MULTICULTURAL
ENGAGEMENT
Presentation by
Armando Rayo
VP, Engagement
Paulina Artieda
Associate Creative Director

Agenda
Welcome and Introductions
Multicultural Marketing: Overview
• Case Studies
• Strategies and Tactics
• Q&A

OVERVIEW

THE BOARDROOM OF TODAY

THE BOARDROOM OF TODAY

Board Source: Vital Voices
Lessons Learned from Board Members of Color
2010 1993
Caucasian 84% 86%
Hispanic/Latino 4% 3%
African-American 8% 9%
Asian 3% 1%

2010 Board Survey:
Greenlights and United Way
Nonprofits need more board members and are operating well
below capacity.
Only 85% of seats on nonprofit boards are currently filled.
Over 7,000 empty board seats that nonprofits are trying to fill.
Board members expressed that they do not feel as though they
are representative of their client population, nor of our
larger community.
78% of board members are white.
Hispanic/Latino - 11% of nonprofit board members

Greater Austin Area
Poverty Rates
African-
Latino Asian
American
29.5% 8.6%
22.3%

DEFINITION

Marketing
The process used to determine what products
or services may be of interest to customers.
It generates the strategy that underlies sales
techniques, business communication, and
business developments.
It is an integrated process through which
companies build strong customer
relationships and create value for their
customers and for themselves.

Marketing Strategies
• Understand your business.
Analyze your goals to build a campaign.
Understand why you are different from other organizations and begin
to build a message to stand out.
• Understand who your target is.
Include all potential members, clients, or customers who can benefit
from your brand.
• Research & listen to the conversations.
Why should they have a relationship with your brand?
Learn as much as you can about the effects of your business on their
lives.

Marketing Strategies
• Tailor your strategy.
Tailor your materials so they are interesting and relevant to the
community you choose to engage.
• Be transparent.
To build brand loyalty with your audience let your intentions be
known initially.
A push interpreted as deceptive can destroy a connection
permanently.
• Quality versus Quantity.
Instead of measuring your impact by counting your fans, email lists,
or likes, count the interactions with your audience.
This goes for online and off - this is more than outreach, it’s
engagement.

Multicultural Marketing
It’s the promotion of a brand’s product or service to one
or more targeted multicultural group(s), or to an
ethnically diverse consumer base.
It follows the same standards as regular marketing but
uses cultural touch points such as language, traditions,
celebrations, religion and any other concepts that may
relevant to the particular cultural audience.

Multicultural Engagement
• A process of building community,
relationships & trust with multicultural
communities.
• Utilizes authentic strategies that create
advocates for people, neighborhoods &
issues within communities.
• It is an inclusive, innovative & culturally
relevant approach that informs,
educates, engages & strengthens
communities.
• 4 T’s: Time, Talent, Treasure and Trust

VALUES
PRINCIPLES

Value: Authenticity
Being true to yourself & your community;
commitment to your character.
Essential elements
• Engage with honesty
• Let words and actions reflect the reality of others
• Genuinely listen to the community
• Have the community’s best interest at heart
• Seek to understand
• Walk the talk

Value: Innovation
Always learning, being creative and
finding new solutions to problems.
Essential Elements
• More than thinking out of • Connect the dots
the box • Understand the big picture
• Be inclusive and the small picture
• Be relevant • 99% perspiration and 1%
• Be culturally aware inspiration
• Fill the void

Value: Collaboration
Bringing people together, working
together for the common good.
Essential Elements
• Know the community • Know the formal/informal and
landscape thought leaders
• Understand strengths and • Seek to collaborate rather
challenges of the community than compete; to enhance
• Know the people invested in rather than reinvent
the issues

Principles
• Engage - Share your experience. Discuss viewpoints.
Respect others.
• Educate - Learn the issues. Acquire new skills. Know
your community.
• Volunteer - Give an hour. Give a Saturday. Give your
best.
• Advocate - Champion a cause. Stay informed. Raise
Awareness. Find your voice.
• Give - Research. Understand. Invest.
• Lead - Influence others. Open doors. Create systemic
change.

Goals
• Increase program visibility
• Connect with audience
• Broaden community awareness
• Network with other community
organizations

HISTORY
ISSUES
MOTIVATIONS

African-Americans
• 1787: the Free African Society of Philadelphia was formed to aid free slaves.
• With the abolition of slavery, black social service organizations emerged in the
form of sororities and fraternities, and the NAACP
• Source for support: community-based mutual aid organizations, churches, or
major political movements
• 1862: Freedman’s aid societies were organized in the northern states to
provide supplies and send teachers to educate former slaves.
“It was philanthropy for and by African Americans that helped establish
historical black colleges and universities. Black fraternities and sororities are
also a part of this heritage.”
- Rodney Jackson, president and CEO of the National Center for Black Philanthropy Inc.

