If you’re looking to support a nonprofit organization chances are you probably search Google first, maybe ask friends and colleagues, or even browse through your social media. What about if you’re trying to find something more specific? Maybe you have heard that there’s a rise in anti-AAPI hate in your community, or that 1 in 4 AAPI elders live in poverty in NY? Where do you go then?
With support from Walmart, and the Walmart Foundation through the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) launched The AAPI Nonprofit Database to help make discovering and connecting to these organizations easier.
The AAPI Nonprofit Database is a national database that provides a platform for donors and the broader public to support and engage with AAPI organizations across the country. But more importantly, this database will help address the historical lack of funding directed to the AAPI community.
The AAPI community makes up 7% of the U.S. population but we receive less than 0.2% of philanthropic funding, which leaves our communities underfunded and under-resourced. TAAF is working to help fill this critical gap to unlock resources and support for AAPI-focused organizations so our communities can thrive.
We launched the Database on July 31 with the following objectives:
The AAPI Nonprofit Database helps meet a critical need by creating more access and visibility to AAPI nonprofits. Through the creation of the database, we hope to connect potential donors, supporters, volunteers, and audiences looking to donate and engage with AAPI nonprofit organizations.
Each audience has a different motivation for accessing the database and our goal was to create a platform to address as many of them as possible. For instance, we hope to engage the nonprofit community to get listed on the database and verify the information while we encourage businesses and individuals to become donors. Finally, we wanted to give the general public a trusted platform to learn about, volunteer with, or donate to organizations they otherwise might not have been exposed to.
Key Features:
The database features nonprofits of all sizes, giving visibility and driving donations to grassroots organizations who have been working tirelessly to support the AAPI community throughout the U.S.
Over 700 nonprofit organizations serving AAPI communities across the country are currently listed, and we aspire for that number to continue to grow.
The database allows users to find organizations by location, focus area, population served, budget size, or years in service.
Interactive features allow users to explore hundreds of AAPI organizations through a map, plot, or list view.
We aspire to build a comprehensive up-to-date AAPI Nonprofit Database.
You can trust that the data is reliable and up-to-date. We collect and cross-reference data from several sources — including recent, self-reported information, and Candid/GuideStar.
We also spotlight organizations on the ground during natural disasters, national emergencies, etc by aggregating lists and featuring them prominently on the homepage. For example, during the catastrophic Hawai’i wildfires, the team created a search for and added a banner at the top of the website urging people to support nonprofit organizations in Hawai’i.
To ensure the appropriate vetting of information, the Database is only accepting 501(c)(3)s at this time. Our goal is to build the most robust database we can which starts with onboarding as many 501(c)(3)s as possible and we look forward to expanding the types of organizations we can include in the future. And to truly be representative of our communities, we are hoping to expand the breadth of organizations serving all populations, specifically NHPI organizations, as we continue to grow the Database.
The interactive AAPI Nonprofit Database furthers TAAF’s commitment to unlocking resources for the AAPI community by giving visibility and driving donations to grassroots organizations who have been working to support underrepresented AAPI communities throughout the country.
This interactive tool is essential because it will continue to grow and provide visibility to organizations across focus areas such as Anti-Hate & Anti-Racism, Food Security, and Women & Girls to name a few. Additionally, it will help nonprofit organizations that may get overlooked in smaller cities gain more visibility.
While we debuted the database at 650 organizations, we have grown that number to 705 in just six weeks. Also, over 100 organizations have reached out to us to get listed, and we’ve seen the community come together to recommend and invite organizations to join!
