parent and board giving? Do we not value the educational experience of girls as much as our boys?  

These questions keep me up at night. And I do not pretend to have the answers. But I will share my experience and some recent data for you to consider and ask you to join me in the conversation.  

At a recent conference, I shared an experience from an alumnae phonathon where I was loyally calling classmates to ask for them to participate in the annual campaign. The alumna on the phone was very receptive but unsure how much she should give. I suggested she ask her partner how much he annually contributes to his alma mater as a data point for her decision. She returned to the phone a few moments later to let me know she was surprised how much her partner was giving to his school and a bit embarrassed she had never given to hers. This became my new strategy when asking alumnae to give to their school. And while it increased our participation, I was more excited that it started numerous conversations (and a few arguments) in homes across the city that night about why giving to girls’ schools had not been made a priority.  

And now years later, I want to know: Is that changing?  

Findings from the DASL survey for independent schools in 2022 found movement challenging the traditional trend of boys’ and coed schools raising more funds than girls’ institutions.  “While schools for boys tended to receive more in donations overall, schools for girls received more support per student” (CASE Insights on Philanthropy for Independent Schools, 2022). The new 2023 report found that girls’ schools continued this momentum with girls’ boarding schools surpassing their coed and boys’ school peers in overall funds raised and girls’ day schools outpacing coed schools.    

What’s behind this growth in philanthropic support for girls’ schools? Whether you’re an alumna or parent of a girls’ school or not, this shift could tell us something about the changing generation of donors. What do you think? I hope you’ll join us in October for our One Hour, One Topic on this question. If you have not checked out the recent CASE Insights on Philanthropy in Independent Schools Findings for 2023, you can find them here.