Diversity in Nonprofit America

In Senator Barack Obama's speech yesterday addressing the comments made by his former pastor, he mentioned our general hesitation (as a country) to address and confront blatant issues of race and inequality. This, again, led me to begin thinking about the California Foundation Diversity Act, and the overall state of "diversity" (however that be defined) and inclusivity within the nonprofit sector.

I highlight the term "within" because the nonprofit sector is arguably the best at reaching out to "diverse" communities, and communities in need; however, within the nonprofit organizations themselves: on the boards, in management, etc., "diversity" remains (too often) an elusive concept. Granted certain sub-sectors of the nonprofit sector will generally enojy greater "diversity" than others (e.g. public/societal benefit organizations may be more "diverse" than say....arts and culture related nonprofit organizations or foundations), however, at many levels (e.g. staff, management, and board) the overall "diversity" within the nonprofit sector remains low.

An article published by the Urban Institute in June 2007, addressed the issue of the lack of "diversity" on nonprofit boards noting in particular that:

Many nonprofit boards are cut off from the public they serve by an ethnically homogenous membership and a failure to engage in externally oriented activities...Fifty-one percent of nonprofit boards have only white, non-Hispanic members. Eighteen percent of nonprofits whose clientele is more than 50 percent black have no black trustees, while 32 percent of their Hispanic counterparts have no Hispanic board members. On average...86 percent of board members are non-Hispanic whites, 7 percent are black, 3.5 percent are Hispanic, and the balance are from other ethnic groups.

Additionally, if those findings weren't a bit unnerving, in regards to giving (although not specifically within the nonprofit sector per se...), it has often been noted (and researched) that "asking" is among the greatest determinants of whether or not people give to nonprofit organizations. However, Hodgkinson, Nelson, and Sivak (2000) found in studying individual giving that:

Blacks and Hispanics are not asked to give at the same rate as whites in the general population. Although, findings clearly show that...these groups are more likely to give when asked than other groups in the population.

Could it be that the make up of many nonprofit fundraising staffs, similar to the make up of many nonprofit boards, are a bit too homogenous (therby possibly leading many fundraising professionals to operate within their own comfort-levels)?

Fellow blogger, Rosetta Thurman, has twice addressed the need for increased "diversity" within the nonprofit/philanthropic community. Here, she posts a blog titled, "Philanthropy doesn't care about black people," and here another titled, "Independent Sector speaks out on diversity: We need to do better." Both rather interesting posts.

All things considered, it seems obvious what must occur.

We (we, being a collective) MUST do better, and we MUST not be afraid to address issues of "diversity" within the sector. The demographics of America are changing--and fast. Accordingly, the nonprofit sector must make a commitment to being inclusive of those changes.

Diversity in Nonprofit America