October 19, 2016 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Hispanics already make up more than 17 percent of the U.S. population, and that figure is growing. By 2050, one in three children in this country will be Hispanic, a demographic shift with major implications for policy makers, grant makers, and nonprofit leaders.
The Crimsonbridge Foundation, in partnership with the research group Child Trends, has released a communications guide to help organizations and their employees better understand and serve this largest and youngest minority group. It lays out need-to-know statistics, media consumption habits, and language preferences for this demographic and offers steps you can take to conduct outreach and gauge its success.
Because the Hispanic population is tremendously diverse, the report advises that a key first step is to research and understand those you hope to engage. It’s important to know a person’s country of origin, way of self-identifying, and preferred language for communication, among other things.
It is also vital to know how your clients like to get their information. Many Hispanic households rely on traditional media such as television and radio. And many low-income Hispanic families access the internet solely on mobile devices, meaning that websites must be mobile-optimized.
Service providers can ask pertinent questions via questionnaires, focus groups, or pláticas (community “chats”). Vocabulary matters; groups in New York, for example, reported successfully hosting “town meetings” for Puerto Rican families. But for families of Guatemalan origin, “town meetings” may bring to mind the state-sponsored violence that occurred during that country’s conflict in the 1980s.
Family is the single most-valued social unit in Hispanic communities, and personal contact is the most effective way for nonprofit professionals, educators, and others to reach families. This might include door-to-door visits, in-person distribution of flyers in heavily trafficked pedestrian corridors, and interaction with parents and students at schools and bus stops.
Trusted intermediaries, such as religious leaders, can also play an important role in helping service providers connect and communicate with Hispanic families.
Messages should inform or inspire action. Some examples:
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Children who attend quality early-education programs do better in kindergarten. Register your child today!
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All forms of communication should include cultural references — images, sounds, key phrases — that will resonate with the target audiences. These will vary from community to community and must be selected with care. A reference meaningful to one enclave in New Jersey may not work in another community in Texas, for example. The report offers advice on how to avoid making embarrassing mistakes or assumptions.
Communicating by phone calls or text messages can complement or reinforce other types of engagement, particularly with those who have low or no literacy.
When running campaigns targeting Hispanic communities, nonprofits should continually evaluate what is effective and what is not, and adjust strategies appropriately. Here are some examples from the report of the kinds of tasks (“outputs”) a nonprofit might undertake and some results (“outcomes”) each task might produce. By tracking such efforts closely, you can focus limited resources on the most successful activities.
Output: At a community event, distribute flyers that announce a deadline to register for a particular service.
Outcome: The number of people who called to find out about the service after having seen the flyer.
Output: Identify and meet with five community leaders to seek their partnership in communicating the value of early care and education to help prepare children for kindergarten.
Outcome: The number of community leaders who actually helped get the word out to your target audiences.
Output: Purchase two paid Facebook posts during a particular period to target Latino families with children in the zip codes served by your organization.
Outcome: The number of people who viewed the post and clicked on the link to your content.
Read the full report below.
