partnering with women’s funds for social investment · pdf filewith women’s funds...

Partnering with Women’s Funds for Social Investment

Business case for Women Sept 21.indd 1 30/09/15 14:45

While increasing productivity or sales, customer relationships, access to talent, risk management and/or cost savings may be a company’s motivating factors for engaging in women’s empowerment, these benefits are not ensured without an approach that addresses the multiple barriers to empowerment that women face.

Women’s Funds and their grassroots partners are the experts on design and implementation of integrated programs that operate in a multi-faceted way to address issues affecting the lives of women and girls. Women’s Funds can partner with companies to co-create and implement integrated economic empowerment programs for greater returns and lasting impact.

Women Across the Value Chain

Women are often an integral part of a corporation’s workforce and leadership.

Women as Employees

Women as Customers

Accounting for more than half of the world’s population, women represent anenormous potential market for companies.

Women play important roles in communities where companies have influence and impact local conditions. These include communities where companies conduct research, source inputs, manufacture, employ, and sell their products.

Women as Suppliers,Contractors and Distributors

Women as Members of Communities in Which Companies Work

Women are present all along a corporation’s upstream supply chain, from mining raw materials to distributing final products.


A growing number of corporations and corporate foundations have developed programs aimed at the empowerment of women and girls in recent years.

Investments in Women’s Empowerment - A Growing Trend

Why? These companies understand that by doing so they can enhance their triple bottom-line: social, environmental and financial.

Companies Corporate Foundations

Number of Programs by Launch Year:1

1 1 1 1

4

2

5

3

6

3

0

4

2

2

2

43

5

1111

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 20132011

Bank of America

Chevron

Coca-Cola

Credit Suisse

Danone

Diageo

DKNY

ExxonMobil

Gap Inc.

General Mills

Goldman Sachs

H&M Conscious Foundation

HSBC

Intel

Kellogg

Kraft

Levi-Strauss Foundation

MAS Holdings

McDonalds

MetLife

MTN Foundation

Nestlé

Nokia

Qualcomm

Vodafone

Walmart

Company

1 International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Dalberg Global Development Advisors research of 31 corporate-funded programs. Based on publicly available data.


Accelerating Value Creation: Partnership with Women’s Funds

Identify and help support effective approaches to social change in specific contexts. Help mitigate risks and ensure program sustainability.

Adapt and scale effective approaches.

Generate quantitative and qualitative impact data and key performance indicators

Communicate the positive impact of these investments on women.

What are Women’s Funds?

Women’s Funds are philanthropic organizations that mobilize and invest resources directly and strategically in community efforts to improve the status of women and girls. They have an extended global coverage with a large number of international, regional and national Women’s Funds.

The strategy of Women’s Funds is to invest in financial resources, assets and skills in local women’s organizations, and support synergies and networks among them for greater influence, power and impact.

The organizations that Women’s Funds support address the formal and informal barriers women face by challenging negative norms, attitudes and perceptions, and work to reform laws and policies to ultimately transform society into a more just and equal one.

Why Women’s Funds?

Women’s Funds are critical to growing and sustaining collective action for the advancement of women and girls, their families and communities.

Their approach to social change:• Invest in social impact;• Suppor t new and creat ive

strategies;• Prioritize learning and adaptation

for greater efficiency;• Address complex social issues

with locally driven and owned solutions; and

• Facilitate knowledge sharing between women’s organizations around the world to strengthen and scale effective solutions.


Accelerating Value Creation: Partnership with Women’s Funds

Research and interviews with corporate executives who are focused on women’s empowerment indicate a desire for greater insight on ways to increase the social and business impact of their women’s empowerment programs.8

How can companies more effectively leverage their assets to capture and sustain women’s economic empowerment?

One strategy that some companies have begun to pursue is to work with partners with expertise on gender-related issues. Yet a key group of experts – Women’s Funds – are often overlooked by corporations.

Women’s Funds and their grassroots grantee partners often operate in communities that are connected to corporate value chains in a multitude of ways – many in hard to reach places.

Women’s Funds can be excellent strategic partners for corporations because they can:

Design efficient, operationally sustainable programs with corporations.

Provide in-depth expertise on women’s status at local and regional levels.

Act as intermediaries between corporate entities and women’s organizations operating in local communities and markets.

Build companies’ credibility through existing relationships and partners with those organizations in their communities.

8 ‘Corporate Sector Funding and Women’s Rights- Perceptions, Language, and How to Increase Engagement: Top Ten Research Findings and Ideas for Further Exploration.’ Assemblyfor, June 2014.


Increasing salesMany global corporations are seeking to expand beyond their core consumer base by growing business in emerging markets where women are recognized as key.

According to research by Boston Consulting Group, in the next five years, the global incomes of women will grow from US $13 trillion to US $18 trillion. That incremental US $5 trillion is almost twice the growth in GDP expected from China and India combined. By the year 2028, women will control close to 75% of discretionary spending worldwide.2 In addition, The World Bank Group found that women own about a third of all businesses in the world, and nearly half of those businesses are in developing markets.3

Supply chain efficiencyCompanies are increasingly aware that addressing the needs of women throughout their global value chain will improve quality and productivity, enhancing their bottom line.

