When Woman Steward Wealth

The first time I met Leigh Ann Horton, I experienced her generosity before I fully knew her story.

We were serving together on a board in Orlando. I had recently met the man who would become my husband, and we had planned our wedding in Orlando. Not long after the save-the-dates went out, our venue fell through.

I remember mentioning it to the board and asking them to pray. Before I could say much more, Leigh Ann offered what she had.

“You can use the country club,” she said.

She wasn’t offering to pay for the wedding. She was simply opening a door that was available to her. But to me, it was an answer to prayer. God used her willingness to offer what she had to provide exactly what I needed in that season.

Leigh Ann was not only generous with her physical resources. As a CPA, a serial entrepreneur, and a woman with a natural mind for numbers, she tracked her giving with precision. She read every book she could find about God and money. She measured, compared, calculated, and gave faithfully.

Years later, Leigh Ann attended an event with Women Doing Well—our non-profit organization, which exists to see women discover their own God-designed purpose, passion, and plan to impact the world with their unique generosity. She found herself in a room full of women who loved generosity, talked openly about money, and wanted to use what God had entrusted to them for Kingdom purposes.

And something in Leigh Ann’s life changed. She realized her measured, meticulous approach to giving was actually legalistic, born of a sense of duty. This moment shifted something in her, seeing giving not as a duty but as a response to God’s goodness—a way to partner with Him in what He’s doing in the world.

That shift changed everything. It changed how she gave, how she talked about money, and how she lived out her faith. She will tell you she has struggled with comparison. She will admit that sometimes generosity is harder when it was not her idea. She will confess that writing a check can be easier than giving her time. But she will also tell you that every step toward open-handedness has led to greater joy.

We have heard stories like Leigh Ann’s over and over again. What makes them powerful isn’t necessarily the amount of money given away, but it’s seeing God help women understand their purpose, passion, and plan around generosity. They stop sitting on the sidelines. They begin asking better questions. They bring their voices, wisdom, relationships, resources, and influence into the Kingdom work happening around them.

Why Do We Focus on Women and Generosity?

At Women Doing Well, we’ve focused on researching, empowering, and equipping women in their generosity plan. Did you know:

• Women currently control the majority of the wealth in the United States, and 95% of women will be the primary financial decision makers for their families in their lifetime.

• Women control nearly half of all estates worth over $5 million.

• Women will control $30 trillion in intergenerational wealth by 2030.

There has never been a time in recorded history when women have had as much influence and affluence. And as this Great Wealth Transfer continues, women stewarding wealth are asking a new question:

What do we want our money to accomplish?

Because the reality is, money is simply a tool at our disposal. It doesn’t carry with it inherent meaning—its meaning is found in what we assign to it. So, how do we help women attach meaning to their resources so they can do good in the world?

These questions have been the driving force behind our brand-new research, Women, Wealth, & Faith, created in partnership with The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. This research points to a clear reality: Christian women are not standing on the sidelines of generosity. They are already engaged, already discerning, already leading, and often already confident in the purpose God has placed before them. While we won’t be able to give an in-depth analysis of the findings in this article, we’ll explore a few key principles.

In many households, generosity is not treated as one spouse’s project or preference but as a shared expression of stewardship.

1. Generosity Flourishes in Alignment

For many Christian women, giving is deeply personal. But it’s rarely private. Generosity touches marriages, families, friendships, churches, communities, advisors, and the next generation. It reveals what we value, what we trust, what we hope for, and what we believe God has entrusted to us.

That is why alignment matters.

In the Women, Wealth & Faith research, most married women reported that charitable giving decisions are made together with their spouse (72%). That’s good news. It suggests that, in many households, generosity is not treated as one spouse’s project or preference but as a shared expression of stewardship. When a husband and wife can pray, discern, and decide together, giving becomes more than a transaction. It becomes a shared act of faith.

