Giving Compass' Take:

• The Vaid Group conducted a report that focused on high net worth donors of color, seeking insights on how to better engage with them in the larger philanthropic community.

• How can funders work to understand and engage donors of different backgrounds? Where do you have opportunities to engage with donors outside of your usual circles? 

• Read about how donors of color aim to advance racial, social and economic justice.

High net worth (HNW) people of color are treated as anomalies, rather than animators of a field of giving that is hiding in plain sight.

At the same time, the need for HNW donors of color in the philanthropic ecosystem has never been more apparent. In a moment marked by urgently high levels of racism, nationalism, and xenophobia, over-policing and state abandonment based on race, nationality, economic status, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation, new resources are needed that can be directed to the affected communities that are currently least well served by philanthropy.

This report found that although the priorities, interests and experiences of HNW donors of color are largely invisible in discussions of mainstream philanthropy, HNW people of color (POC) number over 1 million people. HNW donors of color are largely engaged in building their wealth, are philanthropically engaged, and very generous.

Yet, the report finds these donors remain isolated from each other, are not present within existing donor networks of HNW individuals, and that the funding these donors provide remains less widely known even to organizations in the fields of work in which they are giving.

We ask the question: “How can we better network high net worth donors of color to fund social change strategies- including resistance, protection, and empowerment — at a time when the need is so great?”

Among the key insights:

  • HNW donors of color face unique challenges and opportunities as donors. They are not linked philanthropically or politically to each other, nor across race and ethnic lines, are not significantly connected to organized philanthropic networks, and are less engaged with financial advisors and wealth managers.
  • Knowledge about HNW donors of color comes mostly from convenience samples surveyed by private entities (banks, wealth management firms, consulting businesses). Data are limited, independent research or philanthropic affinity group funding for initiatives to interview HNW donors of color is scarce, and little research has been conducted.
  • HNW donors constitute a substantial and growing community of philanthropists. Their giving follows the pattern of giving by HNW individuals generally — primarily to support education and traditional charities. These donors across the board also identify strongly with family and with community. They are informed by a desire to “give back” and create opportunity.
  • POC donors are much more likely to live in crossclass families and communities, where the impacts of the racialized wealth gap are very apparent. This fuels both a fire towards upward class mobility, and also a desire for community uplift.
  • Generational differences exist among HNW donors of color, both immigrant and nonimmigrant, with younger donors more willing to think and link across ethnicity and race, and to collaborate as donors.