Diversity, Cultural Awareness and an International Campaign

By Travis Carley

At its core, effective fundraising is about building and maintaining meaningful relationships. This makes issues of diversity and cultural understanding critical to our work as fundraisers. To illustrate the role that cultural awareness plays in effective fund raising, Lions Clubs International Foundation’s Campaign SightFirst II (CSFII) is an excellent example.

With more than 1.3 million members and 45,000 Lions Clubs in 205 countries and geographic areas, Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization. Its worldwide efforts to fight preventable and reversible forms of blindness through its SightFirst program has restored sight to 7.6 million people through cataract surgeries, prevented serious vision loss for 30 million people and improved eye-care services for hundreds of millions more. In 2002, LCIF launched Campaign SightFirst II, a global campaign to raise $200 million in support of its blindness-prevention efforts. Obviously, by the nature of the organization, the fundraising campaign encountered enormous diversity among Lions Clubs members, donors and volunteers worldwide.

Being aware of diversity is important, but understanding local practices and working with colleagues and volunteers to be effective across diverse populations is critical to success. Throughout Campaign SightFirst II, customizing campaign materials to meet local needs was an essential strategy. This included not only translation to accommodate differences in language, but also adaptation of messaging and fundraising techniques.

In CSFII, variations in fundraising practices throughout the world required a flexible plan that allowed for national differences. For example, while individual gifts are a familiar concept in North America, they are not a common approach in many areas of Europe. Donors there prefer to give only as part of their Lions Club’s gift. By contrast, personal giving is essentially the only method of giving to the campaign in East, South East and South Asia.

Professional and social customs also vary greatly and cultural differences are amplified when organizing fundraising efforts in countries around the world. CSFII volunteer training took place on every continent. When working with and training thousands of volunteers from across the globe, care had to be taken to ensure that the content and presentation style were appropriate to the audience. Often, the presentation of the very same fundraising strategy or technique would require a different approach or explanation to suit the fundraising culture of local Lions.

While these are just a few examples of the importance of cultural awareness and embracing diverse approaches to fundraising, they illustrate that flexibility can contribute to greater fundraising results. This was certainly true of Lions’ Campaign SightFirst II, which surpassed its $200 million dollar goal thanks to the hard work and generosity of Lions members, clubs and their communities worldwide.

Some Tips to Remember:

• Understand local practices. Possessing a solid understanding of the local philanthropic culture and practices will make your work with local colleagues and volunteers more effective. Doing so will also lead to stronger relationships, greater trust and mutual respect.
• Customize campaign materials to meet local needs. This includes not only translation to accommodate differences in language, but also adaptation of messaging and fundraising techniques.
• Develop a flexible plan. Your international fundraising plan must allow for international differences. Craft your strategy based on local philanthropic practices.
• Be mindful of professional and social customs. When working with and training volunteers, take care to ensure that the content and presentation style are appropriate to the audience.
• Be flexible. Diversity and cultural awareness remind us as professional fundraisers that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution or strategy to raising funds. Develop a strategy for each target constituency and let that strategy be informed by research and knowledge of local customs, practices and beliefs on philanthropy.

Travis Carley is a vice president with CCS and a co-chair of the CCS diversity committee. He has assisted a wide variety of clients in the United States and internationally with capital campaigns, planning studies, custom fundraising learning programs, development audits and interim executive leadership.

CCS is proud to sponsor AFP Kaleidoscope as part of its commitment to diversity. CCS is one of the most comprehensive and widely recommended fundraising consulting and management firms in the world. Established in 1947, CCS designs and implements significant fundraising campaigns and programs for leading nonprofit institutions. CCS projects span the recognized nonprofit sectors. For more information about Lions Clubs International Foundation, please visit www.lcif.org/. To learn more about Campaign SightFirst II, please visit www.ccsfundraising.com/Projects/International/ to access a case study on the campaign.

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