In early April, philanthropist Linda Gruber and her daughter joined Kavita Ramdas, president of the Global Fund for Women, for lunch at a little Iranian restaurant near the fund’s San Francisco office. Gruber had been a generous supporter of GFW in the past and Ramdas wanted to ask her to continue her annual giving at the level she had been committed to in the fund’s endowment campaign, which was drawing to a close.

Over basmati rice and yoghurt drinks, she broached the possibility of a sizeable gift. This month Gruber, a long-time supporter of women’s causes, pledged $1m over four years. Part of the impetus behind the donation was the recently launched Women Moving Millions initiative, which encourages women to give at the million-dollar level and aims to raise $150m by next year in donations pledged to any one of the 128 members of the Women’s Funding Network, such as GFW. So far it has raised $103m.