Empowering Women to Lead - How do you help women and girls all over the world raise more money to fund the solutions they craft for themselves?

The Women’s Funding Network is a catalyst for women’s philanthropy across the globe. It offers resources, leadership, and visibility to its 110-member network of grant-makers, propelling social change throughout the world. Some of its programs, like the Good Deed product line set to launch in supermarkets next year, directly benefit members with royalties from a brand that taps into consumer philanthropy. Others, like the SheSource Campaign, ensure that women become key spokespeople in the media. And still other programs quietly extend critical professional support to the directors themselves—women who are struggling to meet the needs of their underserved communities and overworked staff.

In 2005, with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Women’s Funding Network designed a pilot program to enable 16 of its executive directors to work with our coaches for six months, both on an individual and group basis. These executive directors had expressed interest in leadership development, could attend an orientation meeting, and were fully committed to participating in the coaching process. They were also juggling some challenging roles, trying to be effective fundraisers for their organizations and leaders in their communities while grappling with board tensions. “We knew some extra TLC from a coach could really make a difference for these women,” says Amy Zucchero, Membership Manager.

Insight from an Outside Ear - Initially, a few executive directors were skeptical of the coaching model. How could someone unfamiliar with the particulars of my job possibly help me figure out how to do it better? was a common reservation among the participants. But very quickly, says Heather Arnet, Executive Director of The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, she came to rely on the new perspective that only someone outside the organization could have. “My coach depersonalized things for me,” says Heather. “She helped me take a step back, consider different strategies, and test-run some conversations. Now I’m proactive with my board instead of reactive. I have a firm sense of where I stand.”

Heather was one of the seven we coached who approached her own board for funding to continue the coaching when the grant ran out. Another of our participants insisted that coaching had empowered her to approach a donor and secure a million-dollar gift. All commented in their evaluations that the skills they gained applied well beyond work, allowing them to grow in their personal as well as professional lives.

“Coaching gave these members the time and the space to think more creatively about approaching difficult situations,” Amy observes. “They just needed someone outside the organization to bounce ideas off, and with their coach they had that person, and made that time.”

The success of the pilot has immersed Amy and her colleagues in “lots of conversations” about how to integrate coaching as a benefit that members might apply for through Women’s Funding Network. Members already receive “curb-side coaching” at  conferences; at a recent retreat for 10 members, we were on hand to facilitate professional development using coaching techniques. 

“The more we integrate these types of opportunities into our programming, the more our members understand the value of supporting themselves and the value of leadership development,” Amy comments. “And when they feel better equipped to do their job, we feel we’re succeeding at ours.”