Women are changing the world, one donation at a time.(Career Connections)(philanthropy )

"Most people think that Americans are generous because we are rich," said Dr. Claire Gaudiani, former president of Connecticut College and now a senior research scholar at the Yale Law School. "The truth is that we are rich, in significant part, because we are generous."

Gaudiani quoted the opening lines from her book, The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism, at a May meeting of WomenConnected, a philanthropic women's organization that supports innovative programs and projects at Waukesha Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin.

Gaudiani is no stranger to raising money. While at the helm of Connecticut College for 13 years, she quintupled its endowment from $31 million to $166 million. Although men gave many of the school's larger donations, over the years it has been women's generosity that has led to dramatic social change there.

The word philanthropy comes from two Greek words: philos, which means loving and anthropos, which means mankind. "Both of these qualities are found in abundance in women," she noted.

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Gaudiani shared some data on philanthropy:

* In 2003, Americans gave away $241 billion, more than the gross domestic product of many countries.