African-Americans
• Quality education is a primary concern among African-American residents.
• Although African-Americans are actively engaged in education by serving as
mentors, tutors, etc., the sentiment is that the need for African-Americans to
serve in these roles far exceeds the supply.
• More women than men volunteer, yet comments from the focus groups
pointed to a serious need for African American male role models and mentors.
• Opportunities to increase the number of African-American volunteers by
reaching out to those who currently are not being asked to volunteer, do not
know how to become involved and are not satisfied with their current level of
volunteer participation.

Asian-Americans
• Asian Americans are the most diverse ethnic group in the United States today,
with the influence of more than fifteen different cultures.
• The wide range of languages spoken includes Cantonese, Hawaiian, Hindi,
Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese.
• Asian American profile is considered young (median age: 31.6 yrs), affluent
and educated. (In 2003, 50% of Asian Americans had a bachelor’s degree)
• Mutual Aid Associations began as a response to racial discrimination and
violence during the early immigration days in the late 1800s. Today, these
associations continue to grow and flourish as new immigrant groups emerge
and adjust to the new country. (i.e. daycare centers and credit unions)

Asian-Americans
• Religious institutions provide both spiritual and social activities, also act at
safe havens for immigrants.
o Activities ranging from picnics, baseball leagues, English classes and job
training seminars are almost always run by volunteers.
• Language and cultural schools are also organized almost entirely by
volunteers.
o Some of these schools are run under the auspices of a religious
organization or mutual aid associations.
• Professional associations such as Chinese engineering societies, South Asian
networking groups and Filipino medical organizations utilize volunteers to help
newcomers traverse the many complicated steps toward stability.
o Once established, members often conduct civic projects and raise funds
for worthy causes.

Latinos/Hispanics
• The Hispanic community has had a long-standing tradition of giving,
o Generally done through organizations or causes that are close to the
hearts of the individuals.
• Informal giving has been a strong value of the Latin American community for
more than 500 years.
o However, Latinos are less accustomed to organized giving through
nonprofits and philanthropic organizations (Ramos 2002).
• Many people in the Hispanic community still have strong ties to the
communities where they were originally born, and/or where they still have
family.
o Very common to see the money that could potentially go to
non-profit organizations or foundations sent back home to aid the rest of
the family.

Latinos/Hispanics
• In 1998, nearly 7 in 10 Hispanics gave to charities.
• Now the largest minority in the US, are gaining political, professional and
economic status.
• Are discovering how philanthropic efforts and leadership have helped women
and other groups gain social and political influence.
• Are increasingly working together to focus their philanthropy on the non-profit
institutions that will impact/strengthen their community and create new
opportunities.
• Chronicle of Philanthropy: Hispanic giving actually equaled or surpassed
Anglo-American giving.
• Hispanic volunteerism = 14.7% and growing.

Case Study: United Way “VIVIR UNIDOS”
Connect and create ambassadors from the Latino community
Approach
to increase community engagement with United Way and other
nonprofits.
Insights: Outcome:
• Latinos are already engaged in • Making the Connection
their community published; 1000+ surveys
• Latinos are less likely to be asked • Developed the VIVIR UNIDOS
to become involved brand that reflects target
• Leadership development and audience
social interactions are important to • Developed 40-member Hispanic
Latinos Advisory Board for United Way
• Building relationships is an • Organized VIVIR UNIDOS
important way to connect with community engagement event
Latinos • Incorporated Latino
Engagement into existing
programs

Case Study: City of Austin “Airport Blvd. Initiative”
Identify and engage with “hard to reach” populations/
Approach
multicultural individuals and groups to get feedback and input
on changes coming to Airport Blvd.
Insights: Outcome:
• City of Austin struggles to connect • Met with 30 groups via informal
with groups 1-1 meetings
• Informal meetings are better suited • Facilitated group meetings
for these groups within existing network
• Not all groups care about • Interviewed & videotaped 30
redevelopment citizens and asked what their
• Groups are rarely asked or feel vision was for Airport Blvd.
welcomed to provide feedback

Case Study: RISE GLOBAL “Multicultural Series”
Identify and recruit entrepreneurs of color and entrepreneur
Approach
circles for the RISE Global Multicultural Series
Insights: Outcome:
• Entrepreneurs of color were not • Developed Hispanic Series in
familiar with RISE Global the first year
• Entrepreneurs gathered among • Developed Multicultural Series
comfortable circles that included 60 speakers form
• Most entrepreneurs were the Hispanic/Latino, African-
interested in sharing their journey American, Asian & Middle
with other entrepreneurs Eastern populations
• The RISE Global “unconference” • Increased speaker, participant
format was unfamiliar/confusing to attendance and relevance for
these groups RISE Global

