Generosity and Gender: Philanthropic Models for Women Donors and the Fund Development Professionals Who Support Them

The social, political, and economic environment is ripe with opportunity to engage women and their philanthropy. Professionals working in the field of philanthropy want ideas, practical information, research, and guidance about how to work with women donors, how to build women's philanthropy initiatives, and how to integrate this subset of donors into their current fund development departments. This book offers insight into the three historical waves of women's philanthropy and provides a summary of current research and inspiring stories collected from interviews with more than 70 women philanthropists and leaders. Each chapter begins with current research, followed by interviews and examples, and ends with suggestions for fundraisers on how to implement the information into a women's philanthropy initiative using a six-step process: Awareness, Assessment, Alignment, Action, Acknowledgement and Achievement. The last several chapters focus on lessons learned from successful programs in traditional organizational settings-healthcare, higher education, and environment-and what we have yet to learn from the new and emerging philanthropic models led by Laurene Powell Jobs, Priscilla Chan, Melinda Gates, Nancy Roob, and MacKenzie Scott. Throughout the book, themes of equity, diversity, and inclusion are evident and featured in stories and programs led by women of color and younger donors. Additionally, COVID has impacted how fundraisers work, requiring the philanthropy community to adapt and create new ways to reach women donors. The final chapter is a call to action to all women, to give bigger and bolder as the fourth wave of women's philanthropy rises. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022, corrected publication 2022.

Religious media settlers in times of deep mediatization

This article follows the actor-centered approach in studies on deep mediatization and religion in the aim of introducing the concept of 'media settlers', which refers to how churches, being corporate actors, actively use digital media and respond to the trends and consequences of deep mediatization. In so doing, churches undertake actions defined as strategies intended to both expand and maintain community – and assert authority. The article draws on the results of qualitative analyses of the media ensembles of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Orthodox Churches in Poland and the UK, along with interviews with media professionals from these churches. The conclusion is that the media settlers concept expands and develops our grasp of the religious-social shaping of technology [Campbell, Heidi A. 2010. When Religion Meets New Media. London: Routledge] by investigating how religious organizations actively shape their media to attain institutional goals, and in consequence transform their media ensembles. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Religion is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Changes in Home-Centered Religious Practices and Relational Wellbeing following the Initial Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We explored associations between changes in the frequency of home-centered religious practices and family relational conflict, emotional closeness, and the perceived long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on relationships. The panel survey of 1,510 adult individuals in the United States, was administered during the summer of 2020. Given our interest in understanding changes in religious practices following the COVID-19 related closures of religious institutions, the panel included an intentional oversampling of religious individuals from diverse religious affiliations. We employed a mixed methods approach (integrated quantitative and qualitative measures). Controlling for a large group of demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity) and other factors (e.g., religiosity, stage of COVID-19 closures), OLS and logistic regressions found some significant associations between retrospectively reported changes in the frequency of religious practices and emotional closeness and perceived lasting impact of the pandemic on family well-being. Qualitative data from a subsample of survey participants (n = 624) suggested that family prayer, scripture study, shared sacred rituals, and home-based worship helped foster positive family interactions.

"Driven by and Blinded by Our Desperation": Religious Exploitation of Vulnerable Women in Amma Darko's Not without Flowers

As a feminist writer for social justice, Amma Darko exposes various instances of religious exploitation in Ghanaian society in the novel Not without Flowers. This study adds to the corpus of literature that critiques the androcentric organisation of patriarchal African societies, in which patriarchal and religious ideologies are used to institutionalise gender inequality. My argument in this paper is that the fear and anxiety surrounding mental illness, HIV and Aids, or other illnesses provide a fertile ground for religious exploitation and oppression of vulnerable women, as represented in Darko's novel. My study offers an analysis of how Darko uses her literary work to challenge deeply engrained and culturally sanctioned patriarchal and religious hierarchies of gender-based dominance and cultural valorisation. The main objectives of this article are to explore the religious exploitation and/or stigmatisation of vulnerable women, the human rights violations that occur in religious institutions, as well as how mental illness is considered to be caused by a spiritual force or demonic possession in the selected text.

Religiosity and COVID-19: Impact on Use of Remote Worship and Changes in Self-Reported Social Support.