Yet the research also shows that women often carry a significant leadership role in these decisions. Even among women who said they make giving decisions jointly with their spouse, many reported having more of a role than their spouse in those decisions. In households where one spouse was the primary decision-maker, women were far more likely than men to hold that role.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself in this position. You’re the one who notices the missionary update, remembers the family in need, or suggests supporting a new ministry. Rather than carrying those decisions alone, invite your family to share in them. Generosity grows when it becomes a shared conversation.

Generosity within a marriage is a balance. One spouse may have a stronger relational connection to the ministries they support. One may be more attentive to family needs, church needs, or nonprofit relationships. This doesn’t have to create competition. It can become a picture of mutual stewardship, where each spouse brings wisdom, conviction, and perspective to the table.

The goal isn’t for women to carry the burden of generosity alone, but to invite husbands, children, and families into the conversation.

But unity should not be assumed simply because a couple shares a checking account or signs the same year-end giving checks. Unity requires conversation.

A couple may technically give together while never fully discussing why they give, where they give, how much they give, or what they hope their giving will accomplish. One spouse may feel deeply connected to a ministry while the other is largely unaware of its work. One may feel eager to increase generosity while the other quietly feels anxious about financial security. One may see giving as a joyful expression of obedience, while the other sees it as a budget category that must compete with everything else.

This is where giving can become spiritually formative. It invites couples to ask deeper questions together:

What has God entrusted to us?

What needs has He placed before us?

What resources has He uniquely given our family?

What fears keep us from giving more freely?

What would it look like for our home to reflect openhanded stewardship?

The research found that giving is generally not a current source of marital conflict for most married respondents, with more than half saying it is never a source of conflict and another group saying it used to be but no longer is. This finding is encouraging. It suggests that for many households, giving can become a place of agreement and alignment rather than division. But it also reveals an opportunity. If giving used to be a source of conflict for some couples, but is not now, growth is possible. Couples can learn to talk about generosity with more trust, wisdom, and shared purpose.

Unity does not mean spouses will easily agree on every decision. It does not even mean every gift will be made jointly. Some households have shared giving, individual giving, or a combination of both. But alignment means that generosity is not hidden, resented, or disconnected from the broader stewardship of the household.

For married women, this may mean inviting more intentional conversation rather than simply carrying the giving decisions alone. It may mean saying, “I’d love for us to pray about where God is calling our family to give this year,” or, “This ministry has been on my heart, and I’d love to talk through it together.” It may mean naming both desire and concern: “I want us to grow in generosity, but I also want us to make decisions with wisdom and peace."

For single women, widows, or women whose financial decisions are not made in the context of marriage, alignment still matters. The research showed that family is an important influence on giving, with 79% rating their family as being “important” or “very important” for informing their giving. (98% and 95% of respondents, respectively, rated “my values” and “my faith” as “important” or “very important.”)

Generosity often grows in relationship. It may be shaped through conversations with children, siblings, parents, close friends, church leaders, or trusted mentors. For many women, giving is not only about the causes they support today but also about the legacy they are forming for those who will come after them.

This is especially important in a cultural moment when wealth transfer, family philanthropy, and women’s financial influence are expanding. The question is not only, “What will I give?” but also, “Who am I becoming as I give? And who am I inviting into that formation?”

Alignment is not passive agreement. It’s active discernment. It’s the willingness to bring money into the light, to speak honestly about hopes and fears, and to allow generosity to become a shared practice of faith.

For many women, generosity does not begin with a spreadsheet. It begins with a face, a story, a relationship, or a moment when a need becomes personal.

2. Purpose Is Discovered Through Participation

The research also reveals that generosity grows through proximity. Women most often named personal exposure to needs (43%) and involvement with nonprofit organizations (43%) as the most helpful resources for developing their giving.

This means that for many women, generosity does not begin with a spreadsheet. It begins with a face, a story, a relationship, or a moment when a need becomes personal.

Wise giving should involve planning, discernment, and accountability. But for Christian women, strategy is often most meaningful when it’s rooted in personal conviction. The question is not simply, “Where can my money be most efficient?” It’s also, “Where has God opened my eyes? What has He allowed me to see? What suffering, injustice, opportunity, or Kingdom work has He placed close enough for me to respond?”

