Table Of ContentAntioch University
AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive
Student & Alumni Scholarship, including
Dissertations & Theses
Dissertations & Theses
2012
Women's Leadership in Philanthropy: An Analysis
of Six Giving Circles
Deborah A. Witte
Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change
Follow this and additional works at:http://aura.antioch.edu/etds
Part of theCivic and Community Engagement Commons,Leadership Studies Commons,
Psychology Commons, and theWomen's Studies Commons
Recommended Citation
Witte, Deborah A., "Women's Leadership in Philanthropy: An Analysis of Six Giving Circles" (2012).Dissertations & Theses. 108.
http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/108
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch
University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch
University Repository and Archive. For more information, please [email protected], [email protected].
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN PHILANTHROPY:
AN ANALYSIS OF SIX GIVING CIRCLES
DEBORAH A. WITTE
A DISSERTATION
Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program
of Antioch University
in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
August, 2012
This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled:
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN PHILANTHROPY:
AN ANALYSIS OF SIX GIVING CIRCLES
prepared by
Deborah A. Witte
is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Leadership and Change.
Approved by:
Philomena Essed, Ph.D., Chair date
Lize Booysen, DBL, Committee Member date
Suzanne W. Morse, Ph.D., Committee Member date
Angela M. Eikenberry, Ph.D., External Reader date
Copyright 2012 Deborah Witte
All rights reserved
Acknowledgments
There are so many people to acknowledge and thank. I wish to first thank my dissertation
committee chair, Dr. Philomena Essed, who provided quiet yet confident guidance throughout
the course of my writing this dissertation, always gently helping me to move forward in my
writing and thinking. I wish to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. Lize Booysen and
Dr. Suzanne Morse. Dr. Booysen provided a much-needed second voice to my chair’s helpful
suggestions while Dr. Suzanne Morse, always a colleague, became a teacher also to me. I’d like
to thank my outside reader, Dr. Angela Eikenberry, the foremost authority on giving circles.
Having her on my committee was an extraordinary opportunity for me. I also owe a debt of
gratitude to the other faculty of Antioch University who provided a welcome environment for
learning. I’d also like to thank Dr. Virginia Hodgkinson, a leader in developing many of the
important institutions and organizations supporting research on philanthropy, volunteering and
nonprofit organizations, who mentored me through a year-long historical investigation of
women’s role in philanthropy. It was one of the most rewarding years of my life.
I am also especially thankful to the women who agreed to be part of this study. Without
them and their willingness to share their thoughts and insights I would not have been able to
write this dissertation on the topic of women’s leadership in giving circles. I am also mindful of
the generosity of the many women and men who I met at several conferences and workshops
through the course of researching and writing this dissertation. Their encouragement and
enthusiasm for the topic kept me going.
My colleagues at the Kettering Foundation, especially Dr. David Mathews, Dr. Estus
Smith, and Dr. John Dedrick, provided so much more than simply financial resources. Through
i
their own commitment to scholarship over the years, they helped me to believe my own scholarly
pursuits were possible and of value.
And of course I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my family and friends. I had unending
support from all of them. Most were sincerely interested in my work and would ask about my
progress. Eventually, and even more importantly, they learned when to refrain from asking me
about my work. I am grateful for their confidence in me and I know they share in my excitement
as I complete this work.
So many people had a hand in the completion of this work that I truly believe it was a
joint effort though I take full responsibility for the scholarship presented here.
Deborah Witte
August 2012
ii
Abstract
Women have played an essential role in the development of philanthropy in the United States.
While their giving behavior and financial contributions have been studied extensively, other
aspects of their philanthropy—namely leadership—have not been documented as completely.
