As home becomes plural, how do we remain connected to the places that still matter to us? GlobalGiving’s nonprofit network explores the questions and possibilities forming the future of diaspora giving.
Across generations and borders, diaspora communities have long found creative ways to maintain relationships with their homeplaces, even as distance, time, and identities fluctuate.
While this connection takes many shapes, this article explores one enduring form: diaspora giving.
In 2023, an estimated $857 billion in remittances were sent by immigrants to their home countries. Most of this money went straight to family and friends.
Beyond these personal connections, many are also seeking opportunities to support the broader communities of these places: the specific people, spaces, and local institutions that nurture opportunity, protect beloved ecosystems, and help each other weather difficult times.
Many nonprofits are playing a role as that bridge between diaspora communities and their homeplaces. But there are many questions left unanswered about the future of diaspora giving:
How can nonprofits create new pathways for connection beyond existing networks? What stories, partnerships, and ongoing touchpoints can help those connections endure over time? How can organizations offer a window into the people, communities, and local efforts shaping life back home?
Conversations hosted by GlobalGiving and GivingTuesday with organizations across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) offer a glimpse into what the future of diaspora giving could be.
In all three regions, diaspora engagement almost always begins through close personal networks such as friends, family members, alumni groups, board connections, and trusted community members.
In Africa, nonprofits highlighted the importance of alumni networks and peer relationships. WhatsApp, M-Changa, and Instagram give diaspora communities a way to receive updates and stay connected to the people and places they care about.
For donors living in the US, UK, and Middle East, connections to their countries of origin can remain a powerful source of meaning, with cultural and religious moments such as Eid offering another way to reconnect with home.
Across contexts, diaspora giving is consistently rooted in relationship rather than reach. People give because they feel connected—to place, to people, or to shared identity, not because of broad donor acquisition campaigns.
But the same relationships that make diaspora giving so powerful can also limit its reach
Once existing networks are engaged, growth often slows. Donor fatigue can emerge. And reaching beyond the original circle of contact is difficult.
The challenge, then, is not simply how to build trust, but how to carry a sense of connection beyond the networks where it began.
Organizations are finding practical ways to help diaspora communities stay connected to the places they care about—and to turn those connections into lasting relationships.
A consistent starting point remains relationship-based outreach. Warm introductions, alumni networks, board connections, and trusted community relationships continue to be the most effective entry points for engagement. Even as organizations expand their strategies, relational trust remains the foundation.
One Ghanaian partner, REVE Foundation, described how cold (but well-researched) outreach to a like-minded US-based organization led to both a donation and a grant supporting local initiatives.
Across regions, diaspora communities are also exploring ways to keep a connection to home alive through the traditions and everyday practices that travel with them—through food, music, language, faith, and cultural celebrations. WhatsApp, Instagram, and LinkedIn help extend those connections, allowing people to share stories and glimpses of life back home across distance. Moments like Ramadan, Eid, Christmas, and Easter can bring those ties into sharper focus, creating opportunities not only to give, but to reconnect with the people, places, and traditions that continue to shape a sense of home.
Organizations are also moving beyond informal outreach toward more structured systems of engagement.
In LAC, organizations described efforts to collaborate with embassies, consulates, and diaspora associations to increase visibility in the United States and Europe.
In APAC, participants highlighted the need to better understand diaspora segments and explore emerging donor markets, including China and Japan.
In Africa, partnerships with volunteers and returning diaspora members were identified as important ways to build credibility and reach new audiences.
For example, one Kenyan partner, Saidika, registered on an online platform to launch a one-year volunteer program. Through this program, they now provide designated alumni contacts with materials to continue sharing information about the organization after returning to their home countries, including Brazil, Italy, Canada, Japan, and Francophone countries.
What begins in close personal relationships is increasingly extending into broader, more distributed networks shaped by shared identity, culture, and national belonging rather than direct familiarity alone.
For example, initiatives like the Mandela Fellows engage young leaders and advocates who can carry stories across borders, becoming ambassadors in their home countries. This can be understood as a “future diaspora”—a movement of young people who develop transnational awareness through leadership and exchange programs and later carry those connections into new geographies.
As networks expand, the challenge is keeping the connection alive across distance. Regular updates, personal stories, and transparent reporting can offer a window into what is happening on the ground. These dynamics are reflected differently across regions.
In Africa, our partners emphasized the importance of storytelling and using the languages spoken by target audiences. Hiring a Swahili translator, for example, has helped one Nigerian partner, Serendipity Healthcare Foundation, organically reach new donors from Kenya with no prior connection to their organization.
In LAC, transparency and contextual storytelling are critical for addressing misunderstandings about local conditions and strengthening credibility with international audiences. In APAC, organizations emphasized the importance of long-term relationship-building, particularly in contexts where access and infrastructure are limited.
Across contexts, trust is no longer a one-time achievement, but something continually maintained through structure, communication, and shared meaning.
A key challenge is communication across distance. Organizations often struggle to identify and connect with people living in other countries through localized messaging, with geographic separation creating both practical and relational barriers. Fondo Mujer del Sur, for example, highlighted difficulties expanding its donor base in the United States, noting that most of their international donors are currently in Europe and Australia. Increasing visibility and building meaningful connections in new markets—particularly the United States—remains a persistent challenge.
Reaching donors in specific regions can also be difficult, particularly in Gulf countries where access, networks, and entry points for diaspora fundraising are limited.
Knowledge gaps in effective diaspora engagement strategies also constrain growth. Many organizations are still developing approaches to move beyond initial outreach toward sustained cross-border relationship-building: from how to steward donors remotely and keep them connected to what is happening on the ground, to how to maintain engagement and a sense of connection over time.
Financial sustainability is another challenge. Fundación Programa Integrar reported that 75% of donors acquired in 2020 remain active, underscoring the importance of relationships and transparency. However, many organizations remain dependent on a small number of large donors, increasing financial risk and reinforcing the need to cultivate smaller, more sustained contributions.
Across regions, organizations identified shared opportunities to strengthen diaspora engagement.
In Asia-Pacific, there is strong interest in research and training to better understand diaspora behavior and improve fundraising capacity. Diaspora giving remains underdeveloped in South Asia but holds significant untapped potential. Regional training programs could strengthen fundraising skills and peer learning. Cross-border collaboration among nonprofits—for example between India and Pakistan, or Pakistan and China—could also expand donor networks and deepen shared learning.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, organizations emphasized clearer outreach strategies in key international markets. In Africa, partners highlighted peer learning and practical tools to strengthen engagement systems.
Across all regions, organizations want tools and systems that allow them to scale fundraising without losing the personal relationships that make it work.
GivingTuesday India highlighted the importance of research and relationship-building in diaspora giving. Organizations emphasized not assuming a uniform set of motivations for diaspora giving but instead seeking to understand multiple perspectives. They also pointed to practical strategies for expanding visibility and trust. These include engaging volunteers abroad who can serve as ambassadors within their communities, using digital tools such as Google Ads and SEO to reach new audiences, and working with influencers to extend storytelling beyond immediate networks.
While diaspora giving looks different across contexts, a common pattern emerges: it begins with personal relationships, grows through informal networks, and can be strengthened by systems that help sustain engagement over time.
The challenge is not simply creating new fundraising tactics, but building new ways for trust and connection to endure across distance.
Across regions, a central question emerges: not whether diaspora communities will give, but how organizations can help sustain meaningful connections between people and the places they care about across distance, generations, and time.
Distance may change some things, but it doesn’t change what and who we care about.
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