In a year when giving to support racial and social justice was a major focus in philanthropy, everyday donors of color didn’t always get the attention they deserved. A new report from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy shows how critical these donors have been in driving giving to those causes and influencing the giving landscape.
Total giving for social and racial justice increased in 2020, the report found. Over all, 16 percent of American households gave to those causes in 2020, an increase from 13 percent of households in 2019.
Donors of color led the shift, the report found. Thirty-one percent of Asian American households, 19 percent of Black households, and 14 percent of Hispanic households said they gave to those causes in 2020, while 13 percent of white non-Hispanic households did so.
The report adopts an expansive definition of giving that includes contributions to grassroots social movements and direct support for individuals or families affected by racial injustice, in addition to the more typical focus on education, environmental, health, and other nonprofits.
“There’s an important opportunity here to expand the definition of philanthropy to include not just one way of giving but all of these many ways that communities have always engaged,” says Una Osili, associate dean for research and international programs at the Lilly Family School.
“In 2020, the goal was how do you get resources into the hands of the people who can actually use the funds, who are driving change, who are achieving impact,” Osili says. “We’re seeing that some longstanding practices are actually very effective in meeting needs.”
The report, “Everyday Donors of Color: Diverse Philanthropy During Times of Change,” is based on several research efforts: a national survey of 1,535 households conducted in September 2020 with the National Opinion Research Center, insights from a series of focus groups with diverse donors across the country, a literature review, and an analysis of case studies on the impact of mutual-aid networks.
These networks of support emphasize members of a community coming together in solidarity to meet each other’s needs, whether through giving money, goods, or volunteering time. The practice has long existed in communities of color, and over the past 18 months, such groups proliferated across the country and gained mainstream visibility.
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Donors across all racial and ethnic groups give directly to people they know, but the report found that Black Americans are more likely to help and give money to strangers in need. Seventy-six percent of Black donors said they give to strangers compared with just under 50 percent of donors over all.
People who are generous tend to be generous in many ways. The survey found that donors of color are engaged in multiple forms of generosity that are not often considered in discussions of giving. For example, about 70 percent said they had donated goods in a given year, 53 percent had they volunteered, 34 percent had donated blood, and 34 percent had given through a crowdfunding site.
Although the report found no statistically significant difference among racial or ethnic groups in terms of using technology to make contributions, donors who gave to racial- or social-justice causes were more likely to have given through a crowdfunding platform in a given year. Of the donors who gave to social- or racial-justice causes in 2019, about 59 percent said they had given through a crowdfunding platform in a given year. Over all, more than one third of donors reported giving through crowdfunding.
People who gave directly to friends and family tended to be more inclined to give to nonprofits as well, Osili says.
After controlling for factors that affect giving, like education and income, there is no statistically significant difference in rates of charitable giving across racial and ethnic groups. These findings are particularly important in light of the fact that recent census data shows growing racial and ethnic diversity nationwide.
Many communities of color are in a position to support organizations financially, Osili says. “It really comes down to are they being asked, are they being engaged?”
Spreading Influence
Grassroots leaders in communities of color have helped influence the approach of the broader philanthropic community, the report found. This includes wealthy individual donors as well as institutional philanthropy looking to grassroots leaders and organizations led by people of color for guidance on where to give.
The report cites examples like the Baltimore-based organization CLLCTIVLY, which helps direct support from individual and foundation donors to local Black-led organizations. The organization received $125,000 from Baltimore Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell and $75,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation to help it expand economic opportunities for Baltimore’s Black-led nonprofits during the pandemic. The group, led by Jamye Wooten, also runs a series of participatory grant-making programs that support both organizations and individuals making change in their communities.
Wooten and many other grassroots leaders and donors of color have served as a bridge, helping individual and institutional donors become more responsive to real-time needs within communities, Osili says.
The focus groups and literature review identified diverse approaches to giving within and among various communities of color. But there were also some commonalities.
One reason donors of color may choose to organize is a lack of trust that mainstream organizations will efficiently meet their needs. As a donor in the Indigenous American focus group said, “We understand that as people of color, we can’t rely on the government or big philanthropy to come in and rescue us. We organized ourselves to take care of our communities over the past year.”
The report highlights the importance of building more inclusive organizations in the aftermath of the pandemic and beyond if nonprofits hope to attract support from donors of color.
“It’s very hard to bring diverse donors to an organization that doesn’t have room at the table where different types of backgrounds are given a seat and have a role to play,” Osili says.
The report is the first of a three-part effort to study the giving patterns of donors of color over time. Other research efforts include an examination at how donors of color have changed their giving strategies over a longer period of time and a deeper look at how donors of color respond to recurring donation tactics online.
