Look before you leap into diaspora fundraising

There is a gulf between the optimism of many nonprofits seeking funding from diaspora groups and the reality of just how challenging this can be.

So, before we take the leap and invest time, effort and cash, let’s explore the attraction of this funding stream, the real-life challenges, and ten practical things we can do to make diaspora fundraising work for us.

A natural donor group?

Migration has exploded during the past half-century and diaspora groups are everywhere. I’ve worked with nonprofits to raise funding from groups of Palestinians based in Chilé, Okinawans in New York, Somalis in Wales, Indians in Tanzania, Australians in Myanmar, Gambians in London, and many more.

As we constantly explore and review our most efficient and effective funding opportunities, diaspora communities can appear to be an attractive, natural donor group for many logical reasons, here are three:

1. Donors within diaspora communities do regularly deliver big donations to major nonprofits in their country of origin. They provide financial lifelines to small nonprofits in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, where fundraising infrastructure and audiences are limited.
2. Then there’s the gut feeling, that people like us (only living somewhere else) will…