Working in fundraising for a local nonprofit was never something I planned. But the ability to use my communication degree for a cause I believe in more than fulfills me –it energizes me.
Woven into those magical moments of nonprofit work is an inescapable reality. The reality of being a woman in the workplace. Being young. And being black. And while the nonprofit industry is a vital core of our society, it's not immune to the problems and bias pertaining to women, minorities, and millennials. Though there’s not a ton of research specifically on being young, a minority and a woman in fundraising, here are some studies that help portray the reality:
- Community Wealth Partners show that while people of color represent 30% of the American workforce, only 18% of non-profit staff and 22% of foundation staff is comprised of people of color. For foundations, this number significantly decreases when looking at leadership and board member positions.
- According to a 2014 study by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and New York University’s George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, 74% of millennial women working in nonprofit aspire to be a leader but currently aren’t.
- According to the Council on Foundations’ research on leaders in philanthropy, nearly 20% of those successfully hired into foundation executive positions were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and about half (48.7%) were women.
- As detailed in an article by Regina Martinez-Estela, while more than 70% of those who work for nonprofits are women, a study by the White House Project reported that women held only 26% of the top positions, and 17% of the CEO positions, in the largest nonprofits with budgets over $50 million. In 2010, another study found that women held 57% of the chief executive positions at organizations with budgets of $1 million or less, but only 38% of the top positions at organizations with budgets of more than $1 million.
- Based on a survey by the Council on Foundations, staffed grantmaking organizations in 2012, the survey found that while people of color made up more than a third of foundation program officers and nearly a third of middle managers, they comprised less than one in five executives and fewer than one in ten CEOs of foundations.
Our voices are vital to our culture's conversations—especially when that conversation is nonprofit leaders making strategic plans and fundraising priorities. Our perspectives have untold strength and our experiences untapped power.
While these statistics show a gap, I still have optimism. As societal shifts and political implications set a new course for this industry, we can provide new ideas and solutions. Millennial women of color, we have the power and spark to elevate an entire industry- and the world.
