All philanthropists—from the high school student volunteering at a local animal shelter to the multi-millionaire funding a large capital campaign—have their own reasons and motivations for giving, and for giving to particular causes.

This study explores motivations and priorities for giving in greater detail to assess whether and how gender affects individual and household charitable giving. The findings shows that the types of organizations donors support tend to differ based on gender, although that effect is more significant in the general population than it is among high net worth households.

For both general and high net worth households, women's motivations for giving differ from men's; an important finding for anyone in the philanthropy sector.