912: Andrea Pactor, Women’s Philanthropy Institute

"When people give, it’s not only about making the world a better place but we find that it makes us happier too. When we’re happier, our mental health is better and hopefully our financial health is better and our physical health is better. It’s a good thing for all of us.” 

You heard it here, giving can lead to happiness. We’re dedicating today’s show to the topic of philanthropy and in particular, the gender differences when it comes to giving. Our guest is Andrea Pactor who is the managing director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University. The institute was created to provide research in giving to help create powerful female philanthropists.

A lot of questions on the show today about why are there gender differences when it comes to giving, what are those differences? Some really fascinating data, Andrea and her team found around how people give and the results of giving, you know? They say money doesn’t buy happiness but the research says that when we give, it can feel very rewarding and it can give us all the happy feels.

Andrea has also advice for us around how to actually construct a giving plan. Do you have a giving plan, what’s involved? How do you even start it? How can it actually be helpful to us as we decide how to give and how not to give as it may be.