Throughout Scripture, God often forms generosity through attention. The Good Samaritan does not merely believe in mercy as an abstract concept; he sees the wounded man on the road and moves toward him. Jesus does not treat the hungry crowds as a logistical inconvenience; He has compassion on them. The early church did not simply talk about generosity; believers saw needs within the body and responded.

For women in the research, this connection between personal experience and generosity appears to be central. This suggests women are not merely asking for more information. They are asking for meaningful connection.

This has important implications for how we talk about generosity.

Sometimes, giving is framed almost entirely in financial terms: How much should I give? What percentage is appropriate? What vehicle should i use? How can I reduce tax liability?

Those are legitimate stewardship questions. But they are not the whole story. She may know how to give, yet long for clarity about where to give. She may have financial capacity, but still needs space to discern her God-given passion. She may want her giving to be wise, but also personal, prayerful, and connected to what God is doing in and through her life.

The research found that women in this study were already overwhelmingly confident in their giving purpose and well-equipped to give. That confidence increased with age, and confidence in giving purpose was associated with both increased giving amounts and a higher percentage of income given. In other words, clarity of purpose and passion are not merely emotional. It may be connected to greater generosity.

That should encourage women who are still discerning their giving purpose. Purpose is not a luxury reserved for the ultra-wealthy or the professionally philanthropic. It’s a form of stewardship. When a woman understands what God has placed on her heart and how her resources can serve that calling, giving becomes less reactive and more faithful.

Making our giving personal may begin with a few simple questions:

What needs consistently move me to prayer?

What stories stay with me long after I hear them?

Where have I personally experienced God’s provision, healing, rescue, or mercy?

What injustice or suffering do I find difficult to ignore?

What ministries have shaped my own faith or the faith of my family?

Where do I see fruit that I want to help multiply?

Personal giving also guards against a purely transactional view of generosity. If giving becomes only a financial transfer, it can remain distant and detached. But when women draw near to the people and ministries they support, generosity can become relational. They begin to see not only what their giving funds but who it serves.

This does not mean every gift must come with deep personal involvement. There are times when the most faithful giving is quiet, unseen, and anonymous. But even then, the heart behind the gift can be deeply personal. A woman may give to foster care because of her own family story. She may support Bible translation because Scripture sustained her in a difficult season. She may invest in discipleship because another woman once discipled her. She may give toward widows, refugees, prisoners, students, entrepreneurs, or the poor because God has given her eyes to see them.

Personal giving is not self-centered. It is responsive. It recognizes that God often uses our experiences, relationships, wounds, and joys to shape our stewardship.

The opportunity for us is to pay attention. What has God already been stirring? What needs have already come close? What relationships, ministries, and burdens keep resurfacing? The answers may point toward a more purposeful giving plan.

3. Stewardship Thrives with Shared Values

The third principle is the importance of aligned counsel.

Many women in the research already have financial advisors, and most of those who do reported that their advisors are aligned with their values. They also reported long-term relationships with their advisors, conversations about faith-informed investing and giving strategies, and discussions around financial finish lines.

This confirms what I’ve witnessed for years. It suggests that many Christian women don’t want financial advice to be detached from their faith. They want counsel that understands money as a stewardship responsibility before God.

For Christians, our investment strategy, giving strategy, lifestyle decisions, estate planning, and family conversations cannot be separated from our beliefs and values. Money is a tool entrusted to us by God—an opportunity to love Him and serve others.

The research also found that women with financial advisors more often reported feeling knowledgeable about giving options, confident in their giving purpose, confident in current giving decisions, and prepared with well-developed plans for future giving. The report is careful to note that this is correlation, not causation. We cannot know from the data alone whether advisors are cultivating this confidence or whether women who are already more confident are more likely to seek advisors. Likely, both may be true.

The implication is encouraging: aligned counsel can be a meaningful part of moving from generosity intention to generosity action.

