Women's philanthropy: the quiet revolution

International Women's Day
8th March 2026
By Eleanor Cater

This article also features in The Post for International Women's Day - read the article here

Here's something that might surprise you: the most powerful force reshaping philanthropy right now isn't a tech billionaire or government policy. It's women. Women giving their time, their money, their expertise and their care to make their communities better. And a major new report from across the Tasman has just put some hard numbers to this. She Gives: Growing Women's Giving in Australia, released this month, is the largest study of women's giving and philanthropy in Australian history. The findings are striking. Women give more of their income than men. They give more often. They want to give more. They are hungry for more knowledge, confidence and connection guiding how they give. And the majority of women who live with a partner say they are the ones making the giving decisions in their household. Women, it turns out, are running the show when it comes to giving and generosity.

What drives women to give? Not societal expectations or tax breaks, according to the research, both of which ranked near the bottom of giving motivations. Women give for a multitude of reasons but not generally for personal benefit, most often because they want to be a part of something bigger than them, and to create a better world.

The report also highlights what is a less comfortable truth: women's giving has been under-counted, under-valued and under-recognised. When national data isn't segmented by gender, women's contributions become invisible and this makes their giving harder to celebrate, harder to grow, and harder to inspire the next generation.

None of this is a surprise really for those of us who work helping to guide people’s giving across the country. We see all the time that women tend to be curious, collaborative givers who approach philanthropy not as though they have all the answers, but as learners genuinely seeking to improve their giving. Women don't tend to parachute in with corporate playbooks, which can be ill-suited to the messy human work of social change. And they are less likely to bear down on communities with solutions.

And increasingly, women are giving together. The growth of women's giving circles in New Zealand is one of the most exciting developments in our philanthropic landscape today. Impact100 Whakatipu brings together women who each contribute $1,000 annually and collectively decide where it all goes - no committee of wealthy patrons, simply a democratic circle of women who care. Women's Impact Eastern Bay does similar work in the Bay of Plenty and Women's Funds are now thriving in Auckland, Waikato, Western Bay of Plenty, Christchurch and Timaru, all running through local Community Foundations. Then there are beautiful grassroots circles - the Fabulous Ladies' Giving Circle in Auckland, Sally's Angels in Tauranga - where friendship and giving have become rather gloriously intertwined.

This is what the She Gives report calls a "constellation of practices", often grounded in values of care, responsibility and connection; it’s not just transactional. It's showing up, rolling up your sleeves, pulling your friends in alongside you, and deciding together what your community needs most. It's a model of generosity that is collaborative, high-trust and deeply human - and it works.

The charity sector in New Zealand is 80 percent fueled by women's paid work, with an even higher proportion for volunteer roles. Women across the country are quite literally holding our social fabric together and filling the gaps that government and market activity leave behind. That is not a small inconsequential thing, it’s critical to who we are as a country.

This International Women’s Day, and the release of the She Gives report, is a timely reminder that women’s contributions deserve to be named, celebrated and purposefully nurtured. The report’s recommendations are clear: recognise women's leadership in giving, build the systems that help women give with confidence and impact, and foster the kind of collaboration that lets women's generosity truly scale.

Here in Aotearoa NZ, through Community Foundations, this work is already well underway. Women are not waiting to be invited to the philanthropy table, they are building their own, and pulling up chairs for their friends. The revolution is quiet, generous, and joyful. And it's already happening in a community near you.

Tell us how you give? Complete our national survey ‘Giving in Aotearoa NZ’ at www.communityfoundations.org.nz/survey