Historic 2008 Election Results in Higher Levels of Political Giving From Women

In this election cycle, women are doing something they've never done before - making large contributions to political campaigns. That's according to the Women's Campaign Forum Foundation, which recently released the findings of a study on women and political giving. In the 2008 race, women have contributed significant amounts to the campaigns of the presidential candidates, writing checks for $200 or more for a total of $109 million donated thus far. In comparison, in 2000 women contributed just a third of this amount. Writing for Politico.com, reporter Jeanne Cummings notes:

Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton received a major portion of the cash. Women donated about $60 million to her presidential campaign, about half of the New York senator’s total donations of more than $200.

But the presence of the first viable female presidential candidate was just one motivating factor, according to the study and a survey done by the foundation.

The expanded use of the Internet to generate donations fits neatly with the way women evaluate and respond to political appeals, said Ilana Goldman, the foundation’s president.

“Women want to build a relationship and learn something about a candidate,” said Goldman. “Before the Internet, that took a lot more time and was a lot more expensive.”

Internet donations are generally small, the majority of which are often below the $200 threshold for publicly reporting a donor’s name. But if the larger donor base is any indication, female giving is also up in the online community – perhaps at even larger percentages.

Clinton’s campaign, for instance, reports that it received an additional $60 million in small donations from women, bringing the total amount of female contributions to her campaign to $120 million, the study found.

Cummings also cites the work of Democratic polling expert Celinda Lake, who talks about the five key motivators that compel women to take out their checkbooks and contribute to a candidate, and why a female supporter often pulls in her friends and other acquaintances as well.