Thirty years on, gender philanthropy has new language but much of its old funding practice
Gender philanthropy has changed its language far faster than the way it funds, according to an Alliance Magazine reader questionnaire analysed by Kit Muirhead, the magazine's gender lead. Of the respondents, 51.7 per cent called feminist and decolonial funding commitments mostly rhetorical or symbolic. Only 9.2 per cent described funding growth over thirty years as significant, and 36.7 per cent said funding stayed flat or fell.
The reform began well and stopped partway. Talk about power and intersectionality spread through foundations, but every funding practice respondents rated, including trust-based, long-term and participatory giving, averaged below the midpoint of a one-to-five scale. Funders such as NoVo and the Open Society Foundation were named for withdrawing support, and 61 per cent of respondents called funder volatility and donor retrenchment the biggest risk.
Source: Alliance Magazine · October 20, 2026