Reviews

Nuevos Senderos: Reflections on Hispanics and Philanthropy
Edited by Diana Campoamor, William A. Díaz and Henry A. J. Ramos. Arte Público Press. 800/633-ARTE. 1998. 224 pages. $19.95.

Reviewed by Fernando Chang-Muy

The most recent U.S. Census figures indicate that Latinos comprise the largest growing ethnic community in the United States. Although this volume of essays was published before the Census released its latest figures, the book is prescient in its exploration of Hispanics and philanthropy.

Editors Diana Campoamor, William A. Díaz and Henry A. J. Ramos provide good coverage of some emerging issues: the needs and challenges of the Latino community, the nonprofit organizations that serve them, the new pools of Latino wealth and donors, and practices and evolving models in Latino giving.

The opening essay, “A Statistical Profile of Latino Nonprofit Organizations in the United States,” provides a framework with an impressive array of charts describing Latino nonprofits. The article, based on data up to 1996, defines a Latino nonprofit as one where either (a) the governing board is majority Latino or led by Latino chief executives or (b) the organization is dominated by Latino members or constituents.

The authors describe the estimated number of nonprofits, their length of existence (most are less than ten years old), their range in budgets (from very little to $50,000,000 or more—of which there were only 5 in 1996) and some of their widespread activities (education, civil rights, and arts and culture). More than half of the nonprofits were located in California, Texas or New Mexico. The essay concludes with the suggestion that, although nonprofits are a leading force for development and change, very little has been published about the Latino nonprofit sector. This inadequate database reveals that Latino nonprofits are growing in numbers and that more research is needed.

Just as there is a great need for more data about Latino nonprofits, similarly there is a need for information on Latino giving. The authors rely on anecdotes as well as on research conducted on contributions to organizations by types of organizations (charity, work, social or community), by national origin (Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban) and by gender. The authors view volunteerism as a form of philanthropy and conclude that socioeconomic rather than ethnic characteristics explain Latino participation in philanthropy or volunteerism. If Latinos have low rates of giving, volunteering and joining organizations, it is because they are relatively poor and less educated rather than because their values discourage civic participation.

The editors then consider the expanding Latino participation in organized philanthropy in the United States. In “New Pools of Wealth,” Ana Gloria Rivas-Vazquez suggests the following as general characteristics of Latino donors:

• Ethnic identity is a strong determinant in giving.    
• People matter most in Hispanic giving: who is asking, who is receiving or who is soliciting.    
• Latino donors give to issues related to family, education and religion and to organizations that provide for their own ethnic communities.

Development officers may want to heed the recommendations and note that knowledge and understanding of the donors’ cultural background and giving behavior is crucial and that specific approaches need to be developed for prospective Latino donors.

In response to an increasing pool of donors, authors Henry A. J. Ramos and Gabriel Kasper, in “Latino Community Funds,” describe the various models of Latino philanthropic self-help initiatives through the creation of minority funds. The “workplace giving” model generates money through annual worksite fundraising drives. The “field of interest” model promotes Latino issues through a community foundation. The “independent fund” model is a community-driven effort to develop a free-standing, private grantmaking institution.

This final section on expanding Latino participation ends with a survey of nonprofit directors and trustees and, not surprisingly, concludes that, although Latinos may represent 10 percent of the national population, less than one half of 1 percent is represented at the board level. This places a tremendous burden on these board members individually and it closes off opportunities to equally qualified but perhaps less well-known candidates. In addition, without scheduled conferences and necessary meetings that create access to each other, Latino trustees and emerging community leaders will be constrained in efforts to build linkages that leverage influence in the field.

Happily, Hispanics in Philanthropy, one of the affinity groups of the Council on Foundations, fills that void through its regular conferences.