October 24, 2023

This Thursday, October 26th at 1pm ET, join the virtual discussion “The Donor Gap: A Conversation on Campaign Contributions and Raising Women’s Political Voices.” CAWP Senior Scholar Kira Sanbonmatsu will review her most recent research project, The Donor Gap: Raising Women’s Political Voices, and then participate in a panel discussion with political strategists and fundraising experts Larissa Martinez, founder and president of Women’s Public Leadership Network, and Kimberly Peeler-Allen, visiting practitioner at CAWP and co-founder of Higher Heights. The discussion will be moderated by The 19th* Editor-at-Large Errin Haines and will be followed by a Q&A session with attendees.

In The Donor Gap: Raising Women’s Political Voices, lead report author Kira Sanbonmatsu shows the ways that women’s voices are underrepresented in American politics because of their underrepresentation as campaign donors. This groundbreaking report, presented as an interactive experience using data visualizations, examines the intersection of gender and campaign finance, finding that women lag men as donors in recent elections for state offices. Key takeaways include:

• Men give a disproportionate amount of all money contributed, with women giving one-third or less of all money contributed to gubernatorial, statewide executive, and state legislative races from 2019 to 2022.
• In key 2022 abortion battlegrounds following the Dobbs decision, men’s campaign contributions exceeded women’s contributions to state races, reducing women’s opportunities for political influence.
• While there was wide variance between states in terms of women’s contributions in the 2022 elections, in all states men out-gave women in the total amount contributed.
• Within both parties, women give disproportionately to women.



Since women donors are more likely to support women candidates, a key donor block for women in politics is underdeveloped. Expanding women’s political giving is an opportunity to expand resources available for women running for office.

Experience the report here.

Early bird registration for Ready to Run® New Jersey 2024 is NOW OPEN! CAWP’s flagship campaign training program for women returns on March 15 and 16, 2024 with two days of intensive workshops and information sessions specifically tailored to women looking to deepen their political engagement here in the Garden State. CAWP’s dual-track system is built both for women who are currently preparing to launch a political campaign and for those who are simply looking for ways to get involved and activated. Early bird registration is available at a reduced cost until February 12, 2024. Learn more about Ready to Run® at the program page on the CAWP website, and register to attend here.

CAWP Visiting Practitioner Kimberly Peeler-Allen was named to the City & State New York 2023 Political Consultants Power 100 list of the most effective campaign advisors. Noting Peeler-Allen’s work for New York Attorney General Letitia James as the campaign’s finance director, City & State described her skill at providing “strategic advice on cultural competency, political strategy and leadership development to foster systemic change in organizations and communities in New York and nationally.” In addition to her work at CAWP, Peeler-Allen is also the principal at Peeler-Allen Consulting and is one of the co-founders of Higher Heights for America, an organization devoted to electing Black women to political office. Read her full City & State citation here.