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Conclusions
Research in the field of women’s philanthropy is in its infancy—and there are many more questions to be addressed than have been have answered. In fact, most of the empirical research reviewed in this paper are studies that have been conducted within the last ten years. Women do seem to be genuinely different from men in terms of the probability of giving (Piper & Schnepf, 2008). However, the nature of this giving requires much further study.
Directions for Future Research
This review has endeavored to summarize the literature according to specific research questions addressed in the literature on women’s giving behavior. Below are some areas of research that are, to date, underdeveloped—but will be critically important in helping to inform the field:
- Are women more generous than men? Generalizability from the lab to field is an issue. More research needs to be conducted outside of the laboratory on addressing this question either through field experiments or survey research using large representative samples.
- Which women give? How does giving among women change through the generations? In particular what are the differences in how baby boomer and older women give from those in Generation Y and younger? How does volunteering affect women’s giving and what is the relationship between women’s volunteering and giving (such as Brown & Lankford, 1992).
- What are women’s patterns of giving? Does the pattern of giving change over time? Does the pattern of giving change across cultures? Are there differences between men and women in the way they give gifts? Are there different preferred gift mechanisms?
- Who decides? We need to know more how giving decisions within a household are made. What are the factors that influence men’s and women’s giving within a household and how does this affect giving decisions?
- Where do women learn their philanthropy? Are there differences in the way in which men and women are socialized in their philanthropic giving?
- What are the differences in motives to give between men and women? And, how (or if) these differences translate into philanthropic giving?
- What are the implications for this research in how research can inform practice? How do we inform development officers and other practitioners about women’s giving? What language do they prefer? What philanthropic vehicles do they prefer? How do they prefer to talk about leaving a legacy?
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