Travis Shingledecker: ‘Queer Eye’ for your CRM

By Travis Shingledecker

Community-centric fundraising has gained major traction in the past several years within the philanthropic community—a much-needed alternative to traditional philanthropy practices that reinforce racism, sexism, and classism. 

This fundraising model’s core principle of centering the communities we serve, rather than donors, dismantles several notions upheld by traditional philanthropy:   

• It challenges the assumption that communities need to be saved by donors 

• It recognizes that community members can be change agents for their own communities in ways that traditional philanthropy has not acknowledged 

As a queer fundraiser myself, the community-centric fundraising movement prompted me to reflect on the ways that my LGBTQ+ community is understood in the context of philanthropy. Organizations recognize that LGBTQ+ people can be a ‘community served,’ but most do not yet see us as a community that can make change through philanthropic donations. 

All too often, we are made invisible by virtue of being left out of data collection—If we are not ‘counted’ to begin with, how can we be seen as changemakers in the space? Your organization can affirm the identities of your organization’s LGBTQ+ donors by optimizing your CRM—making simple changes to collect SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) data. 

The purpose of your CRM  

Before investigating how your CRM can be used as a tool to affirm the identities of your donors, it is first important to ask:  

‘What is the purpose of my CRM?’  

Customer relationship management (‘CRM’) tools are meant to capture our holistic relationships with donors. They are not meant to be used as databases that only capture names, addresses, and donation information.  

If nonprofits want to understand who their donors are, diversify their boards and committees, and provide more segmenting options for their communications strategies, isn’t the first step for us to know how our donors identify? Understanding the identities of our donors plays a crucial role in how we develop those relationships.   

Where to begin 

There are a few conversations that should happen internally before your organization starts collecting SOGI data:  

1. Protocols: Your organization needs to have protocols written down and available to staff members to answer some of these questions: Through what channels are we collecting this data (e.g. surveys, white mail, relationship managers)? Who is responsible for collecting and updating this data? Who is entering this data into the CRM?  

2. Training: Your organization needs to be prepared to offer training to staff on LGBTQ+ cultural competency and informed consent. This training module should be regularly revisited beyond the initial rollout of a SOGI data collection initiative.  

3. Data security: Your organization needs to store SOGI data in a secure, confidential way where permissions to view the data are limited to only essential staff.  

Key terms  

For the purposes of understanding best practices and the sample questions below, this article is defining select key terms relevant to sexual orientation and gender identity.  

1. Gender identity: Someone’s understanding of self as it relates to male, female, both, or neither; importantly self-identified and not assumed/imposed by others 

2. Sexual orientation: An identifier for someone’s romantic, sexual, or emotional connection with other people  

For other key terms, refer to the ‘Resources’ section to find a glossary of terms created by the Human Rights Campaign.  

Guiding principles  

1. Self-disclosure is key. Identity can only be defined by oneself. We should never make assumptions about a person’s gender identity, pronouns, and/or sexual orientation. We should never pressure our donors into sharing information with us either; we should always give donors the option to not disclose these details to us.  

2. Confidentiality must be prioritized. Not everyone is safe to openly share their gender identity or sexual orientation with us. It is paramount that organizations take every step within their CRMs to limit who has access to this information and with whom to share such confidential information.

3. Identity is not static. Sexual orientation, gender identity, names, and pronouns are not static. Offer donors the opportunity to update their demographic information with you.  

4. Continue evolving with the community. LGBTQ+ vernacular is constantly evolving. Your organization should regularly audit the SOGI questions that your organization is asking to make sure they are up to date with what is in use today. Terms used 3-5 years ago might be considered antiquated by now.  

Tips for formulating your questions

1. Do not conflate gender identity and sexual orientation. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same thing. In an attempt to affirm LGBTQ+ folks, organizations sometimes have one field in their database or surveys that ask if donors identify as  ‘LGBTQ+’. The LGBTQ+ community is a beautifully diverse community and should not be treated as a monolith.  

2. Do not ‘other.’ Similarly, some organizations offer an ‘Other’ option for people who do not identity with cisgender, heterosexual norms that are pre-listed in their questions. ‘Other’ is not an identity. Your organization should instead offer a ‘write-in’ field if someone’s identity is not captured by the other responses available.  

3. Consider what ‘name’ you are collecting. Someone’s preferred or chosen name might not align with their legal name. Is it necessary for us to collect the legal name? If so, consider asking for the donor’s preferred or chosen name first and the legal name second to show preference and validation for the preferred name.   

4. Titles: Many CRMs have a prebuilt field to ask for titles. Consider eliminating gendered titles like ‘Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’ while keeping honorary titles like ‘Dr.’  

Sample questions

1. What is your preferred or chosen name?  

2. Which pronouns should we use for you?  
   In your CRM, you should use checkboxes instead of radio buttons to allow donors to select more than one pronoun.

   • She / Her  

   • He / Him 

   • They / Them  

   • Questioning  

   • Pronouns Not Listed Above 

   • Unknown  

   • Prefer Not to Disclose  

3. Which of the following best describes your gender?  

   • Female  

   • Male  

   • Genderqueer/Non-binary  

   • Questioning  

   • Gender Identity Not Listed Above  

   • Unknown

4.  Do you identify as transgender?  

   • Yes  

   • No 

   • Questioning  

   • Unknown  

   • Prefer Not to Disclose  

5. Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? 

   • Lesbian / Gay  

   • Straight / Heterosexual  

   • Bisexual  

   • Queer  

   • Questioning  

   • Asexual  

   • Sexual Identity Not Listed Above  

   • Unknown  

6. Additional information  
   In your CRM, insert a textbox field for you to write any additional information or special notes about demographic information relevant to the donor.

Keep your eye on the goal 

It is natural to feel overwhelmed when you are making such large shifts to the ways in which your organization collects data around identity.  

In those moments of stress, remember your end goal: to give visibility to LGBTQ+ people, to establish more authentic relationships with our communities, and to dismantle the systems of oppression that overwhelm the philanthropic sector.   

Resources

1. Human Rights Campaign – Glossary of Terms 

2. Human Rights Campaign – SOGIE Data Collection  

For more resources on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, check out this post by my colleague Ellen Claycomb.  

Travis Shingledecker

Before joining Aperio, Travis worked in the nonprofit sector in New York City and Philadelphia for organizations like Sanctuary for Families and Nationalities Service Center. He specializes in project coordination, grant reporting, CRM systems, event planning, and leadership engagement.