Causes Supported by Minorities Differ by Age of Donor

Minority-group members born after the passage of civil-rights legislation in the mid-1960s tend to support charities and educational causes that help people of all races and ethnicities, a study of New Yorkers has found. By contrast, people who are older are more likely to support causes that help members of their own minority group.

The study was based on interviews with 166 black, Asian-American, and Hispanic donors in the New York metropolitan area who had made annual gifts of at least $200. It was conducted by the Coalition for New Philanthropy in New York, a group working to promote minority giving. Members of the coalition include grant makers in New York City and the City University of New York’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

“There has been significant change and growth within communities of color and the role that philanthropy has played within those communities has not really been studied,” says the study’s co-author, Eugene Miller, assistant director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

‘Dividing Line’

Mr. Miller says the study found that 1964 was roughly the “dividing line” for the differing giving patterns.

“Those born after that date had a broader understanding of their community,” he says. “Those born before that date understood and viewed community as more closely tied to their own ethnicity, and their giving tended to focus on organizations that serve their own ethnic group.”

An executive summary of the report, “Creating Pathways for People of Color: Philanthropy Among African-American, Asian-American, and Latino Donors in the New York Metropolitan Region,” is available free online at http://www.nyrag.org.