Advocacy and Action

Organization: International Women’s Health Coalition, New York City, founded in 1984 by Joan Dunlop and Adrienne Germain to generate health and population policies, programs and funding that promote and protect the rights and health of girls and women worldwide.

Financial snapshot: FY2002 revenue: $8,625,433; FY2002 assets: $6,123,065.

Fundraising emphasis: IWHC recently held its fourth annual gala, an event that featured Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and raised roughly $1 million. Beyond commemorating the 1995 Beijing Agreement, which was a turning point in the world’s understanding of women’s health crises, the evening focused on the need to foster new generations of leadership in the struggle to promote women’s health worldwide.

“The gala represents nearly 100 percent of our individual fundraising,” says Susan Fulwiler, senior development officer for individual and corporate giving. “We combine our message with the event in a compelling way. We want people to come in and walk away feeling educated and inspired about women’s health issues.”

Individual contributors: Numbering 1,000: college-educated, predominantly women, represent joint households, 45 to 65 years old, active travelers, avid newspaper readers, attuned to international issues.

“A lot of our donors really care about the impact of U.S. foreign policy on girls and women in the developing world. After the [U.S. invasion of Afghanistan], many people came to us and said, ‘we had no idea that women around the world were being treated this way.’ People really started paying attention to these issues after that.”

Despite drawing on a largely older demographic, Fulwiler has witnessed more younger women taking an active philanthropic role.

“We see the age of our donors quickly coming down to 30s and 40s. More women are getting involved with our work and yearn to see the results of their efforts.”

What’s more, “many domestic reproductive-choice donors are becoming more aware of international issues. I think we’re going to see more of these people funding international organizations in the near future. Donors are realizing that beyond the domestic arena, the current Bush administration is putting policies into place like the defunding of the United Nations Population Fund that are damaging women’s health and undermining women’s rights internationally.”

Correspondence: Members of IWHC who contribute $1,000 or more annually are part of an elite giving club called the President’s Council. Individuals receive briefings by experts and advocates from around the world; invitations to exclusive events and evening receptions; e-mail updates and action alerts offering an insider’s perspective on IWHC issues; and updates from IWHC’s president and board chair highlighting recent achievements.

Upcoming fundraising challenges: “Our focus right now is to increase corporate support for our gala and to look at cultivating major donors apart from the gala. Since we have this finely honed database of committed givers, we have to take a good look at it and determine who we can move up to the next giving level. At this point we’ve maximized our gala. It’s a million-dollar event. Now we’re ready to grow. ... We’ve never done direct mail before, but we’re looking into it to see if it’s an area where we can grow in.”

Additional insights: “We’re seeing more women direct their financial resources to causes they care about. It’s been said that men will write a check, and they really don’t need to see the impact. Women really want to.”