Earlier this year, we held our annual fundraising conference Fundraising Live. It was a great day, full of inspiring speakers, insightful case studies and meaningful conversations about the state of fundraising. But one conversation which I had with a senior leader who is a person of colour stuck with me more than any other. At the end of one session, they said: “I look out, and it’s so white. And it really hurts.”
They weren’t talking about the programme. Each stream had a broad representation from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, although less so from LGBTQIA+ groups and people with disabilities to be honest. The programmers had worked hard to have no panel comprising just one racial characteristic or gender identification. But they weren’t talking about that; they were talking about the delegates.
At first, I put this down to the general lack of BAME representation in the sector. It is well known that fundraising is not representative of the communities its charities serve, nor the UK population as a whole. And certainly not at senior level. It is also well known that the sector struggles to retain people from diverse backgrounds despite improved recruitment processes. Movements such as #CharitySoWhite, #NonGraduatesWelcome and #ShowTheSalary have forced the sector to take significant steps to change the way it advertises and recruits staff – perhaps more so in fundraising than elsewhere in the charity sector. This magazine has repeatedly given its platform to help further these initiatives. But still charities fail to create and sustain inclusive environments.
Yet during the conversation, it became clear that there was a responsibility to be borne by us also, the organisers. Why were there no people of colour in the audience? Why did they feel that this flagship event wasn’t for them? What more should we do to attract better diversity among those who attend? No matter how proactive we had been in the planning, it still didn’t reach the communities we were trying to represent. It’s easy to say, “well, we can’t choose who comes” but that’s not the whole truth. We were still being exclusionary. It was time for me to check my – and the sector’s – white privilege, again.
In upcoming issues, Fundraising Magazine will be looking at issues around race and the impact it has on people from diverse backgrounds in the sector. I will be handing sections of the magazine over to different communities to address topics of concern and how the sector can better represent those it serves and from which it is trying to raise funds. Some of it will be uncomfortable reading and there will be backlash, no doubt, but until we can ease the “hurt” of exclusion, this sector isn’t doing what it claims it is. If you would like to contribute (anonymously if preferred), or offer input, please drop me note at [email protected] or via Twitter.
@stevejcotterill is the editor of Fundraising Magazine
