WHAT WE CAN DO

Our recommendations are addressed to executive directors, HR managers, supervisors, board members, donors and funders, white development staffers/allies, and professional fundraising associations, as well as development professionals of color.

Each of us has a role to play in disrupting the tightly-woven nexus of money, power and race upon which the status quo rests.

• One-third of respondents identified the executive director as a key determinant in creating a welcoming and supportive climate in which development professionals of color can fulfill their job expectations with dignity and authority. [READ MORE]
   
• The HR department should forcefully advocate for inclusionary policies and practices that lead to more diverse and equitable nonprofit workplaces for non profit professionals of all backgrounds, social classes and intersectional identities. [READ MORE]
   
• Supervisors of development staff of color must understand their own lens on structural racism and how it affects their staff of color’s ability to be successful at their jobs. [READ MORE]
   
• Board members are a bridge between the organization and donors and, as such, have an exceptional opportunity to be change agents. [READ MORE]
   
• Donors, both institutional and individual, can be natural allies in the effort to educate their peers and, when necessary, have the conversations to change hearts, minds and behaviors. [READ MORE]
   
• It is essential for white development staffers and allies to be an active part of the solution, beyond simply “not being part of the problem.” [READ MORE]
   
• Professional fundraising associations have a special opportunity – and responsibility – to support development professionals of color and reduce the sense of isolation overwhelmingly expressed by so many in the field. [READ MORE]
   
• Due to fundraising’s inextricable relationship with money and power, and the deeply entrenched links with racial equity that are difficult to untangle, development professionals of color will need to navigate circumstances differently than white peers; universal advice from senior development professionals of color is to actively seek support, empathy and advice from peers and colleagues. [READ MORE]
   

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To join the conversation, contact Cause Effective at consulting@causeeffective.org