A Woman Fundraiser


3 Feb 2010

I think it's really strange when there are so many women everywhere in fundraising, that the voice of fundraising is so male.

I hate to revert to old stereotypes, but could it just be that men are demanding more attention, while women perhaps are just a little less inclined to want the spotlight.

[Reply]

Daniel Fletcher
Head of Partnerships and Fundraising
The King's Fund
1 Feb 2010

It's virtually impossible, as a guy, to respond to a blog on this topic without appearing to be a frequent traveller down that well-trodden track of gender stereo-typing Rowena refers to.

For what it's worth I'd want to suggest that not everyone could reel off the names of ten high profile male fundraisers so easily, although it may be true that although our profession doesn't pay a lot of attention to celebrity, fundraisers with more facial hair can tend towards the seeking fame and fortune. Is this a virtue, or perhaps more a strategic plan to corner the consultancy market when they're ready to jump to the dark side?

I'm also not sure that it is entirely fair to try to correlate the percentage of women in the sector with the percentage of women in positions of leadership, and conclude that the missing 21% are not reaching their potential/hitting a glass ceiling. Somewhere it should also be factored in that civil society has a good number of roles that are part-time, or which favour professional carers with higher than average levels of empathy. In both cases, for right or for wrong, women are more likely to predominate, and often because of positive choices that they have made.

However, I'm sure to have ruffled some feathers, and not just the tail feathers of some preening male gurus, so feel free to put me right.

[Reply]

Male Fundraiser
Development Assistant
in Scotland
10 Feb 2010
Response to [ Daniel Fletcher]

I work in a fundraising team of 9 at a national institution in Scotland. 7 of those are women, and 3 of them are managers (what I would call high profile in Scottish fundraising) – female fundraisers who I admire because of their knowledge of the industry and success. As a gay man in fundraising I am curious about issues of equality and appreciate that women and men are entitled to quality in fundraising careers.

In no way do I wish to sound prejudiced or sexist here, but perhaps the fact that women have other life priorities is a contributing factor as to why they don’t reach high profile positions in their fundraising career - at the moment, 2 of the women in my office are on maternity leave and one of them is due to go on maternity leave in the summer.

Perhaps this is also a contributing factor to the fact that on average women are paid less in the fundraising sector. It would be interesting to research how much organisations in the not for profit sector pay out in maternity leave, in addition to the employment of cover for their position, when the original employee is not at work – a significant cost, I would reckon.

Your article talks about social justice and workplace equality. I have now had 3 different line managers in 2 years in present role, which has had a detrimental affect on my career and has put me under a great deal of stress. Being gay, I have no intention of leaving my career to pursue family commitments and will never create this negative impact on the rest of the team. As such, I intend to reach a high level position in my career because of my commitment to it.

[Reply]

Rowena Lewis
Head of Fundraising and Development
The Fawcett Society
12 Feb 2010
Response to [Male fundraiser]

Dear Male Fundraiser – your first point is valid – a contributor to the undervaluing of women in the workplace is their prominent role as carers and parents. As long as carers are predominantly female, women will be disadvantaged in the workplace.

However I would argue that the fact women are disadvantaged at work is more of a reflection of how undervalued caring and parental responsibilities are in our society. The UK workforce places undue emphasis on 'presenteeism' rather than 'results', so we continue to harbour discriminatory workplaces where women are undermined for their role in family life.

Your closing comment sums up institutional sexism with the implication that a woman might have less 'commitment' to her career because of family. One thing that is unlikely to change in gender equality is who has biological capacity to give birth. Would you suggest that women committed to their careers should not have children? Or vice versa?

Once parental leave – with increased rights for fathers – and adoption leave are more widely taken up I should expect that women will no longer be regarded as a singular burden on the workplace, because at that point both men and women will share caring responsibilities.

[Reply]

Rowena
Head of Fundraising and Development
The Fawcett Society
2 Feb 2010
Response to [ Daniel Fletcher]

Daniel – brilliant that men as well as women are keen to engage in the debate. Gender inequality is a shared issue and a shared responsibility.

The correlation between the percentage of women in the profession and women leading our profession is entirely valid – but of course I’d say that! It may be related to any number of factors. I welcome your point that women are the primary carers in UK society and often take up part-time roles. But in the interests of challenging an implicit assumption – is it right to presume that part time worker can’t correspond to ‘leader’ of our profession…?

Are the positive choices that women (and men) make, defined by a workplace status quo that encourages carers to default out of what might be considered a ‘traditional’ career path? In which case perhaps the ‘positive choices’ aren’t so positive after all…

Incidentally, NCVO shows us 37% of sector employees are working part time – but does anyone have access to a breakdown of what proportion of those part time roles are filled by women?

[Reply]