Minorities & Charitable Giving: Short Research Paper

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- Recruitment and outreach, including a strategic plan for recruiting from underrepresented groups: Charities should aim to attract a diverse pool of applicant. Organizations need to realign their recruitment strategies in order to do so[7].

- Leadership development: A true test of an organization’s ability to reap the benefits of diversity depends on the extent to which its leadership, not only its staff, is diverse. Employees will be more involved and committed to their employer when their worldviews are reflected in the organization’s strategy to implement its mission and vision[8]. According to a forthcoming Council of Foundations survey cited in the Chronicle, only 14 % of board members are minorities.

- Valuing differences: This considers whether employees and managers appreciate the different cultural assumptions and biases that employees bring to their work—this includes programs aimed at bridging the cultural gap

- Promoting Fundraising profession in minorities[9]: Fundraising is not a career consideration for many minorities. Minorities may not stay in the fundraising profession because they usually find themselves at smaller non-profits that typically can’t offer enough pay for the work that is involved.

- Appropriate marketing and outreach to minority affairs office: local Charities need to reach out to colleges, employment agencies, government minority affairs offices in order to have a diverse staff and volunteers.

Donor level

Traditional donor pyramid works well for organization that raise most of their gifts from white donors but is not applicable when dealing with a culturally diverse donor base[10].

- Culture and prospect research for targeted cultivation strategies: Fundraisers should research the cultures of prospective donors before asking them for money. They should ask how they want to be involved, and their organizations should hire and cultivate fundraisers with a similar cultural heritage. Of the 30,000 members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals nationwide, only 11.5% are minorities.

- Effective outreach plan: Charities need to cultivate prospective donors in communities of color by understanding the best ways to engage them. They need to provide essential support during cultivation and stewardship that would motivate the minority donors.

- Strengthening peer-to peer solicitation: 20% of donors give because they were asked by a friends or family and another 15% gave because they wanted to connect with others in the community[11].

Case Study: Asian Culture

Asians play an integral role in the fabric of civic engagement and giving practices in the United States. In order to gain a better understanding of Asian philanthropy, it is important to first understand them in terms of population and educational attainment, income and household. Asians now account for 6% in United States. In addition, more Asians are graduating from colleges and universities. Asian American households outspend median US households by an average of 19%, and earn 28% more on average than the US median income. Additionally, the median Asian American household has grown 97% since 2000, with 28% of Asian American households reporting an income of more than $100,000. In comparison, 18% of US households report the same[12]. The brief case study explores the giving habits of the Asian Culture and the appendix provides a sample of strategies in targeting South Asian donor’s for higher education giving.

Asian cultures have a strong tradition of philanthropy in the broadest sense, though it has usually involved donations to relatives, neighbours, churches and business associations. Many Asian immigrants have not immediately embraced the Western-style practice of giving to large philanthropic institutions.

Members of a new class of affluent Asian-Americans, many of whom have benefited from booms in finance and technology, are making their mark on philanthropy in the United States. They are donating large sums to groups focused on their own diaspora or their homelands. This includes gifts to prestigious universities, museums, concert halls and hospital. The institutions, in turn, are increasingly courting Asian-Americans, who are taking high-profile slots on their governing boards.

The growth in philanthropy by Asian-Americans parallels a surge in the Asian population in the United States. From 2000 to 2010, according to the Census Bureau, the number of people who identified themselves as partly or wholly Asian grew by nearly 46 %, more than four times the growth rate of the overall population, making Asian-Americans the fastest growing racial group in the nation.

Giving trends[13]

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Conclusion

Raising money in today's diverse communities is a growing challenge for fundraisers and philanthropists, requiring thoughtful strategies, successful collaborations, and a respectful understanding of people's differences. Organizations must commit to diversity, both internally and among constituents and donors; to modifying the organizational mission so that it reflects this commitment. It is critical for organizations to answer the below four questions in order to successfully cultivate a diverse donor base:

- Who are diverse donors?

- What are their charitable traditions and interests?

- What fundraising methods will be successful in diverse communities?

- What can fundraisers do to include more diversity in fundraising efforts?

The changing population trend must be viewed by organizations as an opportunity to include & embrace the diverse donor base and increase the overall giving.

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Appendix

Religious diversity by population[14] Language diversity by population

English

80.27

Spanish

12.3

Chinese

0.88

Tagalog

0.53

French

0.48

Vietnamese