The giving circle—a new trend within philanthropy where groups of individuals pool their
money, and through educating themselves about issues in their community, decide together
where to award their funds—provides an ideal case for this study, as the majority of giving circle
members are women. In order to gain a better understanding of women’s leadership, focus
groups were conducted with more than 35 members of six giving circles. This study asks the
questions: What meaning, understanding, or insights about women’s philanthropic leadership can
be derived from the experiences and perceptions articulated by members of giving circles? What
definitions, models, or new articulations of leadership can be discerned? and What are the
implication of the stories of leadership that members tell for the formation, growth, and
sustainability of giving circles? A multimethod analysis of the focus groups reveals that these
women identify leadership in three primary ways: leading through relationships; leading with a
focus on impact and change; and leading to create civic capacity. It is the third frame—leading to
create civic capacity—that holds the most promise for an expanded understanding and a clearer
articulation of women’s leadership in philanthropy. The electronic version of this Dissertation is
at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i
Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
List of Tables viii
List of Figures viiii
Chapter I: Introduction 1
Statement of the Issue 2
Purpose of the Study 6
Significance of the Study 7
Methodology for the Study 8
Limitations of the Study 9
Descriptions 10
Organization of the Study 10
Literature Review 11
Methodology, Epistemology, and Ethical Considerations 11
Data 12
Implications 12
Further Research 13
Chapter II: Literature Review 14
Leadership: An Introduction 14
Early Thinking About Leaders 14
Twentieth-century Theories of Leadership 17
Follett and Relational Leadership Theory 21
Modern Leadership Theory 23
Women’s Leadership Theories 26
The “Different from/Same as” Argument 29
Rethinking Leadership: Moving Towards a Twenty-first Century Leadership 36
Philanthropy: An Introduction 38
Women in Philanthropy 41
Emergence of Bureaucratized Philanthropy 44
Settlement House Movement 46
Emergence of Scientific Philanthropy, Foundations, and Nonprofits 48
Dominance of Scientific Philanthropy 51
Emergence of Social Movement Philanthropy 53
Women’s Funding Movement 55
The Nexus of Women’s Leadership and Philanthropy 58
Leadership Through Volunteering 59
Leadership Through Fundraising 61
Professional Staff Development and Leadership 61
Board Development and Leadership 62
Leadership Through Giving 62
Voluntary Associations and Leadership 63
Giving Circles 64
iv
Toward Identifying Leadership in Giving Circles 67
Distributed Leadership 71
Grassroots Leadership 72
Gendered Grassroots Leadership 74
Chapter III: Methodology, Epistemology, and Ethical Considerations 78
Focus Groups Defined 79
Some Uses of Focus Groups 80
Strengths of Focus Groups 81
Why the Focus Group Method? 83
Focus Groups as Feminist 83
Issues of Voice 85
Issues of Hierarchy and Power 86
Issues of Language and Norms 87
Focus Groups as Social Groups 89
Importance of Context 90
Limitations of Focus Groups 91
Limitations of Sample Size 91
Limitations of Group Dynamics 100
Limitation of Narrative Analysis 102
Skype 103
Ethical Considerations 106
Identifying Giving Circles 107
Coding for Analysis 111
Chapter IV: Data 115
Giving Circle E 116
On Leadership 120
Giving Circle C 124
On Leadership 127
Giving Circle A 131
On Leadership 134
Giving Circle F 139
On Leadership 142
Giving Circle D 145
On Leadership 148
Giving Circle B 150
On Leadership 153
Absolute Frequency Measures 156
Chapter V: Implications 157
Implications for Leadership 157
Implications for Women’s Leadership: “Different from/Same as” Debate 158
Additional Implications 160
Twenty-first Century Leadership 162
Implications for Giving Circles 164
Implications of Frequency Measures 167
v
Theme: Leading Through Relationships 169
Theme: Leading with a Focus on Impact and Change 173
Impact on Particular Nonprofits, Nonprofits in General, and the Community 174
Impact of the Giving Circle on the Individual Member 175
Emerging Theme: Leading to Build Community 177
Summary 186
Chapter VI: Further Research 188
More Lessons to Learn 188
Skype as an Interview Tool 192
Further Lessons for Leadership 193
Appendix 194
Appendix A: Focus Group Topic Guide 195
Appendix B: Survey For Giving Circle Participants 201
Appendix C: Letter of Invitation 202
Appendix D: Giving Circles and Leadership Focus Group Participant Consent Form 204
References 206
vi
Description:to thank my outside reader, Dr. Angela Eikenberry, the foremost authority on giving circles. Having her on my committee was an extraordinary opportunity for me. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the other faculty of Antioch University who provided a welcome environment for learning. I'd also like t
