Knowing how to effectively interact with the younger generation is imperative to successful fundraising efforts. Here are six tips to help you fundraise with the millennial generation.
Donor Demographics
Believe it or not, your donors actually have expectations based on specific character traits.
I have to know who you are if I hope to penetrate your busy world and earn a few minutes of your time to listen. Otherwise, I am just more white noise in a day already cluttered with too much babble that is easily ignored.
Millennials — young people in their 20s and early 30s — are changing the philanthropic landscape. They are bringing new expectations to charitable giving, and they are demanding new kinds of information from charitable organizations. Many nonprofits and workplace giving programs have not yet caught up.
Coming to terms with millennials’ expectations and demands is one of the most pressing tasks facing nonprofits. For many nonprofits and workplace giving programs, their continued success may well depend on it.
Like with most things in life, the key to generating solid data that will make a difference in your donor relationships and, subsequently, your fundraising is to go for quality over quantity.
Looking for volunteers for a good cause? You’re most likely to have success if you head to Utah. That’s according to a new survey from Gallup, which breaks down by state where Americans donate the most time and money to charity. Relatively low population states such as South Dakota, Vermont, Montana and Idaho topped a list of survey respondents who reported giving a donation and volunteering their time to an organization within the last six months.
Marketing agency Achieve and the Case Foundation developed a study on millennials. They thoroughly analyzed this generation’s participation in and connection to causes and nonprofit organizations. Based on the findings from this fantastic report, I came up with eight ways that nonprofits can engage millennial donors and volunteers. 1. Keep your information updated. 2. Make everything mobile-friendly. 3. Use social media and make your content shareable. 4. Don't forget email. 5. Provide multiple donation options. 6. Be authentic. 7. Provide unique ways to get involved. 8. Treat millennials like your other donors and volunteers.
I recently read a stat that 70 percent of U.S. disposable income is controlled by baby boomers. Taken together with the stat from Blackbaud’s “Next Generation of American Giving” report that boomers contribute 43 precent of all charitable giving, one thing is clear: Baby boomers should be at the top of every nonprofit professional’s mind.
But how do we reach them, and what’s the best offer? How do they compare to the older generation of people who are currently giving? And can we really just lump 70 million people into one segment?
Each generation living today has come of age with profoundly different experiences concerning mass communication, and these differences directly impact how each generation gives to nonprofits. Seniors still prefer print communications and charitable giving. The same is mostly true of baby boomers, however, they are young enough to be experiencing the rise of new media in their daily lives, which impacts their lifelong giving habits. Gen X and Gen Y increasingly shun print communications and fundraising while adapting quickly to new trends in mobile and social giving.
Ever wonder what your colleagues are learning about the hearts, minds and habits of today’s donors? Wonder no more. At the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2014 Washington Nonprofit Conference, direct marketers generously shared their donor insights gleaned from careful testing and successful campaigns. Here are the top 10 insights about donors learned from the conference.