New York, NY and San Francisco — June 23, 2009. Foundation giving specifically targeted to benefit women and girls has surpassed the rate of overall foundation giving in recent years, and women's funds are a rapidly growing and influential force within philanthropy, according to a new report jointly released today by The Foundation Center and the Women's Funding Network.

The report, Accelerating Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women's Funds, is the first of its kind and examines giving patterns and trends among larger private and community foundations as well as the distinctive contributions of women's funds to philanthropy. Women's funds are grantmaking entities that seek out and invest in women-led organizations and programs that are building solutions to core challenges in communities.

"This study underscores that investments in women and girls can have big social returns. It suggests that women and women's funds will be increasingly involved in reshaping philanthropy and bringing to the fore important issues like human trafficking and domestic violence that for far too long have been neglected," said Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center.

Continue reading the press release here (offsite link).