Finding ways to cultivate female donors now and in the future

Increasing donations from females is a goal for many athletic funds across the country. However, it is difficult for development officers to identify preferred giving strategies for this demographic. Why does this group have vital importance for athletics departments and their annual funds? Various estimates place females controlling between 40 and 60 percent of the national wealth by the end of 2010. Females also make up 58 percent of undergraduates at colleges and universities in the United States, making women a key target today and an even more important group in the future. Fortunately, there are a number of different ways to involve females in a university’s giving efforts.

One way to involve female donors is by linking them with women’s sports at the school. Kent State’s Blue and Gold Athletic Fund recently achieved this with its receipt of a $1.2 million gift from former associate athletic director Judy Devine to help support the university’s Centennial Campaign, which is celebrating its 100 years of existence. The gift will fund the Judy K. Devine Athletic Equity Endowment, which initially will support the athletics department’s female equity initiatives and eventually fund the continued growth of all Golden Flash student-athletes. Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton stated that Devine’s gift “will allow Kent State to be a leader in addressing gender-equity issues as they pertain to Title IX, and is once again a testament to her remarkable vision of the modern needs of our athletics program.” Devine’s gift ranks as the third largest gift in the history of the Blue and Gold Athletic Fund and sets a standard for donations in the new campaign.

Another method used by many development offices is to involve women in major revenue sports such as football and basketball. Rob Norris wrote about football clinics for women used by the University of New Mexico and the University of Kentucky among others in an earlier post on this site. Similar efforts could be conducted for men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and softball. These events have the potential to excite the female donor base and provide an intimate and exclusive setting to cultivate or create relationships.