In an effort to better understand the efforts of nonprofit organizations when it comes to diversity and the ways in which their foundation funders are interacting with and/or supporting those efforts, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) sent surveys to 338 leaders of nonprofit organizations with annual expenses between $100,000 and $100 million.

CEP referenced the D5 definition of diversity: "The demographic mix of a specific collection of people, taking into account elements of human difference, but focusing particularly on: racial and ethnic groups (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas, African Americans and blacks, and American Indians and Alaska Natives); LGBT populations; people with disabilities; and women."

The study, supported in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was conducted over a four-week period in January and February 2018. The 32-question survey was themed around three key questions:

• In what ways is diversity relevant to nonprofit organizations’ goals?

• What demographic information are nonprofits collecting, and how is that information used?

• How are foundations involved in the diversity efforts of grantees, and how would those grantees like their funders to be involved?

With just over 200 responses in hand, the research provides a compelling look at the sector, captured in the CEP report "Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations."

Ellie Buteau, vice president, research, CEP shared in a blog post, "We hope that the data proves useful for foundations and nonprofits alike, and that it sparks more conversation between the two about how and why diversity is essential for the effectiveness of nonprofits and their foundation funders."

Key Finding – Organization Staff Diversity

• While 64 percent of nonprofit CEOs believe that in order to achieve their organization’s goals, it’s very or extremely important for their board to be diverse, only 22 percent believe their board is very or extremely diverse.

• Though 61 percent of nonprofit CEOs believe that in order to achieve their organization’s goals, it’s very or extremely important for their board to reflect those they seek to serve, only 26 percent of CEOs believe their boards are reflecting those populations very or extremely well.

• 70 percent of nonprofit CEOs believe it is very or extremely important for their organization’s staff to be diverse, but only 36 percent believe their staff are actually very or extremely diverse.

Buteau writes, "Nonprofit leaders recognize that they have room for improvement in terms of how diverse they believe their staffs and boards should be in order to achieve their organization’s goals versus how diverse they currently are - and they also recognize they have steps to take to better reflect the populations they are serving, and that it’s important for them to do so."

According to a 2015 data analysis, while people of color represented 30 percent of the American workforce, only 18 percent of nonprofit staff and 22 percent of foundation staff were comprised of people of color. For foundations, those numbers significantly decrease when looking at leadership and board positions.

Key Finding – Discussing Diversity with Nonprofits

Nearly half of nonprofit CEOs (42 percent) report that their organization’s foundation funders have not discussed diversity issues with them. And, of the nonprofit CEOs whose foundation funders request demographic information, only 21 percent report that those funders explain how they use the demographic information they collect.

Key Finding – How Funders Can Help

While 42 percent of nonprofit CEOs say they don’t want foundations very involved or involved at all in their organization’s diversity efforts, 17 percent do want them very or extremely involved.

Buteau cites three examples of the varied types of support desired by those respondents:

• Best practice sharing - workshops, webinars, challenges - as well as funding to help support the learning to strengthen those practices.

• Support for staff recruitment efforts and salaries that would attract a diverse pool of candidates.

• Help in finding ideal and diverse board candidates.

A 2018 study from The Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University on advancing racial equity within nonprofit organizations suggests that foundations can also help nonprofits by paying staff for time spent on racial equity work, helping to find and support recruitment pipelines for people of color, and creating networks that will continue to advance these processes.

"There is no one solution to how foundations can support nonprofits in their diversity efforts," Buteau concludes. "There needs to be communication between foundations and nonprofits about what is needed and what would be most helpful when it comes to diversity at any given nonprofit."

At least one respondent highlighted the need for even broader conversation to take place.

"If we are going to eliminate disparities that negatively impact people of color disproportionately, funders, nonprofit leaders, policy makers, all of us need to have the courage to talk about race, racism, and how it contributes to, if not causes, the disparities we seek to eliminate."

The university study, which also involved nonprofit leaders, highlights the need for organizations to demonstrate an "ongoing, intentional commitment to the work."

"There were two words that came up again and again in our interviews with nonprofit leaders - intentionality and language. There was consensus that working on racial equity went beyond attending a training or adopting a new policy."

Foundations interested in digging deeper into this work may want to explore the Racial Equity Resource Guide developed as part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's America Healing work, which started in 2010 prior to the beginning of Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT). The site includes practical resources - including articles, organizations, research, books, media strategies and training curricula - for organizations and individuals working to achieve racial healing and equity in their communities.

Foundations may also be interested in the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Assessment made available by our colleagues at the Michigan Nonprofit Association to help nonprofit organizations assess their current status and future progress on the journey to make DEI values a reality.

Want more?

Download CEP's free report "Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations."

Subscribe to the CEP blog.

Access the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Racial Equity Resource Guide.