Latinos and Latino philanthropy

 By Kristen Schulte

The growth of the Latino population “in the United States over the last half-century has been one of the most dynamic demographic shifts in American history," as reported by Gutierrez in a report titled Report on Latinos and Philanthropy in the United States.

 

What does this mean for Latino nonprofits and Latino philanthropy?

Latino communities' “rapid growth makes this group an important factor in the demographic future of the United States”(Gutierrez, pg. 1) which has been recognized by many in for-profit businesses for the potential of sales and revenues in Latino communities. Latino nonprofits and Latino philanthropy will need to access Latino donors in order to support and “expand” in the future (Gutierrez, pg. 1).

 

What type of growth are we talking about?

The Hispanic population growth, by 2025 will be the “largest racial or/and ethnic group” in the state of “California comprising of 43% of the state’s total population”. “And perhaps most significantly, by 2050 the United States’ Latino population is expected to reach 96.5 million” of the nation’s total population (Gutierrez, pg. 1).

To shed some light on this growing population is a YouTube video developed by Hispanics in Philanthropy titled Cultures of Giving.

 

Historical roots of Latino charitable giving

The Latino community “has had a long-standing tradition” in the United States of supporting informal, traditional voluntary associations, which is “generally done through organizations or causes that are close to the heart of individuals”, like that of the majority U.S. culture, according to Kari Pardoe.

Pardoe found that “Informal giving is a historical value of the Latino community for more than 500 years...Formal charitable giving in the 1600s and 1700s in Latin America took place through the local church and affiliated organizations." The Roman Catholic Church furnished a range of services, primarily in these three areas:

•    Financial
•    Legal
•    Social services

Particularly for needy families, although informal giving to kinship networks, both in the United States and abroad, was (and continues to be) a characteristic of Latino philanthropy. Figure 1 is a timeline of significant historical events for Latino philanthropy to gain a perspective of the historical foundation that Latino philanthropy stand on. -->

Date	Significant Historical Events for Latino Philanthropy
Late 1800	Latino groups in the United States began developing mutual aid societies. The organizations gave relatively informal aid in a variety of areas.
Late 1900	Latino funds began to be created to better respond to the unique needs of Hispanic communities
Successful Formal Institutions of U.S. Hispanic Philanthropy
1983	Hispanic Development Fund in Kansas City, Missouri was founded.
1983	National association of Hispanic Philanthropic leaders called Hispanics in Philanthropy is founded
1989	Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco was founded under the “premise of being an organization that would help Hispanics and Latinos help themselves”.
1996	Kellogg Foundation gave support to a group of Hispanic funds for technical assistance, including training in the establishment of endowments.
1999	Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame was founded and plays “a vital role in fostering understanding of the US Latino experience”.
1999	Hispanic business community established the New American Alliance, a membership organization devoted to promoting Hispanic charity, states the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

Figure 1: Latinos' historical roots of the world of philanthropy are an indicator to the future growth as the 21st century’s number of formal Latino nonprofits has grown rapidly.

 One example is the organization discussed in this video titled Hispanics in Philanthropy in 5 minutes from the Hispanics in Philanthropy.

Moving Forward: Significant Factors

Being aware of the opportunity present in Latino Nonprofits and Latino Philanthropy is important in strengthen Latino leaders and Latino nonprofits in communities.

The first suggested processes is to understand what motivates Latinos to make donations in the first place, Latino and other nonprofits should be aware of several significant factors.

1. Administrators must “be aware of the positive influence of payroll deduction” on Hispanic charitable giving.
2. “There is some evidence in the literature that Hispanic givers prefer to donate through Hispanic community funds and federated campaigns”
3. “Professionals raising money for educational or health organizations may want to emphasize the use of telephone solicitation in their annual development plans. Hispanic charitable givers who responded to a phone solicitation were four times more likely to donate to health organizations than Hispanic givers who did not respond to a phone solicitation.”
4. “Faith-based community organizations may also have special appeal to Hispanic givers." As previously stated, Hispanics have a history of giving to the Roman Catholic Church. According to this analysis, “Hispanic charitable givers who were members of a religious organization and those who felt a religious obligation to give to charity were more likely to donate to a religious organization” 
5. “More specifically, Hispanic charitable givers who also volunteered their time were more likely to make a donation to these categories of organizations. As Hispanic volunteers become more involved in their community organizations, like others they become more invested in the organization, which can lead to more consistent donations and larger charitable gifts in the future” 

 By understanding which circumstances would encourage Latinos contribute more, nonprofit organizations can systematically and successfully tap into Latino sources of wealth to be able to support the needs of the Latino community.

 

Resources

If you would like more information on the topics of Latino philanthropy, here are a few useful links:

Hispanics in Philanthropy Call for Action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR6VJq3r06s&list=UUaFU4gZTMDwCxCsODaBc7Sw&index=2

Shakira's speech at the swearing-in ceremony for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wz9O_WKZvo

Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) Lab - The 2010 Census What the Numbers Mean and How Funders Can Respond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Amax-IGME