Courting Young Donors, Experts Urge Focus on Tangibles

University at Albany advancement administrators conduct one-on-one meetings with young alumni, individually connecting with potential donors to convince them to give back to the institution.

The goal, assistant director of young alumni programs Brian Rudolph said, is to instill giving habits in the recent graduates. Though the tactic is expensive, it is effective, he said.

Philanthropy experts agree that nonprofits must court young givers early, hoping millennials get in the habit of donating their time and money.

That's best done, they said, by lowering barriers to entry for the demographic, roughly defined as those born between 1980 and 2000.