Young Donors and Other Mythical Creatures

Please don't be insulted when I tell you this: You are a statistical anomaly. So anomalous that it probably makes your thinking a little weird.

I'm making two assumptions about you when I say that:

1. You are younger than 65. (If you're older, please be patient while I address these young whipper-
snappers. Thank you.)

2. You are a regular donor to charitable causes. (If you aren't, stop reading right now and go make some gifts. Yes, now. Either that or find work in an industry you're willing to participate in.)

If I'm right about these two things, you are an outlier, a curiosity, a freak — a young donor.

That's right — even if you're in your 40s or 50s, you are a rare young donor. (Enjoy this last chance of being thought of as a young anything!) If you're under 40, well, statistically you don't quite exist. Charitable giving is almost entirely dominated by older people. It's their territory, the way pop music belongs to young people.

If you have a sense that there are lots and lots of young donors, it's an illusion — caused by the fact that you are one and you know many others. Thing is, you aren't a tree in the midst of a great forest. You're in a tiny copse in the middle of a vast, treeless plain. The forest is where the old people are.

To hear some fundraisers talk, you'd think this was a terrible state of affairs. "We've got to get more young donors," they cry, with startling intensity.

I think a lot of fundraisers are focused on young donors for two reasons:

1. They're following the strategies of advertisers. For a lot of advertisers, young people are the holy grail. They spend a lot of money on clothing, entertainment and other profitable things. If you're selling jeans or video games, young people are where it's at. If you want people to hand you money for your cause — nope.

2. The fundraisers themselves are young, and they're sick of the old-fashioned ways of communicating that motivate older donors. Wouldn't it be cooler to talk to cooler people? Let's face it: It takes a real act of the imagination to get into the head of someone older than you. It's even harder when you're impressed with your own hipness and think the oldsters just don't get it.

When young giving happens at all, it's mostly in fads: Think Live Aid, yellow wristbands or the recent outpouring of text giving for Haiti. The millions of 
dollars raised in these fads are not chump change. But it isn't sustainable fundraising either. Any organization that seeks young donors thinking it'll get anything close to normal donor-retention rates is in for a hard fall.

But the reality is this: Getting and cultivating young donors is kind of like shoveling mercury with a pitchfork.

The reason young people aren't a meaningful part of the pool of donors is not their incomes. It's their brains. Young brains are innately more self-focused than older brains. Want evidence? Argue with a teenager. (Please note that I'm not saying young people are immoral or lacking in character. They just don't give often or in a sustained way. Their good deeds are more typically in the form of volunteerism and other direct action.)

As for older people, changes in brain chemistry as they age make them more emotional, more empathetic and less cynical. That's good for giving. And it gets even better: There's the increased wisdom and perspective that comes with age, and a deepening of (or return to) religious faith. Both of these things strongly promote giving. For some, there's the bonus of time and 
disposable income that comes when the kids grow up and move out.

For many people, some time after their late 50s there's a "perfect storm" for charitable giving. This is the engine that drives almost all nonprofits.

If you track donor performance by age, you find that retention goes up with age. Lock step. Every year they get older, they grow more likely to stay with you. But somewhere after age 90, retention suddenly falls off the table.

It's not that the 90-plus crowd no longer wants to give. I'm sure, given the alternative, that these folks would rather keep on giving. Unfortunately, death catches up with everyone eventually.

And that's where young donors come in. You have to replace your older donors as you lose them.

The secret to success is in how you define "young." Your best bet is people in their 40s and 50s — the older young people (or younger old people). That gives you at least a fighting chance of success.

And that means baby boomers — who now range between their mid-40s and mid-60s.

To reach boomers, you can't be complacent. If you sit back and hope your current messaging will keep on working as the next generation ages, you're in for some unpleasant surprises.

Boomers demand some extra things from the causes they support:

● Specificity and power over how their money is used.

● A high level of professionalism about their data and their privacy.

● Proof that their giving is making the difference you told them it would.

● Open and obvious control over the relationship 
— how often, when and how you communicate 
with them.

(By the way, doing these things will improve your results with the oldest donors, too. It's just that as you approach boomers, it's the price of admission instead of just a good idea.)

Boomers don't force you to change absolutely everything about fundraising. You still have to make a clear, compelling, emotional case for a gift. And you still can reach them through traditional 
media channels.

You know how you eventually turn into your dad (or mom)? It really happens. If you haven't had that startling revelation about yourself yet, you will.

Well, it's happening to boomers big time. They're turning into their parents. The older they get, the more they act like old people.

Which takes us back to where we started: You are a young donor. And normal donors are old. Even the younger ones are old.

So here are some hints for creating successful fundraising with older donors (i.e., fundraising):

● Don't market to yourself. If your yardstick for good work is "I'd respond to that," you're getting it wrong for sure.

● Have a specific older person in mind when you work on your fundraising. Don't say stuff that you wouldn't say to that person.

● Hang out with older people. If you don't have any in your life right now, volunteer at an assisted-living place or nursing home. You've got to get their attitudes and voices drilled into your head!

● Read what older people read: Guideposts, Reader's Digest, AARP Magazine. Hey, they aren't half bad!

● Create a filter for stuff that's cutting-edge and cool. When you create it, trash it! FS