The post-boomer babies now are young adults poised to offer greener pastures for organizations seeking new donors.

By Paul Barbagallo

In 2001, the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy conducted a study on behalf of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “Agent-Animated Wealth and Philanthropy: The Dynamics of Accumulation and Allocation Among High-Tech Donors,” to create a picture of high-tech donors’ giving habits.

The study revealed that high-tech donors — many of them entrepreneurial Gen-Xers who made their fortunes during the dot-com boom — require organizations they support to be more perceptive about the needs of the people they serve. And unlike most groups of wealth holders, high-tech donors are relatively young, unmarried or recently married, and often conduct business in a locale in which they did not grow up. Most of their businesses are not locale specific and could be operated anywhere.