While at the Mama Cash offices this summer, I picked up a copy of their exceedingly informative 2011 research report, “Untapped Potential: European Foundation Funding for Women and Girls.” It’s a must read for anyone interested in:

• General trends in European Foundation giving (elusive info to come across given the widely varying public reporting rules for foundations in Europe)
• The gap between Foundations’ stated interest vs actual giving for women and girls
• A snapshot of foundation approaches and suggestions for investing in women and girls

90% of the 145 participating foundations from 19 countries expressed interest in at least one issue related to women and girls, but only 37% focus some of their work specifically intended to benefit women and girls and the average percentage of total grants allocated for women and girls was only 4.8%.

No simple answers on what explains that gap, but there are some interesting ideas about why and how foundations should take active steps to close it.  Additionally, chief executive of the European Foundation Centre Gerry Salole notes,

“The report also represents the most comprehensive study to date on the philanthropic activities of European foundations in general. We are excited to see the ways in which this rich data will inform future giving that advances the public good in Europe and beyond.”

Highlights and the full report are available online for free:

http://www.mamacash.org/page.php?id=2788

Thanks Mama Cash!