Dallas Women's Foundation promotes women's philanthropy and raises money to support community programs that help women and girls and build stronger communities. An investment in women gives them the resources they need to be successful leaders of the households and of the communities. Working together with our partners, we help all women and girls possess the dignity, skills, and resources to be strong, independent, contributing members of our community.

The Dallas Women’s Foundation is at the center of a huge ripple effect. Our focus is on lifting the community, and research has shown that an investment in women – more than any other— is fastest and surest way to affect the entire community.

Campaign Rationale

This is a pivotal moment for our community and for the Foundation. By 2030, the population of the Dallas/Fort Worth area will double—to more than six million people. Many of those people will be immigrants, and/or poor; the population will have a growing number of older adults, many of whom have few retirement benefits. The state demographics will be: 60% Hispanic, 30% African American and 10% Anglo and other. The Metroplex will be dealing with environmental challenges, funding challenges, educational challenges, and the needs of an increasingly diverse population from all over the world.

DWF is preparing to meet the next wave of economic, social, and educational challenges facing women and girls. This campaign will position the Foundation to meet the growing and complex needs of our community and to change the quality of life for many women and children.

In 2004, the Dallas Women's Foundation’s Strategic Plan called for a quantum leap in organizational capacity so that exponential growth could occur. Because of that support, the Quantum Leap Circle was created. DWF has secured 30 Quantum Leap donors (a gift of $10,000 or above annually for a minimum of three years) leading to major organizational capacity growth. With the support of the executive leadership, the Dallas Women's Foundation decided to mount a significant campaign to build its endowment, grow its grant making, and enhance its programs – thus realizing the potential of exponential growth.

With the assistance of Dini Partners, a planning study and internal development assessment began in September of 2006. At the January board meeting of the Dallas Women's Foundation, a five-year, $30 million comprehensive campaign was unanimously approved. This is the largest fundraising campaign in Dallas history focused on women.

This campaign will accomplish four things:

1. Enhance and double the grant making capacity of DWF. In 2006, DWF was granting $1 million annually back into our community. By the end of this campaign we will grant a minimum of $2 million annually. Although DWF will always fund critical needs, these “new” grants provide DWF the ability to fund multi-year projects, direct funding to a particular focus area, and/or award larger grants. Throughout the campaign, DWF will also develop and implement an outcomes framework in order to better evaluate the impact of its grant making.
2. Research the issues of women and girls and engage partners. The initial work began with benchmarking the condition of women and girls with the Out of the Shadows research conducted by the Dallas Women's Foundation in 2003. This data informs and drives our grant making process, educates our donors and the community, and aids the agencies we support who are on the front lines. A research advisory committee has been assembled with the best minds in statistical analysis and research to assist us in developing an ongoing research plan. The committee has recommended the use of publicly available data to update Out of the Shadows. A Research Scorecard will be created with annual indicators to track the well being of women and girls in Dallas. This will assist DWF and its grantees assess the evolving needs of women and girls in our community. It will also allow DWF to determine areas of focus for further analysis, education and collaboration.
3. Empower and promote women as philanthropists. By providing safe and informative opportunities for women and their families to discuss their giving, network with like-minded women and find the power within themselves to make gifts of personal significance, DWF will be positioned to educate and encourage the next generation of philanthropists who understand that women and girls are the essential building blocks of stronger communities. DWF will build on its high-quality programming to provide access to experts in philanthropic issues through a variety of educational and social events, such as the philanthropy forum, philanthropy retreat and intimate gatherings.
4. Increase the DWF endowments and other investment assets. Through this campaign, Dallas Women's Foundation will grow its endowments, donor advised funds, and field of interest funds to $25 million which will significantly increase the portion of our annual grants and operations funded by earnings on DWF assets.