# Fundraisers are not targeting ethnic minority communities effectively

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2003/08/13/fundraisers-are-not-targeting-ethnic-minority-communities-effectively/
- Published: 2003-08-13T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Charities are missing out on fundraising opportunities because they are not

effectively targeting ethnic minority communities, according to a report

commissioned by the London Development Agency (LDA). 
The report, entitled “Reaching
Multicultural Britain”, also highlights the need for charities to do more to enable
them to recruit staff from diverse communities. The report by Milestone Research
for the Mayor’s agency for business and jobs surveyed some of the UK’s leading charities
to look at how they could improve relationships with ethnic minority communities,
especially in areas such as fundraising.

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It features details of some charities which have been successful in this area. Case
studies show how Shelter, Help The Aged and Macmillan Cancer Relief have all developed
successful partnerships with various ethnic minority communities.

Shelter for example has been successful in not only recruiting but also retaining
and developing ethnic minority fundraisers

in the mainstream voluntary sector. It did this by introducing procedures that include:

 * advertising vacancies widely, including, where appropriate, in black and
    ethnic
   minority publications.
 * supplying information in different formats, which is indicated on the job
    advertisements.
 * all applicants are asked to complete a monitoring form to ensure that they
    can
   monitor their success and make any necessary improvements in attracting a diverse
   range of candidates.
 * periodic reviews of their recruitment methods to make sure people are
    shortlisted,
   interviewed and appointed fairly, consistently and solely on the requirements
   of the job.
 * all members of staff attend an equal opportunities training course.
 * all managers attend recruitment and selection training to ensure that job
    applicants
   are treated equally and with respect.
 * Shelter’s Senior Management Team recognise the importance of a diverse
    organisation
   and have made this a strategic goal. They have established a Diversity Group 
   to look at issues specifically relating to this area and are currently in the
   process of recruiting a Diversity Manager.

However the LDA report recommends that the voluntary sector as a whole needs to 
improve links with the UK’s ethnic minority communities, not least because they 
are estimated to have a total disposable income of over £13 billion.

Manny Lewis, Deputy Chief Executive of the LDA, said: “This research is a useful
contribution to the debate on how charities can improve their links with ethnic 
minority communities, particularly in London. The case studies in this report show
how charities can benefit from accessing untapped

funding, but also in finding people for key fundraising jobs.”

The report recommends that charities:

 * encourage directors and personnel officers to work more closely together
    to 
   look at their monitoring and recruitment processes and put in place appropriate
   strategies to promote job vacancies within diverse communities.
 * use the ethnic minority press more to publicise their vacancies within
    local,
   regional and national ethnic minority and voluntary sector networks and with 
   ethnic minority business and professional networks.
 * share good practice in the recruitment and training of staff, taking into
    account
   ethnic diversity.
 * consider developing fundraising partnerships with individual ethnic
    minority
   organisations – through joint campaigns using models such as the Help the Aged/
   HelpAge India and Macmillan Cancer Relief/Cancer Black Care partnership campaigns.
 * encourage community and volunteer fundraisers to form links with local
    ethnic
   minority community fundraisers and with local community and voluntary organisations
   to promote joint fund-raising events and activities.

The report ‘Reaching Multicultural Britain’ can be downloaded from the LDA’s Web
site in Microsoft Word format (505 Kb).

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