To get men worked up over your cause, appeal to their sense of competition.

By Christine Weiser

“Men understand the power of philanthropy,” says Joan Mazzotti, executive director for Philadelphia Futures, a nonprofit organization that provides urban high-school students the opportunity to go to college. “They make strategic gifts to better their business. I hate to characterize by gender, but business people (men or women) want to support organizations that have a record of success, and are able to quantify their result and performance.