Shoreline League of Democratic Women

The SLDW Book of the Month selected by Irene O'Day is "The She Spot: Why Women Are the Market for Changing the World...And How to Reach Them" by Lisa Witter, and Lisa Chen.

The secret to changing the world is hidden in plain sight. In fact, it's half the population. Women vote more, volunteer more, and give to more charities than men do. They control over half of the total wealth in America. Corporations have long recognized the growing power of women and have been targeting them for years. The She Spot is a practical and provocative primer showing how nonprofits and social change organizations can do it too.

Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen cite eye-opening research that reveals some surprising facts: women are less likely to trust politicians and politics as usual; African American women donate a larger percentage of their income to nonprofits than white women but get asked to give a lot less often; and in one poll only 7 percent of women identified "protecting reproductive choice," supposedly the women's issue, as a top priority for Congress. Building on insights like these, they identify and describe four core principles--care, control, connect, and cultivate--for designing messages that will resonate with women of all ages and backgrounds. And using case histories from companies like Home Depot, T-Mobile, and Kellogg's as well as nonprofits like MoveOn.org, the American Lung Association, and the Environmental Defense Fund, they explain precisely how to put these four principles into practice.

"Chen and Witter turn identity politics on its head and show the path to winning social change campaigns. The path starts at the She Spot, but it doesn't end until they expose many of the common assumptions that have led too many well-meaning social change efforts astray. Whether you want to stop climate change or raise money for your PTA, here's your manual." --Daniel Silverman, Director of Communications, The James Irvine Foundation