This post is co-authored with Nelson Bowman III, Executive Director of Development at Prairie View A&M University, and is based on research for our forthcoming book Engaging Diverse College Alumni: The Essential Guide to Fundraising (Routledge, 2013).
Although we often hear about the challenges that Native Americans face in terms of poverty and reservation life, these individuals make significant contributions to the American economy and philanthropy. In 2010, Native Americans contributed $12 billion to the nation’s economy. Moreover, Native American businesses have increased 100 percent in the last 20 years. Often overlooked, Native Americans have great potential for philanthropic giving and a long tradition of it.
Native American giving is centered on spirituality and family, with most Native Americans focusing their giving on organizations that serve members of their specific tribal communities. Over the past 20 years, many Native American communities have been reaching out and forming partnerships with other Native communities as well as non-Native organizations as a way of achieving self-sufficiency and leveraging their human and financial capital.
Native Americans have created several organizations aimed at fostering philanthropic giving. These include the First Nations Development Institute, the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, the American Indian College Fund, and the Hopi Foundation, which is one of the first independent Native American foundations.
Among Native Americans, giving and receiving in considered honorable. More specifically, giving is circular and is constantly in motion. Giving moves from one person to the next with the underlying notion that if you are given to, you will give to others. Unlike mainstream philanthropy, which often links giving to power and prestige, Native American giving is an “extension of honor” and gifts are spiritual in nature and based on mutual respect. Philanthropy is also tied to preserving the future generation of Native people, and gifts that uplift the surrounding communities are encouraged.
Native Americans are interested in distributing wealth throughout their communities. They want to see parity, and by giving, parity can be achieved. They also want to invest in their communities in order to reshape them. Native Americans are interested in empowering tribal communities for positive change and to enhance their political power. Philanthropic support for these efforts is essential as mainstream foundations and funders give only 1 percent of their gifts to Native Americans and their causes.
Native Americans give to those close to them and prefer that their giving remain anonymous. Those givers who live on reservations tend to support tribal charities and individual members of the tribes. Those Native Americans that are not on reservations tend to support more mainstream historical and cultural projects as well as social services and church activities.
