Achieving Diversity at Nonprofit Organizations

Randell McShepard, a Cleveland executive, decided to take action when he and friends were inundated with too many requests to join charity boards. (Photograph by Bruce Zake, for The Chronicle)

A PLACE AT THE TABLE To correct the racial imbalance on nonprofit boards, several organizations have sprung up in recent years to serve as pipelines for minority trustees.

BLACK MEN are few and far between in the nonprofit work force, due in part to the dearth of black male college graduates, but some already in nonprofit jobs say charities could still do more to recruit them.

CHARITIES LOSE OUT on some potentially valuable employees, experts says, when they reject candidates with a criminal record, one reason nonprofit groups have so few black men in their ranks.

IN A SURVEY whose results will be reported this fall, the Foundation Center has attempted to learn how carefully grant makers track the racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of their grantees.

GAY EMPLOYEES are increasingly welcome at nonprofit organizations, as a growing number of charities, following the lead of business, adopt policies designed to attract and retain them.

OFFERING DOMESTIC-PARTNER BENEFITS is among the steps charities can take to become more hospitable to gay employees: tips from nonprofit officials and other experts.

FINDING A GOOD FIT with a charity's mission can help gay employees feel comfortable on the job, though exercising discretion with the group's clients is still sometimes necessary.

HISPANIC VOLUNTEERS are in great demand among charities that serve America's growing Latino population.

MERELY TRANSLATING APPEALS into Spanish is not enough — to recruit Hispanic volunteers, a personal approach is more effective: advice from experts.

RESEARCH GRANTS from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation routinely went to "the usual suspects" until the grant maker started a program aimed specifically at supporting the work of minority researchers.

TO BETTER SERVE IMMIGRANTS here at home, the YMCA of the USA has embarked on a program to send many of its leaders on educational trips overseas.