Three Things to Consider When Approaching Hispanic Donors

Hispanic Americans quickly are becoming one of this country’s largest minority demographics and are expected to eclipse all other ethnic groups by the next U.S. Census, says Loretta Poggio, consultant with Ethnic Technologies, providers of targeted mailing and telemarketing lists with ethnic and religious groupings.

Before targeting any specific ethnic group, Poggio says nonprofit organizations should first do a house-file audit to reveal the ethnic representation of its constituents and show which groups are under represented. The next step is to examine its mission statement and find its relevance to the particular group it’s looking to engage.

When targeting individuals of Hispanic descent, Poggio says organizations should consider the following:

* Focus on making messaging relevant to families with children. The reason for this is that in most cases in Hispanic families, the woman is the head of the household and makes most of the economic decisions for the family.

“The Hispanic female has more of a maternal way of looking at life. They want to be sure that their children are taken care of, whether it’s their children or extended family children,” Poggio says. “If the tone of the letter is toward the maternal side, the donation rate will be higher in many instances.”

For this reason, she adds, social-services organizations such as food banks likely would have good results with this group.

* Country of origin. Candace Kennedy, sales director with Ethnic Technologies, says that where a person within the Hispanic community is from, specifically, is important. A person from Latin America, for example, would tend to be more responsive to appeals from Catholic organizations than a person from Cuba or Puerto Rico, she says. This type of offer would be better received by people from Mexico, Nicaragua, San Salvador or Panama, who are more predominantly Catholic and would be more likely to donate or be receptive to Catholic charities.

* Be formal in your approach. Over personalization and familiarity with prospects before you’ve developed a relationship with them might not be the best way to go. Especially if your ask is geared toward an older Hispanic person, address them in a formal context initially. Wait until after a donation is made and they’ve indicated the desire to have a relationship with your organization to use a less formal, friendly approach in your communications with them, Poggio says.

Loretta Poggio and Candace Kennedy can be reached via www.ethnictechnologies.com