A Strong History of Funding Women
For 28 years the Global Fund for Women (Global Fund) has dedicated itself to getting core funding directly into the hands of women-led groups. Headquartered in San Francisco, the Global Fund has been a steadfast collaborator with women, investing more than $100 million in nearly 5,000 women’s rights organizations in 175 countries.
Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro joined the Global Fund in 2011 as President and CEO, a pivotal time in the organization as they embarked on a new strategic direction to support women’s leadership and women-led solutions. Laura MacDonald, Principal of Benefactor Group, has an extensive history with Dr. Kanyoro and consulted for her both at the World YWCA and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Soon after Dr. Kanyoro arrived at the Global Fund, she contacted Benefactor Group.
Continuing a Partnership
Dr. Kanyoro joined the Global Fund at a time of transition—both in senior leadership and strategic planning—so she asked Benefactor Group to assist with training, team building, and capacity building with senior staff. This coaching included developing a common understanding and language around fundraising and grant making to help these two departments work more collaboratively.
This was the first of Benefactor Group’s multiple engagements with the Global Fund, and the beginning of a relationship that has continued over 4 years.
Looking to the Future
In 2013 the Global Fund celebrated their 25th anniversary and went through a rigorous planning process. They drafted strategic planning documents to highlight their refocused programs, and asked Benefactor Group to help compile and make the documents more succinct. Sharon Ferguson, senior consultant at Benefactor Group, took lead of the writing. She reorganized and refined the language, and drafted an executive summary for the Global Fund’s “Forward Focus.” She also prepared an executive summary of the Global Fund’s “25 Years of Impact,” and developed talking points for Global Fund employees to use with donors, institutional funders, and grantee partners. “Through the material that Global Fund already created I was able to learn a lot about their services and the work that they do around the world,” said Ferguson. “And their work is pretty amazing.”
Benefactor Group continued to provide creative services to the Global Fund by translating the internal strategic planning documents into a compelling donor-focused case for support. They used this and executive summaries to develop an infographic illustrating the key concepts from these documents in a visually appealing format.
The Global Fund has used these deliverables with great success. The infographic is widely used with donors, pieces of the case for support are utilized in grant applications, and the talking points helped the Global Fund secure six and seven-figure gifts.

“Benefactor Group’s accompaniment has been invaluable to the Global Fund for Women as we strengthened our voice to transform the lives of women and girls around the world,” said Dr. Kanyoro Their strong work ethic with true thought leadership produces results and I am happy to continue my relationship with them.”

“It’s a privilege to work alongside the Global Fund,” said MacDonald, “as they continue to champion human rights for women and girls, and transform the quality of life for those who hold up half the sky.”