The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Refugee and Immigrant Organizations

Background and Purpose:

Non-profits are an important facet of civic life in US society as they provide critical infrastructure for community engagement and directly supporting individuals and communities. Non-profits working directly with immigrants and refugees have played a critical role in supporting newcomers. For instance, non-profits may advocate for public policies related to migration or provide social services to marginalized migrant groups, including refugees, asylum seekers, or undocumented immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-profits had to quickly adapt to the unique conditions of the pandemic, including closures, an increase in virtual activities, and addressing health and safety concerns associated with COVID-19. The conditions of the pandemic have shifted the varying ways that individuals volunteer and give to their communities. We study the impact of the pandemic on refugee and immigrant organizations in the areas of formal volunteering and donations. At present, no other study has examined the impact of the pandemic on refugee and immigrant organizations.

Methods:

This study is based on a research project in collaboration with The Generosity Commission to examine the impact of the pandemic on volunteering, donating, and prosocial behaviors before and during the pandemic. Our data looks at the domains of formal donation and volunteer behaviors (donating or volunteering through an organization), informal donation or volunteer behaviors (donating or volunteering independently), and prosocial behaviors (individual behaviors that have a positive impact on others). The data includes over 2,000 respondents from a random nationally representative sample of adults residing in the United States. Our analysis examines several demographic characteristics associated with formally volunteering and donating to refugee and immigrant organizations before (between March 2019-March 2020) and during the pandemic (after March 2020). Our analysis also includes individuals’ motivations for formally donating to refugee and immigrant organizations and religiosity. Lastly, we conduct face-to-face interviews with volunteer coordinators from refugee and immigrant organizations.

Results:

Preliminary findings show that although most areas of formal volunteering and donations decreased during the pandemic, formal volunteering and donations increased for refugee and immigrant organizations. People who volunteered and/or donated to help immigrants and refugees before the pandemic kept doing so during the pandemic. Few people changed their behaviors (stopping or starting to donate/volunteer) during the pandemic. Qualitative findings suggest that refugee and immigrant non-profits have had to find creative ways to engage and retain committed volunteers while supporting a new surge of volunteers and donations.

Conclusions and Implications:

Our study addresses an important gap regarding the impact of COVID-19 on refugee and immigrant organizations in the areas of volunteering and donations. Although the pandemic’s effect on our society is ongoing, we provide important insight into how the unprecedented nature of the pandemic shifted the individual volunteering and donation behaviors and its impact on the organizations that support migrant groups. The core people who are committed to help immigrants and refugees remained committed. This suggests that nonprofits that help immigrants and refugees ought to extend the circle of volunteers and donors during regular times to be able to keep helping during crisis times.