For years, nonprofits, for-profit corporations, and even the government have discussed how to better reach the Latino, Spanish-speaking community. Still, there are a lot of organizations that get it wrong or are unable to serve this population effectively. A key issue I have found when working with organizations seeking ways to reach the Latino community is that they think translating materials and hiring Spanish-speaking staff is enough. But it is not. What most organizations are missing is a concrete strategy for serving this community long-term.

I don’t doubt that the intent to serve the Latino community is there. And with good reason: the U.S. has the fifth largest population of native Spanish speakers in the world, and trails only Mexico for the largest number of Latinos. I see organizations putting out strong efforts, but many are still missing the mark. The key issue is that many organizations tend to view this market as homogenous, failing to see how diverse it is, not just based on country of origin, but also acculturation and educational levels. Targeting a community this large and diverse takes a strategic effort.

Infographic by Jonathan A. Barrera Mikulich of Latino Branding Power

The Latino population in the U.S. was 50.5 million strong as of 2010, and it continues to grow. So what can we do to better target the market and ensure that Latinos are getting the services they need? Here are four areas that nonprofits that are struggling with serving the Latino population need to consider.

Understand your market — Latinos are not all the same: It’s important to understand that the U.S. Latino population is incredibly diverse. Within the community there are significant variances in culture, preferences, customs, and habits based upon country of origin, education, and acculturation levels. There are also important differences in serving a transitory population, a family unit versus an individual, or those without legal documentation. Organizations need to clearly identify the factors that influence each specific community, to ensure their services and message appeal to the target market.

Go beyond the message — consider culture and education: The ability of organizations to identify and recognize important cultural connectors for each Latino community will help them better communicate with that community. I have found that many services offered to the Latino market are not always well received, not because they are not needed, but because either there is lack of education on the subject or community members have never been exposed to such services. This is especially true of services not often offered in their country of origin (free health care for kids, emergency food provisions, assistance to those who have hearing or vision needs, etc.). Organizations must have a solid understanding of who is in their community and what level of information they need.

Establish relationships — families and friends: Latinos are an incredibly loyal community, and loyalty starts with family and friends. Working with the Latino community, two things prove true over and over:

1. Word of mouth is one of the strongest “promotional” tools. Thus, ensuring that you develop strong relationships with current clients is important. Suspicion runs high in the Latino community, too, and personal references go a long way.
2. It is not uncommon that in a Latino household several generations live together. Establishing relationships with family members, not just those targeted for service, is important. When you are speaking to the recipient of services, you are in essence speaking to the entire family.

Create a Latino strategy — determine what you are doing: It’s understandable that organizations want to rush into providing services to the Latino community because the need is high. However, it’s critical that organizations consider how they will work with the community to create a long-term relationship. To do this well, organizations need a strategy to serve the Latino community. Remember that the U.S. is the second largest Latino country in the world based on population, and you wouldn’t start providing services in Mexico without a strategy, right?

For many, this is nothing new. We have talked about it for years, we just have not done enough. We must elevate our thinking about the sleeping giant that is the Latino population. Just because we might provide the services Latinos need, it does not mean they will come and get them. Organizations need to create lasting strategies to build relationships that will allow the Latino community to access and benefit from the services it requires. The time is now to get beyond translation!

The Patterson Foundation (TPF) is an independent charitable foundation in Sarasota, Florida that partners and connects with others to create new realities. Debra Jacobs, the Foundation’s CEO, contacted La Piana Consulting in early 2010 to talk about our experience with strategic restructuring. Jacobs and her team recognized that strategic restructuring – or collaborative restructuring, as they call it – is a powerful way for groups of organizations to leverage resources and capabilities for long-term “thrive-ability.”

TPF was initially interested in exploring how La Piana might provide training and education focused on strategic restructuring to both Foundation staff and the nonprofit and funder communities in the area. That work began in April of 2010. Almost immediately, TPF fielded several requests for financial support for assessment and exploration, including requests from two local community foundations and two disability service organizations – both were interested in assessing the potential for partnership. Thanks to support from TPF’s Collaborative Restructuring Initiative (or CRI, officially launched in the spring of 2010) La Piana worked closely with both groups as they did so. As a result of their explorations, the organizations learned a lot about themselves and the two community foundations have identified a way they can support and strengthen community-wide philanthropy.

The Patterson Foundation’s interest was not limited to providing educational opportunities and financial support, however. Upon learning about our consultant training programs, Jacobs and CRI Initiative Manager Pam Truitt attended a one-day introductory training in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That session, sponsored by the Foellinger Foundation, covered the fundamentals of consulting to organizations exploring or negotiating collaborative restructuring arrangements. Several months later, Truitt participated in the second phase of our program – a three-day intensive combining and extended role-play with case studies and in-depth discussions around contracting, the negotiations process, human resources, external communications, and implementation and integration. TPF realized that building local capacity among consultants was critical to its long-term success, and decided to sponsor a series of trainings in its own region – and then make available ongoing education and support, including mentoring, for consultants who choose to make the facilitation of collaborative restructuring efforts part of their practice. As Truitt said in her blog after the three-day intensive:

As Initiative Manager, I have gone through the training and emphatically state that, at least in the beginning, I could not do this work alone. In addition to learning and being skillful in the technical aspects…consultants must be effective facilitators, understand how to deal with difficult personalities, handle icebergs that invariably surface, guide discussions when appropriate and keep the process moving without favoring one organization over the other. If Wonder Woman were facilitating a nonprofit merger, she would need help!

TPF is also connecting with national funders in the collaboration space, such as the Lodestar Foundation, The Forbes Funds, and The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, to learn and share information.

Over the past two years our relationship with TPF has evolved into a true partnership – one that is collaborative, productive, and extremely rewarding. We continue to work with TPF staff to understand and address the specific needs of their community, providing workshops, training, consulting, facilitation, and mentoring to nonprofits and local consultants alike. As a result of TPF’s commitment and our work together, more Florida nonprofits are aware of and actively exploring options for collaborative restructuring – and able to draw on local resources, both financial and technical, as they do so.