Case Study: General Mills “Feeding Dreams”
Emotionally connect with African American women by celebrating
Approach her efforts to make a better environment for her family and
community.
Insights: Outcome:
• African American moms are • Delivered a significant sales and HH
concerned about the future of their penetration increases in year 1.
children and make purchases • Strong and continuous sales results
based on brands that show +3.1% over 7 months.
community effort. • Significant increases in AA HH
• African American moms are more penetration and increased consumer
likely to be influenced by in-store commitment.
marketing.
• Most of the sales lifts happened in
• It is important for brands to have
non-promoted sales weeks
visible presence in the community.

Case Study: Leave No Child Inside - Latinos & The Outdoors
Discover barriers preventing Latinos in Waukegan, IL from participating in
Approach the outdoors and develop a model that inspires behavioral change among
LNCI’s target audience
Insights: Outcome:
• Social Isolation: Latinos, especially • CS developed a Nature Engagement
new immigrants not integrated into Model with a Nature Navigator as the
social fabric key player connecting partner
• Language Access: Lack of organizations to target audience
appropriate bilingual information and
staff • CS provided tactics guided by
Connect, Equip, Mobilize process
• Personalism: Latinos value personal
such as neighborhood walks, platicas,
relationships over institutional
and coordinating LNCI Day of Action
relationships
• Trust: Families need to develop trust • LNCI will be implementing strategies
with institutions and individuals. in the year to come

Strategies
 Identify your objectives and the markets you are
trying to reach.
- Why do you want to reach this audience?
- What will be the mutual benefit from this outreach?
- Identify your market clearly and their characteristics.
• Identify their unique touch points.
- Where is their comfort zone? At home? Specific stores?
- What do they consume? Language Preference?
- Who are the significant influencers in their community?
- What traditions are important?

Strategies
 Identify the media that makes sense for your goals.
- What media do they most commonly consume?
- How do they engage with media?
- Are there other unique ways of reaching them, such as
brand ambassadors?
- Create a message that is relevant and unique to them.
• Evaluating your approach and learning from others
mistakes.
- Were your efforts effective?
- Did you begin a conversation with the consumer, a
relationship?
- Have you learned from your market what works and

Strategies
• Start today. You don’t have to have a perfect plan, you just
to do it; reach out and be authentic in your approach.
• Connect with the culture. When you understand and honor
peoples’ culture, traditions and histories, you get closer to
building trust and connecting with them in meaningful ways.
Take time to understand peoples’ backgrounds, experiences
and motivations. Remember, multicultural groups are not
monolithic.
• Build relationships. If you’re looking for board members,
build relationships with formal and informal leaders from
these communities. Don’t just go with the usual suspects,
reach out to new and upcoming leaders. Connect and
collaborate with cultural groups and organizations that are
deep-rooted in these communities.

Strategies
• Be a resource. Think about how your organization can be a resource to these
communities. Take time to understand their needs, wants and aspirations. It’s
about meeting their needs, your organizations’ needs and meeting in the middle
or reaching the sweet spot. Once you hit the sweet spot, you can move forward
together.
• Understand your market. Be clear on whom you’re trying to engage and the
best strategies to reach them. To reach young professionals, use leadership
opportunities, social events and online networks; to reach families, be flexible and
utilize family friendly activities and to reach new immigrants, utilize church
networks and Spanish language media.
• Make your organizational brand multicultural friendly. Show the diversity of
your organization, leaders and people you serve through your marketing
materials. It’s important to balance how you showcase the people you serve and
your organization’s leadership; show how multicultural communities are
contributing to your mission; don’t just show them as recipients of services.
Understand that your organization might have to go through a change to become
more multicultural friendly. You might have to implement changes in your board
structure or in how you deliver your services.

Strategies
• Go to the people. It’s an age-old approach that works. Find
out where people formally and informally gather. Sometimes
it’ll be online via social networks and other times it’ll be at
local community center or church. At first they’ll ask “what are
they doing here” and as you build the trust, they’re going to
be asking “why aren’t they here?”
• Be committed. Show up often and when it matters. Be
committed for the long-haul and show you have their best
interest at heart. Don’t just outreach; engage people in the
process. Be authentic and show that you care and you’ll be
on your way to recruiting the biggest advocates with these
communities.

THANK
YOU.
Armando Rayo
VP, engagement
arayo@cultural-strategies.com
512-785-0447
www.culturalstrategies.com