Tapping Into Prosperity
In a reception room high in a fancy downtown L.A. hotel, Tony Espinoza surveys a gathering of leaders in the growing area of Latino-based philanthropy and announces new funding for his L.A.-based United Latino Fund.
Those in the room--among them leaders of other Latino funds from around the country and the vice chancellor of the California State University system--listen as other speakers vow to continue their work.
It was an impressive setting, to be sure, but the United Latino Fund is no United Way. Although a recent flurry of attention has positioned Latino charity for a potential boom, there is much still to be done. Espinoza’s fund is one of only seven such operations in the nation--the others are in Ventura County, San Francisco, New York City, St. Paul, Minn., Lorain County, Ohio, and Kansas City, Mo.--that make grants specifically to Latino community organizations.
The Latino funds--most formed in the last six years--have combined assets of about $6 million and parcel out about $1 million a year. By comparison, there are more than 100 funds focusing on women’s issues nationwide, the top 50 with combined assets of about $96 million, according to a 1997 report by Women’s Funding Network.
The nation’s approximately 4,000 Jewish funds have assets of about $10 billion, according to the Jewish Funding Network.
But with the rise of Latinos in other sectors of society, such as business and politics, their involvement in mainstream community philanthropy as donors and grant makers seems to be the next focus.
“I’m sensing a critical mass of activity that has the property of a movement,” says Henry A.J. Ramos of Mauer Kunst Consulting in Berkeley and the leading researcher of Latino community funds. He increasingly is being invited to speak at conferences of mainstream philanthropy leaders.
Among the recent developments indicating increased interest by Latino leadership and mainstream philanthropic organizations:
* A yet-to-be announced and unprecedented organization of some of the country’s wealthiest Latino businessmen is exploring forming a national philanthropic entity. The group will announce details once it is more structured.
“I think there is great promise for the future given the rate of Latino business formation. It’s important to create a broad community ethic of giving back when business people become successful,” says Henry G. Cisneros, chief operating officer of Univision, the nation’s largest Spanish-language TV network. Cisneros, also the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary in the Clinton administration, is among those spearheading the effort.
* The San Francisco-based California Endowment recently gave the two California Latino funds $20,000 grants to formulate a strategic plan.
* Two recent publications exploring Latino philanthropy have focused the attention of the independent sector on everything from their giving patterns to their growing wealth.
The book “Nuevos Senderos” was commissioned by Berkeley-based Hispanics in Philanthropy, and the study “Cultures of Caring,” coordinated by the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Foundations, was funded by the Kellogg, Packard and Ford foundations.
* Destino 2000 is the newest fund established by businessman and former L.A. Rams and Dallas Cowboys kicker Danny Villanueva in Ventura County. Up to 15 similar funds could emerge in the next few years, Ramos says.
* The Funders’ Collaborative is a $15-million initiative coordinated by Hispanics in Philanthropy and funded by the Rockefeller, Kellogg and California Wellness foundations, among others.
The Collaborative aims to build the capacities of Latino nonprofits around the country to, among other things, raise money from Latinos.
Those like Ramos who think that philanthropy in the Latino community will be the wave of the future see a community 30-million strong with a persistent climb up the socioeconomic ladder. According to statistics gathered by the magazine Hispanic Business Inc., 21% of Latino households have incomes higher than $50,000, with 4.1% of them more than $100,000.
Also providing background are “Nuevos Senderos” and “Cultures of Caring.” The research indicates that formal philanthropy, with its emphasis on tax breaks and financial planning, does not have the same deep roots in Latino communities, where people give in more personal ways, such as to family and friends, and generally want to know what the money will be spent on, said Joanne Scanlen, senior vice president of Council on Foundations.
As evidence that Latinos would give if asked, some point to the millions they have donated after recent natural disasters in Latin America. The Claremont-based Tomas Rivera Policy Institute estimates that Latinos in the U.S. sent $8 billion to Latin American countries in 1998.
“More and more we will also be the philanthropist,” says Luis Miranda, senior development consultant for the Hispanic Federation of New York City, one of the seven Latino funds. “But women’s funds didn’t appear by themselves. There was a movement and investment to make them happen.”
United Way and mainstream funders point out that Latinos do benefit from general funding of all their programs. But supporters of Latino funds cite statistics that say only about 2% of all foundation dollars each year are given out to Latino organizations operating in rapidly changing neighborhoods.
Many of the nonprofits are unsophisticated storefront operations at the forefront of such issues as citizenship, violence, education and housing--issues that don’t necessarily fit neatly in organized philanthropy missions.
Supporters of Latino funds say such umbrella organizations also provide a way for Latinos to give to smaller community organizations.
An example of that is Ventura County’s Destino 2000.
“It became highly emotional,” says Villanueva, who requested donations of no less than $1,000 from people wishing to become founding members. “People were saying, ‘My dad worked hard all his life, but he couldn’t give, so now I’m going to give in his name.’ ”
By 2000, Villanueva wants to have an endowment of $200,000 to ensure the fund will survive--a goal that group is approaching. Destino 2000 operates under the guidance of the Ventura County Community Foundation.
Success in raising money from Latinos and gaining support from mainstream philanthropic organizations has varied among the seven Latino funds: Each was established under different circumstances and uses different fund-raising models.
For example, the New York fund has gained widespread support from a network of East Coast Latinos hosting an annual dinner that last year raised more than $1 million.
In St. Paul, the Latino fund started with a $1-million grant from the St. Paul Community Foundation. In San Francisco, Kansas City, Mo., and Ohio, the Latino funds have enjoyed financial support from mainstream philanthropic organizations.
Ironically, the United Latino Fund in largely Latino L.A. has had the toughest time establishing itself. It did not receive financial support from local groups such as the United Way or L.A.-based California Community Foundation.
When United Latino and other upstart funds tried to break into the L.A. County’s work force in 1991 to solicit donations through payroll deductions, they were opposed by both United Way and Brotherhood Crusade--which at the time were raising about $2.8 million from L.A. County workers.
“It was clear the United Way and the other community foundations didn’t want anything to do with a Latin fund,” Espinoza says. “At the same time, I know when they feel we have the infrastructure together . . . they will feel comfortable giving.”
Representatives of the L.A. chapter of United Way and the California Community Foundation did not respond to interview requests.
Ramos says ethnic funds have been the subject of criticism both fair and unfair. There has been a suspicion that ethnic funds don’t necessarily bring in new donors. But Latino fund supporters point out that funds for other groups raise and spend money based on their own interests.
Questions about board members’ lack of sophistication can be used constructively, Ramos says. Some funds have been more successful than others, he says, largely because of different approaches to fund-raising.
The United Latino Fund, for instance, has primarily raised money from workplace payroll deductions, a method that, alone, is not the most effective, Espinoza says. But with improving resources, he says, the fund hopes to graduate to additional tools, such as a fund-raising gala, a telethon and an endowment that would bring permanence to its current “money-in, money-out” operation.
Meanwhile, the Latino fund movement should not be judged in the same way as the more entrenched institutions, Ramos says.
“We tend to judge these organizations like they have been around forever, but they are incredibly new,” he says. “We need to create the support base [first]. I really think this is where the discussion is right now.”
E-mail Jose Cardenas at jose.cardenas@latimes.com.
