Women’s philanthropy trailblazer and celebrated author, Kathleen Loehr, announced her retirement with a unique two-pronged plan to pass on her 35-year legacy. 

Continuing her commitment to grow women’s philanthropy, Kathleen is entrusting her effective practices and teachings to the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. WPI’s research includes hundreds of data points that illustrate how gender matters in philanthropy. However, the research is just a starting point; it’s what you DO with it that matters. Kathleen has collaborated with the Women’s Philanthropy Institute to develop Proven Practices, a free online resource designed to help organizations of all sizes enact an intentional focus on women’s philanthropy.

Together Kathleen and WPI created the Proven Practices website which is a valuable resource for the nonprofit sector to learn first steps to connect successfully with future generations of women philanthropists. Proven Practices is available for use by organization leaders who are ready to improve their fundraising efforts by developing a targeted approach to meaningfully engage women donors of all backgrounds and identities. Proven Practices includes a built-in assessment developed by Kathleen and WPI. The assessment can help organizational leaders pinpoint which Proven Practices tools might be most beneficial for them to begin with to expand their donor engagement.

“My partnership with WPI to create the Proven Practices website will help more organizations become aware of missed opportunities and start their focus on women.” said Kathleen Loehr. “The Women’s Philanthropy Alliance will expand the depth and breadth of inclusive philanthropy across our sector. Together these two approaches will accelerate the diversity of our donors and grow their voices, leadership and the significant support they bring when they are met in ways that resonate.”

In addition, Kathleen transferred her philosophy, principles and processes to a group of eight diverse women. With almost a year of training, these experts are now trained and ready to guide organizations ready to grow women’s support. This group, called the Women’s Philanthropy Alliance, will lead the scaling of women’s philanthropy across the nonprofit sector. Members of the Women’s Philanthropy Alliance will guide more organizations to create comprehensive strategies to achieve transformational leadership and significant support for their missions.