Adelante! A Message for Latino Focused Nonprofits
I like to think being a fundraiser for years is similar to dog years. Do you know how dog years are 3 to 1 or something like that? Well, I have been a fundraiser for 34 years. So that must make me 100 years in fundraising? Ok, the humor aside. Those years have allowed me to see some long term trends, some good and some not so much.
For a long time, I was one of only a handful of Latino fundraisers nationally in a leadership role. Being the “only brown guy in the room” has improved over time. There is still a huge imbalance in leadership positions in nonprofits and fundraising, even in a state like California, Illinois or New York.
What’s been alarming to me is the chronic and historic state of Latino led and focused nonprofits nationally. As you know my big soapbox has always been that nonprofits under-invest intentionally in fundraising and suffer the financial consequences. Small nonprofits stay small nonprofits while universities and hospitals raise billions year after year.
But with Latino led nonprofits it’s an even bleaker picture. While I know nationally 70% of nonprofits don’t have a major giving program, I would anecdotally bet that 98% of Latino nonprofits don’t have one. Most subsist on a fee for service models, foundation money or small mailings.
What I’d like to say to my fellow Latinos in nonprofits is that we need to change this internally. We need to up our game, dramatically in fundraising. If we are waiting for help, it’s not coming.
The white-dominated foundation community only commits 1.8% of giving annually to Latino led organizations. We are invisible to Program Officers, Foundation Boards that know little of our community crisis and culture. They may be sympathetic but we are outgunned in our fundraising sophistication time and time again.
No, real change in the power of Latino nonprofits has to come from within. From our people. We are generous people; we are under attack and there are tens of millions of us. These are the ingredients for change.
Its time to cast away the divisions we so love. You're from Jalisco, I am from Sonora, you're from Honduras and I am from the DR. To the people ignoring us, to the people attacking us. We are just filthy Mexicans, or “illegals”.
Unity. It’s a must.
I live in a city full of liberals, even socialists. Three times walking down the street, twice in a suit and tie since 2016 I have had anonymous white people run up to me and verbally tell me my day was over. “There is a new Sherriff in town” and “we are going to send all of your job stealers back”. They saw my brown skin and assumed it was open season on me. Never before have I waded through rivers of hate.
So time to stop wringing our hands, waiting for foundation dollars or government grants. Time to turn to the thousands we serve and ask them to give, even a little. Philanthropy is empowerment. We are seen as victims that need help. Let’s help ourselves. Yes, the poor can give and even a little is a piece of power for them and their families. We have the numbers, there are new fundraising programs out there taking advantage of numbers.
Why aren’t Latino organizations taking advantage of those programs? Because they don’t know about them, and because like many nonprofits they too suffer from low investment in fundraising. I speak at AFP and APRA conferences nationally and it’s a rarity to meet a Latino focused nonprofit at one of those important professional development opportunities.
We need to recognize our leaders too. And guys for me I bet on our Latina’s every time. They have the integrity and guts to get this new phase in our community nonprofits done. We need a massive new influx of Latina’s in fundraising. Money is power. Fundraising raises money.
Take a look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nothing terrifies right-wing privileged men like her. They throw tantrums when she speaks like spoiled 12 yr old boys. They desperately try to sexualize and demean her. They can’t. It’s like the maid in their house is telling them off. She is beautiful, a fire eater and she wins! She has the same effect as water on the Wicked Witch.
We need women like that in fundraising. We need these women in nonprofits working for our people, making big gifts or campaigns happen. Can you imagine? Yes, we can raise millions not thousands for our people. To get children out of cages, to put young people through college, to invest in our public health programs and yes to put more Latina’s in Congress. Our African American sisters and brothers have done this for over 100 years.
I am seeing some new methods and new success around the country. As you know I have had success in individual major giving for example. I have seen giving circles developed, social media campaigns and more. The horror that is the Trump presidency has awoken some new giving and activism. I have seen our foundations and organizations work to get us into philanthropy, work to get the attention of the foundation community.
But the piece we are missing is we more and much more advanced fundraising for Latino focused organizations.
Start by joining the world of fundraising. Go to your local AFP sessions, attend AFP ICON. Learn about the wonderful world of Prospect Research! Latino leaders need to invest in fundraising and recognize that fundraising isn’t overhead or waste. We need to pay people a decent salary where they can survive and hopefully not get poached by a university or hospital. We need to invest time and patience. We need to stop acting like fundraising is someone else’s job.
It’s always amazing for me to see nonprofit leaders, including leaders of Latino, focused organizations shrug and say there is no money for fundraising while at the same time plowing most of their budget into the program. Hiring new staff in program. Development isn’t overhead, it isn’t waste. It’s program. Get it? A smart investment in Development is increasing the program.
And please hire a small team. The number one mistake is hiring a single Development Officer, often underpaid to do the job of 3 people! This is the norm out there.
