Press Release: Diversifying Donors Give Millions - New report

Contact:
Daria Teutonico, 202/467-1123

Diversifying Donors Give Millions to Make a Difference

New Report Examines Growth of Organized Giving by Communities of Color

Washington, D.C. – The face of the country is changing, and with it, the face of philanthropy. By 2050, people of color will make up more than half of the U.S. population. As the population of America has diversified, so too have the ranks of donors who are finding new ways to turn personal success into community gain.

“Across the nation, people of color have a long and generous tradition of giving,” said Daria Teutonico, director of the New Ventures in Philanthropy Initiative of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. “Now these donors are finding new, more structured ways to give back and address community needs by creating foundations, donating to pooled funds, or starting giving circles.”

A new report and collection of stories by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers reveal that racial, ethnic and tribal philanthropy is a growing trend across the United States that has generated millions of dollars for community needs like health care and education. Diverse donors are giving in diverse ways to help their communities. For example:

  • The Asian American Giving Circle in New York is a group of young Asian professionals in banking and finance who have pooled their money to address issues facing children and the elderly in their community. To date, they’ve raised $20,000 to help the Queens Child Guidance Center hire additional social workers to serve Asian-American clients.
  • The Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund has built a $1.2 million endowment over the past 20 years from donations by local businesses and Latino community members. The Fund gives $80,000 in grants each year to area nonprofits that serve the Latino community. Because it is so close to the community, it can respond quickly to urgent needs, such as providing operating money to keep a local day care center from closing.
  • In Northern Arizona, the Hopi Foundation has raised over $1 million to help Hopi tribal members sustain their culture while improving jobs and health care and reducing poverty among the 7,000 residents of the reservation. The Foundation oversees 17 projects, including Gentle Rain, which helps Hopi seamstresses market their traditional Hopi designs on fleece made from recycled plastic.
  • Tiffany Singleton of Houston, Texas rallied alumni and business colleagues in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to raise $20,000 to rebuild destroyed sections of her alma mater, historically black Dillard University in New Orleans.

“This report documents how people of color are finding innovative ways to make a difference using unique giving vehicles that celebrate their cultural traditions,” said Teutonico. “These new forms of philanthropy are in turn garnering support from community and private foundations that benefit from the racial, ethnic or tribal donors’ expert, first hand knowledge of community needs.”

The Chicago Community Trust houses two initiatives aimed at encouraging Black and Latino philanthropy in the Chicago area. One of them, the Nuestro Futuro Initiative has raised $2 million from Latino business and civic leaders in Chicago so far and distributed $200,000 in grants this year to organizations providing support to Latino parents with special needs children and Spanish-speaking immigrants, among others.

Leading private foundations are also investing in racial, ethnic and tribal philanthropy. For instance, the California Endowment has invested more than $10 million since 2000 to support racial, ethnic and tribal funds in California that address diverse issues from improving health care for African Americans to preserving native burial sites.

To assist foundations and prospective donors to learn more about the opportunities presented by racial, ethnic and tribal philanthropy, the Forum has created an online Racial, Ethnic and Tribal Philanthropy Knowledge Center. The center, http://www.givingforum.org/retphilanthropy, includes “how to" resources about the nuts and bolts of building racial, ethnic and tribal philanthropy; stories showcasing the diversity of the field; and resources created especially for private and community foundations.

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The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers is a national network of local leaders and organizations across the United States that support effective charitable giving. The Forum houses the New Ventures in Philanthropy Initiative, launched in 1998 to encourage the growth of philanthropic giving across the country. For more information, visit www.givingforum.org.