Reversing the political donations gender gap in federal systems: The role of issue salience and financial equality

Despite a persistent gender gap in political donations—where men donate more than women—recent Canadian research suggests this gap can reverse when financial resources are equalized and donors consider provincial parties. Building on this insight, we investigate the mechanisms driving gendered donation behavior using a pre-registered survey experiment. By manipulating financial resources and issue salience in a federal system, we assess donations to Canadian federal and provincial parties. Our findings show that, with equalized resources, women are more likely to donate to provincial parties when issues and jurisdictions are not primed. However, when issue salience is highlighted beforehand, women’s donation behavior aligns more closely with men’s. These results suggest that the gender gap in political donations may be shaped not only by material constraints but also by institutional context and access to political information at the time of decision-making.