CURRENT FUNDRAISING PRACTICES & PHILOSOPHIES ARE HARMFUL

By Anna Rebecca Lopez, AR Lopez Consulting

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(Introduction text)

A group of BIPOC* fundraisers and nonprofit professionals began a collaboration to build a movement for racial and economic justice, sharing dreams of a world beyond capitalism and the nonprofit industrial complex. To gauge perceptions of nonprofit fundraising, this group distributed a survey in May 2019. Intended to highlight the thoughts and experiences of fundraisers and presented through a series of infographics, here are some findings from over 2,000 fundraisers and nonprofit professionals surveyed.

*BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color

TAKEAWAY #1

(The following section is visualized through a brown box wrapped around the following text:)

The majority of fundraisers and nonprofit professionals are unhappy and think fundraising practices and philosophies are harmful to nonprofits’ work of addressing systemic injustice. While white and BIPOC folx generally agree that the current system is not working, a higher percentage of BIPOC are unhappy with the status quo.

(The following section is visualized through two line graphs stacked on top of each other, one of BIPOC fundraisers, which is colored in browns, tans, sea green, and pink-coral, and the other graph is of white fundraisers, which is colored in dark greens, sky blue, and cotton pinks. The charts show whether and how much fundraisers and nonprofit professionals think current fundraising practices and philosophies are harmful to nonprofits’ work of addressing systemic injustice.)

(The BIPOC graph:)

BIPOC fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are very harmful: 30%
BIPOC fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are somewhat harmful: 42%
BIPOC fundraisers who are neutral on current fundraising practices and philosophies: 10%
BIPOC fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are somewhat helpful: 14%
BIPOC fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are very helpful: 4%

(The white graph:)

White fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are very harmful: 15%
White fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are somewhat harmful: 47%
White fundraisers who are neutral on current fundraising practices and philosophies: 18%
White fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are somewhat helpful: 17%
White fundraisers who think current fundraising practices and philosophies are very helpful: 3%

TAKEAWAY #2

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Half of fundraisers and nonprofit professionals think there is a decrease of the diversity of fundraisers in the sector due to current fundraising philosophies and practices.

(The following section shows three circle/pie charts in yellow, pink, and dark green.)

(Pie chart #1 has a 58% wedge colored in, in yellow)

Over half of all nonprofit professionals surveyed (BIPOC and white) think fundraising philosophies and practices have led to a general decrease in the diversity of fundraisers in the sector. This means that not only are we seeing less people of color in fundraising, but we are also seeing fewer people who bring a variety of lived experiences, and provide unique ways of doing and being.

(Pie chart #2 has a 26% wedge outlined in pink)

White nonprofit professionals were generally more moderate in their responses compared to BIPOCs. One-fourth think current fundraising philosophies and practices have led to a significant decrease in the diversity of fundraisers (26%).

(Pie chart #3 has a 38% wedge colored in, in dark green)

In contrast, more than one-third of BIPOC nonprofit professionals think current fundraising philosophies and practices have led to a significant decrease in the diversity of fundraisers (38%).

TAKEAWAY #3

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Nearly all fundraisers and nonprofit professionals think current fundraising philosophies and practices increases competition among nonprofits.

(The following section shows a horizontal bar graph with two bars stacked on top of each other. One in blue and one in dark green. They depict the following information:)

89% of BIPOC respondents think current practices increase competition

83% of white respondents think current practices increase competition

TAKEAWAY #4

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Nearly all fundraisers and nonprofit professionals think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in poverty tourism.

(The following section shows two circle/pie charts in yellow and pink. They depict the following information:)

88% of BIPOC respondents [think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in poverty tourism.]

85% of white respondents [think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in poverty tourism.]

(Next to the pie charts, there is this bit of text that contextualized the pie charts:)

Survey respondents who think fundraising philosophies and practices increases poverty tourism.

(Next to the bit of text is a definition of poverty tourism in a dark green box:)

POVERTY TOURISM DEFINITION:

A type of tourism that involves visiting impoverished communities, and exploiting people for attraction purposes without providing monetary compensation.

