Sheryl Sandberg leans into charity

Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg has set aside $100 million for charity, in a move that observers say reflects a renewed sense of urgency in philanthropic giving by — and for — women following last month’s presidential election.

Sandberg donated 880,000 Facebook shares to the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Fund, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“A lot of very powerful women are investing in women’s causes and, quite honestly, there’s been a renewed push to invest after the election,” said Melanie Ulle, a Denver philanthropic adviser.

Thousands of Americans have donated to causes related to reproductive rights and women’s issues since the election, she said. Planned Parenthood, for example, received nearly 80,000 donations in the three days following the presidential election.

“We have this idea that philanthropy is old white men, but that is changing,” said Debra Mesch, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University. “Women are earning more money, they have more education. Their role in philanthropy has been growing exponentially.”

By some estimates, women now make up nearly half of the country’s millionaires, and about 10 percent of its billionaires. But Mesch says it’s not just the uber-wealthy who are becoming more involved in philanthropy.

“There has been a groundswell of women of all income levels coming together to give what they can,” she said.