Episode 35: Mother's Day Edition - A Salute to Moms

Welcome to another edition of “Around with Randall,” your weekly podcast on making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here is your host, the CEO and founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. 

It's great to have you join this week's edition of “Around with Randall.” As we close in on Mother's Day, I wanted to spend a few moments talking about Moms and in the non-profit world that has maybe more meaning than most other professions. We'll talk about that here in a second. Just some statistics about females in the workplace, and then we'll transition into Moms in the workplace and some of the statistics and studies found there. Half of our workforce, just before COVID, the last kind of studies, indicated that half the workforce in the United States is female. That's up from 38% in 1970. 59% of women when surveyed want to work, which is a dramatic increase. Those that have children under 17 years old, then the number of women that want to work is actually closer to two-thirds, right at 66%. 62% of women are out there looking for work or have a job. So, if you add those that have jobs and those that are looking and that 80% of those want full-time work. 

In the nonprofit world, I did a little digging. The nonprofit world is the third-highest industry, in terms of numbers, regarding women in the workforce, nearly 10 million nonprofit employees are women that is somewhere between, depending on how you count it, 70 to 75% of the workforce. 60% of leadership is women. One thing to note that as the organization gets bigger, it appears as if there's less women leading that effort. We would be remiss, or I would be remiss if I didn't mention the disparaging salaries -- that women tend to make about 75% of what a male makes. When you look at the CEO level about 72%, when you look at the CFO level and about 90%, when you look at a fund raiser. 

So, I start with the big picture about women in the workplace, but what I really want to concentrate the rest of the timeline is about Moms. There has been an unwritten conversation, discussion about that frankly, if you are a mom, you should be at home because that's better for your kids and better for you. That's something I've heard since I was a little kid and I'm a data-driven person. So, I decided to look for the data and what I found was inspiring and maybe not surprising as it was not discussed enough.

So let me give you some statistics. In 2005, there was an enormous study looking at children longitudinally, so over time who had working mothers. The study was put out, was found kind of originated in England, but went worldwide 29 countries and they put out their initial response and everybody said, well, this data is not any good. Basically, they redid it and increased it to a hundred thousand kids who had working Moms in these 29 countries. Here's what they found. First and foremost, they found that daughters who had mothers that were employed had a better career than those who had stay-at-home moms. They found out that children of working moms were just as happy as those who had moms that stayed at home. And that sons of working moms tend to spend 50 minutes more with their children when they had their own children, as they became adults, more time, as they became the parents. Sons had a much greater view of the working mom, a much better view if they came from a working mom -- more respect of the balance and the time that it took. Kids of working Moms tend to be more educated, and Pew Research found maybe the most important thing that Moms who work are just as happy as Moms who don't when it comes to being a Mom.

Why are we talking, talking about this? Well, I think Mother's Day is to me, one of the most important days of the year on multiple fronts. I'm blessed beyond belief. I have just the greatest Mom. She gave up a career in broadcast journalism some 50 years ago, when in a time and place, it was more accepted to do that, to stay at home. I don't think for a moment that she couldn't have been an unbelievably, successful broadcast journalist, There's not a doubt in my mind -- everything my mom has done has been labeled with success from that of a wife to that of a daughter to that of a professional, when she went back into the workforce, when we were a little bit older to that, of a volunteer to that of just being a leader and a fantastic person. I have memories of Mom being around all the time and that worked for her. It worked for my Dad and it worked for the kids. 

I also would be remiss if I don't recognize that in my work with 14 different clients that 13 of the 14 have a Chief Development Officer who is a woman, all of whom are Moms. When I did some calculations, roughly 75% of the gift officers that I work with on a regular basis, 90% plus are Moms. This Mother's Day, I not only want to think about my Mom, but I want to spend a few minutes thinking about all the Moms who figure out how to balance work and home life in an effective way. I've been very privileged to meet a number of the female CEO’s and gift officers, families at different times throughout my consulting career. These are just fantastic people -- good kids. I don't want to underplay how challenging it is. One thing that we hear a lot about is that working Moms can sometimes feel guilt. That they feel rushed. A study done said that 24% of Moms felt rushed all of the time and that 52% felt they were rushed some of the time. Well, I can imagine --my premise has always been, I don't belong to the smarter gender. There's enough evidence out there of the male species being stupid. I also would be remiss if I didn't know that more of the work, some of the time in rearing children comes from females. When I look across the spectrum of the amazing people I work with and note that 13 out of 14 are women, 75% of the gift officers I work with are women and then you add an infrastructure in it there's a lot more than that. Moms who are balancing an immense amount of work. I want to say my hats off to you.

You have found hopefully the balance that you need to make your life effective. I want to say to you on this week and weekend, I hope you have a terrific Mother's Day. I hope that you and your family recognize the value that you bring every day to both home and work life. You're doing something well because the statistics tell us that the kids are just as happy. The women are just as happy. The working Moms and the kids are just as productive in life. So, let's celebrate that. One last thing that I'll celebrate is the mother of my children. I wish my wife, nothing but the very best because anything I'm successful at, anything my children are successful at can be directly related to her. I like to say I out kicked my coverage 20 plus years ago, somehow talked her into marrying me. I can't imagine a better gift to my kids than just her everyday presence in their life. 

Shorter version today, a Mother's Day version of “Around with Randall.” Don't forget, you can subscribe, like, and even watch this on our YouTube channel. If you have a question or a comment, please forward it to me or send me an email at podcast@hallettphilanthropy.com. Or if you have something you disagree with, email me at reeks@hallettphilanthropy.com. Don't forget to look at the blogs. They're 90-second reads. They're just things I catch when I'm reading in the morning, various publications that are related to our nonprofit world. Just things to be aware of, say something to cause you to think a little bit, give you a chance to contemplate, maybe something out there you don't think about it on a normal basis. They are at hallettphilanthropy.com. 

As I do each and every podcast, let me remind you that what you're doing, Mom, no Mom, male or female, what you're doing is making a difference for people and aspects of your community that need attention. Non-profits fill gaps. They fill holes where the community can't come together in a certain way, either governmental or private business to help the community make it stronger and better, both individually and collectively and you're a part of that. I hope you feel that. I hope you take a minute and look around your nonprofit and think I'm a small part of a big picture that makes my community, my world, my culture, a better place. I can't imagine going through life, not thinking that you're not making a difference, which brings me to my all-time favorite saying, “Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Then there are those who wondered what happened.” Today as we think about Moms, they are people who make things happen. I know at least in my Mom and my wife's case, making things happen for somebody who's wondering what happened and a lot of times that's me. In the professional world, you're all making things happen for people and things that are really important. Non-profits and the work you do is important to making our world a better place. I hope you take the chance to think about that. I can't thank you enough for this special Mother's Day edition of “Around with Randall”.

I wish all the Moms out there, a magnificent, wonderful Mother's Day. Thanks for all that you do both on the home front and the professional front. It's a privilege to work alongside you. We'll see you next time here on “Around with Randall” and don't forget, make it a great day.