Yesterday I whined about mainstream nonprofits seeming to ignore Hispanics, at least as prospective donors. "Am I beating a dead horse," I asked, or can some Agitator readers who are doing anything to enlist  this audience step forward?

Lilliam Sanchez of the March of Dimes did so (here’s their Spanish-language site).

Hi Tom:

The horse is not dead!!! For more than 12 years, the March of Dimes Foundation has successfully been reaching out to Hispanics with culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate mission messages.

The Foundation is committed to improving the health of all moms and babies. Through its Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center, the Foundation gives women and families all the information they need in English and Spanish on preconception, pregnancy and newborn health. We serve consumers globally through the following media:

*Print materials – a portfolio that includes more than 30 titles, many of them written in an easy-to-read format

*Spanish-language online content at nacersano.org – with more than 5.8 million visitors and 17.97 million page views in 2008

*Personal, one-on-one e-mail responses from trained health educators to consumer questions

*Spanish-language monthly e-newsletters on preconception, pregnancy and newborn care

*Social media, including a Spanish-language blog, blog.nacersano.org, with an average of 1,500 views per day, and text messages on pregnancy via twitter.com/nacersano and on baby’s health via twitter.com/parabebes

The March of Dimes has a long-standing relationship with various partners for Hispanic outreach, such as TodoBebé, Univision, as well as many Hispanic celebrities.

We understand the importance of reaching out to our Hispanic moms and families. In the end, everyone benefits when all communities are in the best possible health.

However, I think one of the main challenges with fundraising with the Hispanic community is the lack of understanding of the philanthropic triggers. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would love to hear them.

Lilliam Sanchez

Most of what Lilliam reports — and it all sounds terrific — is programmatic engagement, as opposed to fundraising per se, as she  observes at the end. But of course, your nonprofit needs to deliver something of value and relevance before you can think about soliciting donations. Surely the robust programs Lilliam describes should go a long way toward providing that fundraising case for the March of Dimes, though she kind of implies her group hasn’t yet found the fundraising key.

I suspect Lilliam isn’t a team of one in putting together the broad program described above. But because she stepped forward to proffer her organization’s impressive efforts, Lilliam deserves a raise!

Tom

P.S. And here on social media and here on online communities, and here on direct mail are a few more useful articles on marketing to Hispanics. All from Engage:Hispanics.