Targeting Attitudes in the African-American Donor Base

Targeting Attitudes in the African-American Donor Base

Nov. 29, 2005

By Abny Santicola

Courting African-Americans as potential donors to your organization isn't as easy as just learning what differentiates them and their charitable habits from their counterparts of other ethnic backgrounds. It's a start, but you can't stop there.

As a demographic, African-Americans are not a homogenous group, according to Sonya Suarez-Hammond, director of Yankelovich Inc., a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based database/segmentation-solutions provider.

Yankelovich breaks down the African-American donor/consumer base into the following six segments:

1) Emulators. Typically students who identify with the young, urban trendsetters within the black culture. They see themselves as independent and unique.

2) Seekers. Usually older than emulators and more disillusioned about life.

3) Reachers. Working toward the American dream but not on the fast track.

4) Attainers. Have a solid plan for the future and a clearly defined sense of self.

5) Elites. The smallest group, the elites are the upwardly mobile African-Americans who live and work in a more mainstream environment but retain their cultural identity and allegiances.

6) Conservers. This is an older segment, set in its ways and slow to adapt to the dynamics of the African-American culture. They comprise 14 percent of the African-American donor base. According to Suarez-Hammond, "They're more laid back and they're older, so they're more suspect, if you will, of marketers and outreach efforts."

Understanding these differences, she adds, can help with the messaging you develop for African-American-focused solicitation efforts.

Sonya Suarez-Hammond can be reached by visiting http://www.yankelovich.com