Business

Business Pro Tip: Focus on Diversity in Your Donor Solicitation

Associations hoping to make an impact with their fundraising this Giving Tuesday should consider this emerging demographic gap.

With Giving Tuesday coming up next week, associations with foundations and other fundraising arms are looking for ways to reach donors of all kinds.

One thing to consider when evaluating their donor outreach strategies? Diversity, according to recent research.

What’s the Strategy?

A recent report from Give.org, a subsidiary of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, reveals that racial minorities are increasingly interested in donating to charities—but there’s a gap in outreach.

Give.org’s Donor Trust Report: Profiles in Charity Trust and Giving [PDF] highlights that there’s interest among racial minorities in donating more to causes, especially if they’re approached.

The study finds that 62 percent of white respondents say they do not want to be approached more by charities, but at least 50 percent of Black and Hispanic/Latino respondents, as well as 39 percent of Asian respondents, have expressed interest in receiving more outreach. For all three groups, more than a quarter (28 percent) say that they might be willing to give more if approached, while 22 percent of Black and Hispanic respondents say they want to be approached by charities more.

Those numbers also represent improvement from prior years around how Black and Hispanic groups view charity solicitation, the report stated.

Why Is It Effective?

Reconsidering demographics could be an opportunity to help close gaps in outreach that emerged in earlier efforts, the report noted.

“Concentration in certain demographic groups can be a sign of diversity in donor preferences or a successful targeted strategy,” the report said. “On the other hand, it can reflect gaps in outreach or opportunities for engagement.”

Many groups are looking to occasions such as Giving Tuesday to help support causes related to diversity, equity, and inclusion—a major issue that received renewed attention on Giving Tuesday 2020, in a year that saw racial equity, along with COVID-19, become top of mind for many donors.

“The growing interest in racial equity in the broader philanthropic community suggests that donors of color may have more opportunities to continue their long-standing work around these issues,” an August study [PDF] from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy stated.

The Give.org study found that minority groups were more likely to donate to civil rights and community action organizations.

What’s the Potential?

Another place to look for donor outreach, per the Give.org survey, is younger generations—with 18.6 percent of those in Gen Z saying they would like charities to approach them more, and 37.2 percent saying they’d be willing to give more if a nonprofit contacted them.

Diving into the data of your organization could help you find new audiences to target with your messaging … on Giving Tuesday and beyond.

(fizkes/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

Got an article tip for us? Contact us and let us know!


Comments