The rise of women’s volunteer organizations can be linked to the social changes that the United States was undergoing during the Progressive Era. The movement from an agrarian society to an industrial one, massive migration of Americans from rural areas to the cities, and increased immigration all contributed to social challenges in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recently historians have begun to explore how women’s contributions helped to combat these challenges and this study shows how women’s clubs in Georgia were able to exercise their philanthropic power through their involvement in education. By 1860, the women’s club movement was well underway in the United States, with most of the activity in the Northeast, Midwest, and the West. The South, due to the devastation of the Civil War, did not see an emergence of women’s clubs until 1890. Southern middle class white women felt compelled to help those they perceived as less fortunate at a time when they themselves were trying to establish their own placement within the social structure of the Progressive Era South. Women, due to changing societal roles, were beginning to move beyond the home. They began to use the expertise they acquired through managing a household and applied this knowledge to social programs that would help those in need. Often times these social programs were focused on the education of young children and women. Women’s clubs in Georgia provide a lens for exploring how women were able to influence educational developments during the Progressive Era. Archival data show that the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Atlanta Woman’s Club, and the Athens Woman’s Club played in important role in educational advancements in Georgia during the Progressive Era. Archival and primary source materials were used to support an analysis of gender, social class, and geographic differences on women’s roles in educational changes. This study analyzes how women were able to affect education in Georgia at a time when men dominated educational decision-making.

The current funding challenges affecting public colleges and universities place a greater reliance on philanthropy, and women represent one of the most attractive donor segments. As private giving becomes increasingly essential to ensuring access to quality public higher education, the need exists to better understand women’s philanthropic patterns, motivations, and behavior so that practitioners of higher education fundraising can apply the knowledge tools that will facilitate more effective strategies when cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors. This qualitative study explored an existing conceptual framework with the intent to substantiate its application with women who were major donors to public higher education. The framework, coined by its authors (Shaw & Taylor, 1995; Shaw-Hardy, 2005; Shaw-Hardy & Taylor, 2010) as the Six Cs Plus 3 of Women’s Giving, consists of nine themes, each starting with the letter C, that embody the motivations and outcomes of women philanthropists. Using collective case study methodology and cross-case synthesis as an analytic technique, a composite of six women was presented and reported as a representative case to protect the confidentiality of the study’s participants. The representative case displayed evidence of support for five of the nine C s in the women’s philanthropy framework (create, connect, celebrate, control, and confidence). Across the cases, minimal or no support surfaced for four of the Cs (change, commit, collaborate, and courage). Based on the data collection criteria relating to geographical parameters, the study introduced an additional C, context, as a motivation to donate. From these findings, suggestions on the application of the women’s philanthropy framework in relation to donor giving levels is proposed. Moreover, the study’s conclusions underscore the call for continued scholarship in the area of women and philanthropy, particularly as it relates to women making significant financial contributions.