TAKEAWAY #5

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Nearly all fundraisers and nonprofit professionals think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in white saviorism.

(The following section shows two circle/pie charts in blue and dark green. They depict the following information:)

90% of BIPOC respondents [think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in white saviorism.]

90% of white respondents [think current fundraising philosophies and practices lead to an increase in white saviorism.]

(Next to the pie charts, there is this bit of text that contextualized the pie charts:)

Survey respondents who think fundraising philosophies and practices increase white saviorism.

(Next to the bit of text is a definition of white saviorism in a dark indigo box:)

WHITE SAVIORISM DEFINITION:

A white person, culture, or organization who ‘rescues’ people of color from their own situation, often while taking away the ability for people of color to help themselves, grow as a community and/or to have a sense of agency.

(The following section is a new section. It takes about the demographics of respondents surveyed and is a mix of color graphs and charts along with accompanying text.)

WHO WAS SURVEYED?

The 2019 survey asked respondents to self-identify their race and/or ethnicity. Respondents were able to select multiple options of the list provided and were able to write-in races and/or ethnicities not provided in the options. The majority of respondents identified as white (84%), this included respondents who identified as Caucasian, Jewish, and/or European. Of the 16% of respondents who identified as BIPOC, this also included individuals who self-identified as coming from ‘mixed ancestry’ or ‘multi-racial.’

(Here, there is a dark indigo pie chart showing that 84% of respondents were white and 16 percent of respondents, shown as a pink wedge, were BIPOC.)

(Next to the BIPOC percentage, there is deeper-dive information. There is a breakdown of ethnicities of respondents who were surveyed. The list is shown as a bar graph in descending order, from highest percentage to smallest percentage. The list says:)

Latinx and/or Hispanic – 31%
Asian/Asian American – 29%
African American/Black/of the African diaspora – 22%
Native American/Indigenous/ First Nations – 8%
Arab American/Middle Eastern – 6%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander – 4%
South Asian/Indian – 1%

(The next subsection is titled “Age of Folx Surveyed” and features bar graphs in multiple colors, showing the ages of white respondents and and the ages of BIPOC respondents.)

AGE OF FOLX SURVEYED

BIPOC fundraisers also tend to be younger than white fundraisers who responded to the survey. Nearly half of BIPOC fundraisers are under the age of 35 years whereas less than a third of white fundraisers are under the age of 35. Conversely, more than one-third white fundraisers are over age 46 while about one-quarter of BIPOC fundraisers are over 46.

Gen Z, 19-25 years
BIPOC – 6%
white – 3%

Millennials, 26-35 years
BIPOC – 37%
white – 28%

Gen X, 36-45 years
BIPOC – 29%
white – 28%

Gen X, 46-55 years
BIPOC – 15%
white – 22%

Boomers, 56-65
BIPOC – 10%
white – 15%

Boomers, 66+
BIPOC – 2%
white – 4%

(The next subsection is titled “SOCIAL-ECONOMIC CLASS” and features bar graphs in multiple colors, showing how respondents identify.)

SOCIAL-ECONOMIC CLASS

Of those who do fundraising, BIPOC respondents have been doing so for less years than their white counterparts.

Lower class
BIPOC – 1%
white – 0.5%

Working class
BIPOC – 20%
white – 12%

Middle class
BIPOC – 56%
white – 54%

Upper-middle class
BIPOC – 19%
white – 30%

Upper class
BIPOC – 4%
white – 4%

(The last subsection three sets of bar graphs, depicting gender of white respondents and BIPOC respondents. The bar graphs are in brown, dark green, and yellow.)

Woman

81% BIPOC
87% white

Man

16% BIPOC
10% white

Non-binary

3% BIPOC
2% white

(The very bottom of the infographic shows the CCF logo on the left hand side. On the right hand side, it says: “© 2020 Community Centric-Fundraising” and “Infographic design by Stacy Nguyen.”)

This infographic is part of a multi-part series. Read part one of the series here. Follow CCF on Instagram, Facebook, or sign up for our mailing list to get notified of the next part!