More than three years after the murder of George Floyd sparked a widespread racial reckoning, a sizable minority of nonprofits still lack clear goals and guidelines for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations, according to a new survey.
More than one in four nonprofits has yet to articulate its DEI values — like its stance on racial or gender equity — in 2023, according to a new survey of more than 140 communications professionals by the membership-based Communications Network. While some nonprofits have made significant progress in attracting more diverse leadership or improving accessibility features on websites and social media, nearly 70 percent of communications professionals say they still encounter examples of institutional racism in their work, on par with those surveyed in 2019.
Those findings reflect a growing division between the nonprofits most committed to building stronger practices and those still grappling with even the basic tenets of DEI, says Anita Sharma, a strategic communications and research consultant who authored the report.
“For some organizations, this has become intentional and foundational to their work,” says Sharma, while others are “still struggling to get to that place” where DEI is more than an afterthought or an acronym with only vague implications. More than a third of communications leaders surveyed say they feel unsure as to whether they have a strong understanding of the meaning of DEI concepts like equity and inclusion.
While “there’s still momentum in the right direction, we also see some stagnation” when it comes to racial equity, says Sharma, who noted that communications professionals have a significant role to play in both reflecting and advancing their organization’s progress.
Some of those surveyed reported that their organization did take concrete steps — like commissioning an annual DEI report or soliciting community feedback — to integrate more equity and diversity into their strategic communications. Almost half of nonprofits now speak out on current events — like police violence or immigration policy — that relate to their mission, up from 40 percent in 2019. More than a quarter of nonprofits now have a defined process for determining when to do so.
“As the conversation in the country evolves, communicators need to evolve,” says Sharma.
Other findings from the report include:
- Over 30 percent of senior leaders are now people of color, up from 23 percent in 2019. Respondents said around 36 percent of board members are people of color, compared with 26 percent two years ago.
- Two-thirds of nonprofits included DEI as an explicit component of their communications strategy in 2023, as in 2021. Eighty percent of respondents said they consider diversity and avoid perpetuating stereotypes when choosing which imagery to represent their organization.
- Despite progress, nearly 70 percent of respondents said that well-meaning communications teams continue to perpetuate harmful stereotypes or narratives, for example through language that promotes white savior narratives or imagery that isn’t representative.
- Roughly 43 percent of communications professionals now feel supported and prepared to incorporate DEI principles into their work, up from 35 percent in 2021. An additional 42 percent of respondents feel supported “to some extent.”
