Is Your Fundraising Strategy Really Diverse?

Best practices articel from onPhilanthropy asks the question: Is your donor base as diverse as the population you serve:

Some quotes:

…newly-implemented planned gift strategy is important to maintain the vitality of the organization, another means of diversification is oftentimes ignored; that of the donors themselves.

Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the US population and the next fifty years alone will see the Hispanic population increase by 67 million people.

…before immersing yourself in language classes or history lessons, you must remember your fundraising principles. People frequently become uneasy when discussing race. But there are some fundamental fundraising rules that apply to all donors, regardless of skin color.

The old adage applies. How will you determine a donor’s ability to give, why would the donor be interested in your organization, and who

Where are you getting your prospect information? Remember, you can’t diversify by gleaning all of your prospective donors from Forbes.

After you have developed a strategy, diversify your organization in line with that strategy. Hire people who are interested in different ethnic groups. Start with your own staff, your vendors, and your board. It is then that you will notice that while your donors continue to look like the faces of those working in your organization, these faces will have changed to encompass a broader, wider range of individuals.