Gender wise Toolkit | For Grant Seekers

For Grant Seekers

This online resource has been designed by Australians Investing in Women to ensure that grant makers and not for profits maximise their positive impact by successfully applying a gender lens

Welcome

Australians Investing in Women is proud to present the Gender-wise^TM Toolkit for Grantmakers, providing a practical how to guide to applying a gender lens to your giving.

Among the joys of leading this work is the privilege of supporting a growing community of women, men and corporate funders who are having a positive impact in the world by investing in women and girls.

Some have come to philanthropy with an intentional focus on women and girls and a desire to address existing gender inequalities; others are driven by a desire to make a difference in a specific social need or issue such as access to education, homelessness, mental health or youth engagement, and understand the crucial role of women in driving social change.

In the words of Lt. Gen. David Morrison AO (Retd), who launched the first edition of this Toolkit, “Once you get the sight you can’t unsee it ever again…’. When we share information and examples of the often invisible experience of women, funders understand why a focus on women and girls is key to effective and inclusive philanthropy.

Whatever the initiative, that impact will be enhanced if funders apply a gender lens and ask the question; ‘How will this investment impact women and girls?’. We celebrate those funders who have adopted a Gender-wise approach as key to best practice philanthropy and thank them for their leadership. We encourage you to adopt these small but significant changes that will give your philanthropy greater reach and impact no matter what change you want to see in the world.

– Julie Reilly
CEO, Australians Investing in Women

What is a gender lens?

A ‘gender lens’ is a tool for questioning how programs will meet the different needs of people in a target group. Asking the question ‘how will this funding help women and girls?’ is an example of applying a gender lens.

A gender lens approach does not favour women over men, nor does it compromise funding on merit. It simply acknowledges that men, women and gender diverse people face different challenges and have different opportunities, and consequently, programs and policies can impact them in vastly different ways.

Using a gender lens in the funding process explores these differences, and takes account of them. It is about making best use of dollars spent, and ultimately increasing opportunities for long term change for all.

Understandings and expressions of gender differ from society to society, culture to culture, place to place, and era to era. Using a gender lens enables philanthropists to identify differences, explore their significance, gain a deeper understanding of types of existing inequality and the potential impact of inequality on program effectiveness.

The United Nations acknowledges that all human development and human rights issues have gender dimensions, and that addressing entrenched systems of inequity can unlock progress for everyone. One of the UN’s key Sustainable Development Goals is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

It has outlined several targets that are fundamental to women’s equality including:

• ending all forms of discrimination

• eliminating violence against women

• ensuring full participation and equal opportunities for leadership in public life

• economic empowerment

• access to health and reproductive rights, and

• access to quality education.

A gender lens approach is a first step to improving effectiveness of giving or grantmaking through a lens of identity and difference.

A person’s gender should not determine their opportunities in life, but the data tells us it can, intersecting with factors such as ethnicity, socioeconomic background, age, education, rurality, disability and sexual orientation.

Addressing gender difference in all programs can bring about the remarkable social change that is the goal of most giving.

DO GENDER-WISE PROGRAMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Successful organisations and programs make a difference for women and girls every day.

In politics: Emily’s List has been instrumental in achieving a greater representation of women in Australian parliaments, supporting the election of 270 women at state and federal levels.

In health: Her Heart is Australia’s only female heart health organisation and its mission is to reduce the death toll of heart disease in Australian women. Commonly perceived as a men’s disease, heart disease in women is under-researched and under-diagnosed. Women who suffer a serious heart attack are half as likely to receive appropriate treatment in an Australian hospital as men, and twice as likely to die six months after they are discharged. Her Heart is using education, research and advocacy to tackle the leading cause of death of Australian women.

At work: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, like the broader Australian and international medical research sectors, has a gender imbalance at senior levels. Access to childcare was identified as a major barrier to women moving from postdoctoral scientist to senior roles. Trustees of the Dyson Bequest have been supporting young women scientists since 2009. They made a $1 million founding gift to support the construction of a childcare centre on the institute’s Parkville site, which leveraged a further $4 million investment to make on-site childcare a reality.

Addressing disadvantage: The Big Issue magazine provides work opportunities for people experiencing homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage. However, the majority of The Big Issue vendors are men. Realising that selling magazines on the street is not a safe or viable option for many women, including those fleeing domestic violence or caring for children, The Big Issue established The Women’s Workforce. This enterprise has employed 170 women experiencing homelessness and disadvantage to pack and send subscriber copies of The Big Issue magazine and complete social procurement work such as gift hamper creation, mailing list distribution, data entry and event support.

For more examples of how Gender-wise^TM programs make a difference, visit our website www.aiiw.org.au

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

Australians Investing in Women is proud to present the Gender-wise Toolkit for Grantmakers, providing a practical how to guide to applying a gender lens to your giving.

In the words of Lt. Gen. David Morrison AO (Retd), who launched the first edition of this Toolkit, “Once you get the sight you can’t unsee it ever again…’. When we share information and examples of
the often invisible experience of women, funders understand why a focus on women and girls is key to effective and inclusive philanthropy.

Whatever the initiative, that impact will be enhanced if funders apply a gender lens and ask the question; ‘How will this investment impact women and girls?’.

We celebrate those funders who have adopted a Gender-wise approach as key to best practice philanthropy and thank them for their leadership.

We encourage you to adopt these small but significant changes that will give your philanthropy greater reach and impact no matter what change you want to see in the world.

Julie Reilly — CEO, Australians Investing in Women.

A MESSAGE FROM PHILANTHROPY AUSTRALIA’S CO-CHAIR

Having being involved with Australians Investing in Women (then the Australian Women Donor’s Network) as a past staff member and Board member, it gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to support the Gender-wise Toolkit in my capacity as the Co-Chair of Philanthropy Australia.