But the main message here is let’s ask ourselves. How do we raise a lot more money? How do we use our numbers and creativity to step up and raise the millions we need? Leadership, Board and CEO’s need to look in the mirror and ask themselves why they dislike fundraising? Fundraising is the voice of the people, let’s turn it up!
For a long time, I was one of only a handful of Latino fundraisers nationally in a leadership role. Being the “only brown guy in the room” has improved over time. There is still a huge imbalance in leadership positions in nonprofits and fundraising, even in a state like California, Illinois or New York.
What’s been alarming to me is the chronic and historic state of Latino led and focused nonprofits nationally. As you know my big soapbox has always been that nonprofits under-invest intentionally in fundraising and suffer the financial consequences. Small nonprofits stay small nonprofits while universities and hospitals raise billions year after year.
But with Latino led nonprofits it’s an even bleaker picture. While I know nationally 70% of nonprofits don’t have a major giving program, I would anecdotally bet that 98% of Latino nonprofits don’t have one. Most subsist on a fee for service models, foundation money or small mailings.
What I’d like to say to my fellow Latinos in nonprofits is that we need to change this internally. We need to up our game, dramatically in fundraising. If we are waiting for help, it’s not coming.
The white-dominated foundation community only commits 1.8% of giving annually to Latino led organizations. We are invisible to Program Officers, Foundation Boards that know little of our community crisis and culture. They may be sympathetic but we are outgunned in our fundraising sophistication time and time again.
No, real change in the power of Latino nonprofits has to come from within. From our people. We are generous people; we are under attack and there are tens of millions of us. These are the ingredients for change.
Its time to cast away the divisions we so love. You're from Jalisco, I am from Sonora, you're from Honduras and I am from the DR. To the people ignoring us, to the people attacking us. We are just filthy Mexicans, or “illegals”.
Unity. It’s a must.
I live in a city full of liberals, even socialists. Three times walking down the street, twice in a suit and tie since 2016 I have had anonymous white people run up to me and verbally tell me my day was over. “There is a new Sherriff in town” and “we are going to send all of your job stealers back”. They saw my brown skin and assumed it was open season on me. Never before have I waded through rivers of hate.
So time to stop wringing our hands, waiting for foundation dollars or government grants. Time to turn to the thousands we serve and ask them to give, even a little. Philanthropy is empowerment. We are seen as victims that need help. Let’s help ourselves. Yes, the poor can give and even a little is a piece of power for them and their families. We have the numbers, there are new fundraising programs out there taking advantage of numbers.
Why aren’t Latino organizations taking advantage of those programs? Because they don’t know about them, and because like many nonprofits they too suffer from low investment in fundraising. I speak at AFP and APRA conferences nationally and it’s a rarity to meet a Latino focused nonprofit at one of those important professional development opportunities.
We need to recognize our leaders too. And guys for me I bet on our Latina’s every time. They have the integrity and guts to get this new phase in our community nonprofits done. We need a massive new influx of Latina’s in fundraising. Money is power. Fundraising raises money.
Take a look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nothing terrifies right-wing privileged men like her. They throw tantrums when she speaks like spoiled 12 yr old boys. They desperately try to sexualize and demean her. They can’t. It’s like the maid in their house is telling them off. She is beautiful, a fire eater and she wins! She has the same effect as water on the Wicked Witch.
We need women like that in fundraising. We need these women in nonprofits working for our people, making big gifts or campaigns happen. Can you imagine? Yes, we can raise millions not thousands for our people. To get children out of cages, to put young people through college, to invest in our public health programs and yes to put more Latina’s in Congress. Our African American sisters and brothers have done this for over 100 years.
I am seeing some new methods and new success around the country. As you know I have had success in individual major giving for example. I have seen giving circles developed, social media campaigns and more. The horror that is the Trump presidency has awoken some new giving and activism. I have seen our foundations and organizations work to get us into philanthropy, work to get the attention of the foundation community.
But the piece we are missing is we more and much more advanced fundraising for Latino focused organizations.
Start by joining the world of fundraising. Go to your local AFP sessions, attend AFP ICON. Learn about the wonderful world of Prospect Research! Latino leaders need to invest in fundraising and recognize that fundraising isn’t overhead or waste. We need to pay people a decent salary where they can survive and hopefully not get poached by a university or hospital. We need to invest time and patience. We need to stop acting like fundraising is someone else’s job.
It’s always amazing for me to see nonprofit leaders, including leaders of Latino, focused organizations shrug and say there is no money for fundraising while at the same time plowing most of their budget into the program. Hiring new staff in program. Development isn’t overhead, it isn’t waste. It’s program. Get it? A smart investment in Development is increasing the program.
And please hire a small team. The number one mistake is hiring a single Development Officer, often underpaid to do the job of 3 people! This is the norm out there.
But the main message here is let’s ask ourselves. How do we raise a lot more money? How do we use our numbers and creativity to step up and raise the millions we need? Leadership, Board and CEO’s need to look in the mirror and ask themselves why they dislike fundraising? Fundraising is the voice of the people, let’s turn it up!
