Our latest Be Our Guest participant is Archana Sridhar, co-founder of the South Asian Philanthropy Project, a forum to inspire increased giving and volunteering among South Asians in North America.
Archana received her B.A. from Bard College and J.D. from Harvard Law School. She currently serves as Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
I am grateful for Archana's willingness to share her expertise with the audience. Enjoy her answers and provide your thoughts on her comments and her question for the group.
What is the biggest challenge your fundraising efforts currently face?
While South Asians are the wealthiest ethnic group in the United States and one of the most economically stable in Canada, there is virtually no data on the giving patterns of this important community. Without data, it is easy to make assumptions (e.g., that South Asians don't give as much as others), or to focus on messages about fundraising that might not resonate. We just don't know enough about what motivates South Asians to get engaged with philanthropy, so we're trying to fix that through our forum.What are you doing to overcome these challenges?
Our goal is to start a conversation about giving in our community - which is quite diverse actually! South Asians give to causes in the US and Canada that impact South Asians as well as to causes that may be broader in terms of national reach or more specific in terms of their local communities. They give to a range of causes abroad in their own homelands and to causes that are more global.What is the most successful change/program implementation you have made in your current role?
We are raising awareness about generous philanthropists and high-impact nonprofits through our website and blog. We also announce opportunities for jobs, grants, and volunteer positions. We are building a "resources" page with articles, research and commentary about giving by South Asian Americans, Indo-Canadians, and other groups of color. We are profiling individuals who are doing it right with interviews and other features on our website. In the future, we hope to have in-person workshops and events around philanthropy for South Asian participants.
Since the initiative is so new, it's hard to say where our greatest success has been. There is no other forum on a national/North American level like ours, since South Asians are spread all over the continent. So, I would say our greatest success so far has simply been raising awareness about South Asians in philanthropy and putting people into virtual conversation with each other in a way that other, more local, organizations have been doing in New York, the Bay Area or Chicago.
Where do you see social-media’s best application for fundraising?
Our experience has been that social media is most powerful for building a brand and a network to mobilize charitable support. Support that comes through social media may not be in terms of dollars - especially at first - but the "buzz" factor, media contacts, and relationship-building it can provide is immeasurable.What book / blog / twitter feed would you suggest fundraisers pay attention to?
Obviously, I would say our site! Beyond that, I love Asian American Giving, The Daily Tell, The Philanthropist, PhilanTopic, and Rosetta Thurman. I would say those are the ones I follow most regularly for my philanthropy sector news.What question would you find most useful for readers to answer?
How are your readers reaching out to diverse communities to gain their philanthropic support?
1 comment:
Hello, Archana. This is your old Family Doctor…Dr Kramer in Winter Springs….my daughter, Carolyn , was in your HS class.
I ran into your Dad at the Uhaul place today
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