With a mission of serving the philanthropic community to
achieve more and better giving, Philanthropy Australia recognises the importance of applying a gender lens and encourages those involved in philanthropy and social investment to review the extent to which their practice currently takes gender into account and to then use the toolkit to further develop their effectiveness in this regard.

COVID-19 has provided additional evidence that men and women experience and are impacted by issues in different ways. It is essential that gender is taken into account when seeking to address those issues, whether through grantmaking, investment, advocacy or research. As the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
has articulated: ‘If we do not take gender differences into account, our efforts will miss the people who would benefit the most”.

This toolkit provides practical, step- by-step guidance to enable those engaged in philanthropy to commit to gender-wise practices, to mindfully apply a gender lens when considering grant applications, to examine whether unconscious bias is at play and ultimately, to be more effective in their giving by taking into account the specific impact of issues, programs and funding on women and girls.

Philanthropy Australia looks forward to sharing the toolkit with its members and thereby facilitating more and better giving with improved outcomes not just for women and girls, but for society as a whole.

Amanda Miller — Co-Chair, Philanthropy Australia.

A MESSAGE FROM PHILANTHROPIST, INVESTOR, AND ENTREPRENEUR, ALAN SCHWARTZ AM

As an active philanthropist I welcome the latest edition of the Gender- wise Toolkit and encourage all philanthropists to engage with it and use the tools when developing their philanthropic practice.

Despite our best efforts, unconscious bias affects us all and is increasingly recognised as a factor in decision making at all levels.

These tools are designed to integrate practical ways to bring gender,

particularly women and girls who are over-represented in disadvantage, into focus in philanthropic practice.

I look forward to seeing the positive outcomes for all society that develop as more of us adopt a gender lens approach.

Alan Schwartz AM

For Grant Seekers

The following ‘helpful hints’ have been developed to assist circle founders and members on their journey.

Do Your Research

Find out about the different needs and circumstances of the women, girls, men, and boys who are the intended beneficiaries of the program.
Are there historical disadvantages or difficulties due to gender that the program could address?
Refer to our Fast Fact sheets and conduct your own research through a gender lens.

Design Your Program with a Gender Lens

Identify any (conscious or unconscious) gender assumptions and biases that could affect the program’s design and implementation.
Identify any barriers to access and participation that women and girls, or men and boys, might encounter. For example, a legal centre in Melbourne was given funds so that it could provide legal support to disadvantaged Australians. At first, most of their clients were men, until they realised that many potential women clients, particularly those with young children, found it difficult to travel from the suburbs to the legal centre’s CBD office.

Make sure you can report on program beneficiaries by gender. Make sure you can measure the impact on program beneficiaries by gender.

For further information:

Download the Guide to Gender-Wise Philanthropy from our website.
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter
Sign up to our e-newsletters.

Include Gender-Specific Information in your Application

Where relevant, make it clear that you have done your gender-wise research and applied a gender lens to the design, implementation, management, and reporting of the program.

Consider and Address other Social Factors

Include any other factors (e.g. age, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status) that intersect with gender and might limit people’s access to the program, and explain how you plan to address these considerations.

Complete this Checklist before you Submit your Applications

Have you clearly specified relevant aims and targets for women, girls, men and boys?
Have you clearly identified the different needs and circumstances of women and men, and explained how you will address those different needs and circumstances?
Have you explained how the program will provide genuine opportunities for women and men to voice their needs and opinions?
Have you specified how you will measure and evaluate the impact of the program on women and men?
Is there a suitable gender representation on the program’s management and governance group?

What else can you do?

Applying a gender lens means more than just considering how your grant-seekers are designing, implementing and reporting on their programs: you can make a significant difference by applying a gender lens to all aspects of your operation.

How we can help

Australians Investing in Women offers a range of services to help you develop and strengthen your gender-wise philanthropy.

Board presentations

If you would like us to deliver a Gender-wise Presentation to your Board please contact us at info@aiiw.org.au

Gender-wise Workshops

If you haven’t already attended one of our Gender-wise^TM Workshops, please contact us to register or to talk about tailoring a workshop to your needs info@aiiw.org.au

Be a champion of change

Share your commitment to gender-wise philanthropy with your peers and encourage them to connect with us, be informed about the benefits of investing in women and girls and adopt gender-wise practices.

Recognition of your commitment to gender-wise grantmaking

We recognise gender-wise grantmakers in a number of ways. Contact us to find out how you can be listed on our website as a gender-wise grantmaker, and receive permission to use our Gender-wise^TM logo on your website. Consider nominating for a Gender-wise Philanthropy Award, in the Philanthropy Australia Awards Program.

Gender-wise Checklist

Is there a gender balance in your governance structure?
Do you measure and report on outcomes by gender?
Do your strategies and investments reflect a commitment to gender equity?
Do you conduct or reference research about the different needs and circumstances of women and girls, and the outcomes of not considering their needs and circumstances?
Are your internal and external communications inclusive and impartial?

For Grant Seekers

This online resource has been designed by Australians Investing in Women to ensure that grant makers and not for profits maximise their positive impact by successfully applying a gender lens

Welcome

What is a gender lens?

DO GENDER-WISE PROGRAMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

A MESSAGE FROM PHILANTHROPY AUSTRALIA’S CO-CHAIR

A MESSAGE FROM PHILANTHROPIST, INVESTOR, AND ENTREPRENEUR, ALAN SCHWARTZ AM

For Grant Seekers

What else can you do?

Gender-wise Checklist

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Start your journey and commit to gender equity.

Download our Gender-wise Philanthropy Guide and Toolkit for Grantmakers today.

You can make a dollar have a $100 impact if you invest to have a ripple effect – and women and girls create that ripple effect.

Ann Sherry AO

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