Melinda French Gates ' has a long history of supporting the women’s movement, but it’s her new eye-popping funding commitments that could finally change women’s groups’ long-running lament that less than 2% of philanthropic giving in the United States directly benefits women and girls.
That 2% ceiling could be broken thanks to French Gates’ $1 billion commitment announced Tuesday and the momentum generated if others join her, said Jacqueline Ackerman, interim director of The Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The institute has researched giving to women and girls since 2019 and found that while the overall amount has increased over the years, it's never exceeded 2% of overall charitable dollars.
