By ANNA PALMER and TARINI PARTI, POLITICO – For all the progress women have made in Congress and in elections, they are practically sitting out the new game that is redefining American politics: big money.It’s not that women want to leave it to men like Sheldon Adelson and Tom Steyer to sidle up to the table to shape important races and party politics. Rather, many fundraisers are learning that successfully collecting cash from women takes a different approach than doing so from men. In interviews, more than a dozen fundraisers, donors and political consultants said that when they reach out to women they bump up against deep cultural, strategic and logistical challenges that contrast markedly with how money has always been extracted from men.

‘Wooing women takes more of a personal touch. They want more of a relationship with the candidate and a better understanding of where their donations are going. Many women are motivated by solicitations about “women’s issues’’ like abortion or breast cancer research, but often women are turned off by not hearing about other issues, like the economy or health care.Women expect to attend the same events as their male counterparts, not teas or “women’s events.”Yet even as they identify more effective ways to woo female donors, fundraisers have a long way to go. Many believe that as top male donors pull further and further away, the next few years will become a critical period in the fight to close the gender and money gap.The top 20 male donors gave a combined $62.6 million, so far this cycle. That’s nearly six times the $11.2 million that top female donors contributed over the same time period, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of contributions made through July 10 to federal candidates and committees that disclose their donors.

Both parties see the long-standing trend getting worse. And they are investing in efforts to get women to open their wallets for the obvious reason — get new donors to write big checks so even more money fills political war chests.“I’m trying to change the numbers,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand D-N.Y.. “I purposely take time to reach out to women, speak directly with them on priorities, to engage them and get women to understand that decisions are made in Washington every day and if they aren’t a part of it they may not like the results.”

via Money gap: Why don’t women give? – Anna Palmer and Tarini Parti – POLITICO.com.