Research by USAID found that when women farmers have access to the same amount of land as men, there is more than 10 percent increase in crop yields. In addition, if women had the same access to productive resources as men do, they could increase farm yields by 20 to 30 percent, and reduce by up to 150 million the number of hungry people globally.4

Access to talent and employee retention With increasing numbers of women entering the professional workforce, many companies understand that creating opportunities for the professional advancement of women employees is a valuable investment. In

addition, many companies realize that incoming professionals are interested in working for companies that play an active role in creating positive social value.

McKinsey’s report “Diversity Matters” found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.5

A study by Net Impact found that employers who provide workers with tangible ways to make positive social or environmental impact have more engaged and productive employees.6

Brand reputation There is a growing desire from consumers and other stakeholders (in the workplace, marketplace, community, and supply chain) for companies to go beyond “corporate social responsibility” and integrate social and environmental considerations into the way they do business.

A study by the global advertising agency Havas found that “for every 10% increase in “meaningfulness,” a brand can increase its purchase and repurchase intent by 6% and price premiums by 10.4%.”7

Risk managementA top concern for many companies is reputation management. Investing in women and girls in partnership with expert organizations helps to mitigate potential challenges in their business, such as negative media exposure and controversies due to bad practices or working conditions.

What’s Driving this Corporate Social Investment Trend?

2 Boston Consulting Group, ‘Navigating the New Consumer Realities,’ Consumer Sentiment, 2011. http://www.bcg.de/documents/file79398.pdf3 World Bank, ‘Expanding Women’s Access to Financial Services’ February 2014.4 USAID, ‘Feed the future,’ Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Fact Sheet, August 2014.

5 Diversity Matters: McKnsey & Company, 2015. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/why_diversity_matters6 “Net Impact’s Talent Report: What Workers Want 2012” Net Impact and Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. 2012.7 ‘Meaningful Brands.’ Havas, 2015. This report concludes that so-called meaningful brands enjoyed increased sales, better brand awareness and higher annual returns than other companies. http://www.meaningful-brands.com


An Integrated Approach to Women’s Economic Empowerment

An Integrated Approach

Currently, the majority of corporate programs for the empowerment of women support their economic roles through access to training, mentoring, networks, markets, and financial resources. Yet a recent report by International Center for Research on Women and Dalberg Global Development Advisors of some of the largest corporate-funded women’s economic empowerment programs concluded that, for companies to succeed in economically empowering women, a

more effective strategy is to build an integrated approach that addresses the underlying structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment.7

An integrated approach for women’s economic empowerment consists of eight building blocks and extends across a company’s value chain. It is a strategic framework designed to create lasting social and financial value.

Adopting an integrated approach results in greater impact across the value chain and incorporates the benefits of women’s empowerment into a company’s core

business, while contributing to the larger effort to improve the lives of women globally.

Sustainable, Impactful Economic

Empowerment for Women

1 5

2 6

3 7

4 8

Access to equitable and safe employment

Freedom from the risk of violence

Freedom of movement

Social protectionand childcare

Voice in society and policy influence

Education and training

Access to and control over economic resources and opportunities

Access to and control over health and family formation

8 ‘Building Blocks’


The Win-Win Coalition brings together corporations and others from the private and public sectors committed to women’s empowerment. The coalition supports and develops cross-sector collaborations to mobilize resources and co-create sustainable programs supporting women and girls worldwide.For more information, visit: www.winwincoalition.org

Case Studies of Partnership

Although most companies do not yet partner with socially-driven organizations, a few companies have realized the value of working with Women’s Funds, with positive results. Here are two examples:

Johnson & Johnson and the Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women (GFW) a US-based nonprofit and Johnson & Johnson have partnered on women’s empowerment for over 7 years. Working with the GFW enables Johnson & Johnson to connect with hard-to-reach women in countries with high maternal mortality rates. Through their network of grassroots women’s organizations and community-based programs, the GFW is able to identify partner organizations and facilitate their collaboration with Johnson & Johnson. To date, the partnership between GFW and Johnson & Johnson has supported the training of 4,000 birth attendants and improved the health care access of 35,000 women. This partnership greatly enhances Johnson & Johnson’s social responsibility impact.

Semillas and Fundación BanorteFundación Banorte, a Mexican bank foundation and Semillas, a Mexican Women’s Fund have been working together since 2011. Initially, Banorte supplied small donations to compliment existing grantee projects. But in 2014, Semillas began to assist Fundación Banorte with their strategic planning, including evaluation procedures and fundraising strategies in order to increase their social impact for women in

Mexico. Fundación Banorte then decided to partner with Semillas to fund a new, broader project that uses art and communication to advance women’s rights in Mexico. Through this partnership, Semillas received funding for their work and developed an innovative project. Banorte was able to tap into the rich network of the Fund to reach 3,000 women clients in Mexico.

Connecting with Women’s FundsThe best way to develop effective women’s economic empowerment programs is for companies to partner with expert organizations to develop transformative initiatives for women’s empowerment that will bring lasting returns for women and business.

The International Network of Women’s Funds is the hub of a global network of more than 40 Women’s Funds. In addition to enhancing resources, connections and capacities of Women’s Funds, INWF connects them to the private sector, government, international non-governmental organizations, bi-lateral institutions, foundations and individual donors.

For more information on how to find the appropriate women’s fund partner, contact the INWF’s Executive Director Emilienne Aulina: [email protected].

An Intiative of the Win Win Coalition


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