The present study aimed to identify and analyze the inhibiting factors affecting the sustainable participation of sports philanthropists, with a particular emphasis on women’s sport. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive–survey in nature. The statistical population consisted of philanthropists, faculty members in the fields of sport management, sociology and Islamic studies, as well as managers of endowment and charitable institutions. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis, and its reliability was verified using Cronbach’s alpha (0.857). For data analysis, SPSS and AMOS software were used. The one-sample t-test was employed to compare the mean of respondents' opinions with the average value, and the Friedman test was utilized to prioritize the inhibiting factors. The results revealed five main factors as barriers to philanthropists’ participation, ranked in order of importance as follows: awareness-raising, information dissemination, and knowledge exchange flows; management and planning for the development of women’s sport; cultural and religious beliefs, values, and attitudes; laws, regulations, and legal frameworks governing the sport sector; and financial conditions, costs, and economic constraints. Among these, informational factors played the most significant inhibiting role. The novelty of the present study lies in its focus on women's sport as an overlooked area. Going beyond economic barriers, it identifies, through quantitative prioritization, the role of non-financial factors—particularly awareness-raising, information dissemination, and knowledge exchange flows—as the most significant obstacle to the sustainable participation of philanthropists in women's sport. Based on the findings, key recommendations include: establishing a transparent national system for introducing projects; designing media campaigns to modify cultural attitudes; formulating special legal and tax incentives for philanthropists; and training sport managers.