Objective: This study examines associations between changes in the use of remote worship services and changes in the types of social support among religious adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional, web survey data (n = 461; 15 May to 6 July 2020) were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multinomial logistic regression models calculated unadjusted odds of increases and decreases of three types of perceived social support from before to during COVID-19 based on remote worship use. Results: Adults who initiated use of remote worship had lower odds of gaining social support for personal problems (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.79) and greater odds of reporting less ease of getting practical help from neighbors (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.04, 3.02) compared to adults who never used or stopped using remote worship. Adults who continued using remote worship services were more likely to report less ease of getting practical help from their neighbors (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.17, 4.25) and decreased interest and concern felt from other people (OR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.24, 5.51) than adults who never used or stopped using remote worship. Conclusions: Adults who initiated and continued using remote worship during the COVID-19 pandemic had poorer perceived social support outcomes relative to adults who never used or stopped using remote services. Despite continued engagement with their religious communities, adults participating in worship remotely may have had residual personal, emotional, and instrumental social support needs that remote worship did not mitigate.

The Political Life of an Epidemic: cholera, crisis and citizenship in Zimbabwe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (hb £78.99 – 978 1 108 48910 2;pb £26.99 – 978 1 108 73344 1). 2020, v + 230 pp

Relatedly, faith-based organizations were also influential in response efforts during Ebola and Zika, in part due to their ability to withstand time (in contrast to politicians, who come and go), as Chigudu correctly indicates.4 Ultimately, The Political Life of an Epidemic would greatly benefit from more comparative work with other epidemics, and in terms of political and social context. [...]it is hard to discern what is novel about this particular case study and what is generalizable. Overall, The Political Life of an Epidemic powerfully illustrates how the transformation of the bureaucratic state, in addition to the contentious politics of urban government, led to a public health disaster.

Is it yet uhuru? How religious institutions disconnect with the governments in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria

The rise of the deadly corona virus disease (COVID-19) has made governance a daunting task, worsened by the complacency and lack of cooperation from groups as important as religious institutions. This study, unlike previous studies that have focused only on religious groups' resistance to lockdown rules, examined the complacency of religious institutions towards the campaign against COVID-19 in a post-lockdown Nigeria. Data were collected through key informant interviews and personal observations at churches and mosques in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kaduna, and Rivers States in Nigeria. Using a descriptive narrative method, it was found that many religious institutions have begun neglecting the government-sponsored COVID-19 safety guidelines in their local gatherings. Reasons for this include the belief that COVID-19 is no longer a threat, uspicion and distrust of the government's management of the virus, the relaxation of government monitoring strategies, and the belief in God's healing and protection. With these findings, I make a case for effective dialogues with religious leaders and the reframing of the campaign against COVID-19 in Nigeria to sustain the involvement of religious institutions. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Contemporary African Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Engaging Religious Institutions and Faith-Based Communities in Public Health Initiatives: A Case Study of the Romanian Orthodox Church During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The success of public health interventions is highly dependent on the compliance of the general population. State authorities often implement policies without consulting representatives of faith-based communities, thereby overlooking potential implications of public health measures for these parts of society. Although ubiquitous, these challenges are more readily observable in highly religious states. Romania serves as an illustrative example for this, as recent data identify it as the most religious country in Europe. In this paper, we discuss the contributions of the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC), the major religious institution in the country, to the national COVID-19 mitigation efforts. We present not only the positive outcomes of productive consultations between public health authorities and religious institutions but also the detrimental impact of unidirectional communication. Our work highlights that an efficient dialogue with faith-based communities can greatly enhance the results of public health interventions. As the outlined principles apply to a variety of contexts, the lessons learned from this case study can be generalized into a set of policy recommendations for the betterment of future public health initiatives worldwide.

Comparing formal and informal social protection: a case study exploring the usefulness of informal social protection in Pakistan

In most global south countries, various informal institutions provide welfare to a large segment of the neglected, poor and vulnerable populations through informal social protection. Despite being a major source of welfare in the global south, the usefulness of informal social protection at the household level remains an under-researched area. In this exploratory study, we have determined the usefulness of informal social protection provided through religious institutions, such as madrassas and compared it with formal social protection at the household level utilising the case study of a lower-income country such as Pakistan. A mixed methodology of data collection comprising a survey and semi-structured interviews in 14 different cities of Pakistan of the poor and eligible households for receiving formal social protection was conducted for the research. The results suggest the coverage of informal social protection provided by madrassas is greater than formal social protection. The poor and vulnerable population value and considers it more useful than formal social protection. We conclude that integrating informal and formal social protection would help improve the effectiveness of social policies in developing and less developed countries.

COVID-19 and African American Religious Institutions.

Religious institutions have historically been an essential resource in African American communities and can serve as indispensable partners during a public health crisis. The purpose of this perspective is to establish African American churches, mosques, and temples as essential for an immediate, comprehensive, and sustained response to the elevated risk for and spread of COVID-19 among African Americans.