A wise advisor can help a woman translate conviction into a plan. She may know she wants to give more but feel unsure what’s possible. She may want to support multiple ministries, but needs help organizing her giving. She may wonder whether to give from income, appreciated assets, business interests, or estate plans. She may want to involve her children or grandchildren, but needs a framework for those conversations. She may be ready to set a financial finish line, but she needs help understanding what “enough” looks like in her actual circumstances.

Aligned counsel can help bridge the gap between desire and implementation.

But alignment matters. The research found that 82% of respondents with advisors said their advisor was aligned with their values. For Christian women, technical skill is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters. They need advisors who can listen well, respect their convictions, understand their goals, and make room for generosity as a central part of the financial plan.

An advisor who doesn’t understand a biblical approach to generosity may treat giving as an afterthought. An advisor who does not understand faith may unintentionally separate financial planning from spiritual formation. An advisor who does not understand a woman’s voice in the household may direct attention elsewhere, missing the person who is often deeply engaged in giving decisions. But an aligned advisor can ask better questions.

What does faithful stewardship look like in this season?

How much is enough for your lifestyle?

What giving opportunities are already on your heart?

How do you want your wealth to shape your family?

What would you like your children or grandchildren to learn about generosity?

Are there ministries you want to support now rather than later?

How can your giving plan reflect both wisdom and joy?

These questions help women move beyond fragmented giving. Instead of responding only to year-end appeals, emotional stories, or urgent requests, women can build a giving plan that reflects prayerful priorities. Instead of viewing generosity as separate from investing, retirement, taxes, and estate planning, they can integrate giving into the whole picture of stewardship.

Aligned counsel can help women in any season of life. In marriage, an advisor can create space for both spouses to participate in giving conversations. For single or widowed women, an advisor can serve as a steady partner in making complex decisions. For families, an advisor can help facilitate conversations about legacy, inheritance, and generosity before those conversations become urgent or emotionally charged.

Of course, an advisor should never replace prayer, Scripture, community, or personal conviction. Financial counsel is one form of wisdom, not the whole of wisdom. But when counsel is both technically competent and spiritually aligned, it can help women steward with greater confidence.

From Intention To Impact

Taken together, these findings tell a hopeful story.

Christian women are engaged in generosity. They are often confident in their purpose. They are influenced by faith, values, family, personal experience, nonprofit involvement, and trusted counsel. They are helping lead giving decisions in their homes. They are seeking alignment between what they believe and how they steward what God has entrusted to them.

The opportunity now is formation.

Alignment matters because generosity is not only about where money goes but what it forms in a household and family.

Making giving personal matters because God often uses proximity, experience, and relationship to awaken purpose.

Finding aligned counsel matters because conviction becomes more fruitful when it’s supported by wisdom, planning, and accountability.

God is inviting women to move from simply possessing wealth to stewarding it with purpose.

If you already give, the invitation is to keep growing in clarity. For women who feel unsure where to begin, the invitation is not to wait until every question is answered. Start with prayer. Start with conversation. Start with the needs God has placed close enough for you to see. Start by asking what He has entrusted to you and what faithfulness might require in this season.

Generosity is not merely a financial activity. It’s a way of participating in God’s work. It’s a declaration that everything we have belongs to Him. It’s a practice that loosens our grip on security and deepens our trust in our Provider. It’s one way the people of God bear witness to a Kingdom where treasure is not hoarded, neighbors are not forgotten, and love takes tangible form.

The women reflected in this research are already in motion. They are asking better questions, stepping into greater leadership, and seeking to align wealth with faith. The task ahead is to help more women do the same—with unity, with personal conviction, and with wise counsel that honors the God who owns it all.

Leigh Ann, and many women like her, thought generosity was about measuring, calculating, and getting it right. God showed her it was about partnering with Him in what He was already doing. We’ve watched that transformation happen in countless women. They stop sitting on the sidelines. They ask better questions. And as they discover their God-designed purpose, passion, and plan, their generosity becomes more than something they do—it becomes part of who they are.

This article was published in our Faithful Steward magazine, a quarterly publication filled with encouraging stories, biblical teaching, and practical tools to help you grow as a wise and joyful giver. If you'd like to begin receiving Faithful Steward, consider becoming a FaithFi partner.