Yeah, but who's counting? A common link in these stats: they're all human.(GENERAL RAMBLINGS)

Roughly one-third of Americans fall into a demographic silo known as minority. The federal government divides the silos into compartments and has determined that the rapid growth of Hispanic and Asian communities in the United States has slowed.

Here's another germ of information from the new demographic numbers: according to the federal government, fewer Hispanics are migrating to suburbs and they are not traveling to what was considered newly emerging immigrant areas in the Southeast, including Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. They are staying in traditional gateway locations, such as California and New Jersey.

That means that communities and enclaves are taking root. This is prime information for starting giving circles and other forms of personalized development.

And, a new research report focusing on donors' philanthropic and civic behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, showed that donors say they give more, give more strategically, and are more knowledgeable about nonprofit organizations and problems in their communities when they participate in giving circles.

These are challenging times. Charities look at the ethnic silos and try to figure out a way for them to give. Some fundraisers are wondering if the effort is worth it since immigrant communities were more nomadic until recently.

Folks, the minority pool is actually an ocean of 104.6 million people. And whether it is growing or not, that pool of potential donors is very deep.

You can't ignore a deep pool when known donors are declining and those remaining aren't giving as much.

Another recent study showed that online gift amounts declined by an average $15 for all organizations, but local and state-based organizations really took it on the chin, with online gifts to those groups dropping an average $51.

According to Marc Ruben, co-author of and vice president at M+R Strategic Services, in Washington, D.C., "$15 is a huge decrease for average gift--$50 is cataclysmic." Online fundraising grew by 26 percent from 2007 to 2008, but average gift size decreased by 21 percent in the same period, according to the study. It's the first time that the study broke out the local and state-based organizations in a separate segment.

Target Analytics' Index of National Fundraising Performance showed the rate of new donor acquisition was significantly less in 2008 than in 2006 and 2007.

Donor numbers in the index were off a median 3 percent from 2007 to 2008. Donors in the index have been declining consistently for the past three years. Declining new donor acquisition was not the only reason for the decline in overall donor populations. Retention rates also fell in 2008 by a median 1.4 percent from the previous year, and reactivation rates declined a median 6 percent during the same period.

Not one donor can be wasted these days. The last presidential election showed what community organizers can do. It's time to get working more effectively on the grassroots level to make current donors (those with jobs) understand the unmet needs in a community and to engage those new members of the neighborhood.

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