Earlier this week we participated in a Giving Institute-sponsored webinar, entitled “Engaging Millennials Now For the Future Prosperity of Your Development Program.” The webinar cited a lot of interesting research from a recently published survey of millennial donors. We thought we’d share some of the highlights:
Giving/Motivations for Giving:
93% of Millennials surveyed gave to nonprofit organizations in 2010. The majority of these gifts (58%) were distributed in smaller amounts, under $150.
59% of Millennials surveyed said they gave in response to a personal ask. However, when asked about their preferred method of giving, the majority of respondents said they preferred to give online.
84% of Millennials surveyed said they were most likely to donate when they fully trusted an organization. Much like high-net worth individuals, trust ranks high among Millennials with 90% surveyed saying that they would stop giving if they lost trust in an organization.
Communicating:
71% of Millennials surveyed said they find information about nonprofits through web searches. It’s important to note that these donors are not searching for your organization’s URL, rather they are making general searches for nonprofits like yours, so be sure your website can be easily found.
Once they get to your website, 90% of Millennials surveyed said they want to find information on your organization’s history and mission, as well as financial information. In order to effectively reach Millennials, make sure your website is informative and easy to navigate.
Engaging:
79% of Millennials surveyed volunteered for nonprofits in 2010. 19% of Millennials surveyed who gave $1,000 or more volunteered once or more times a week, while only 11% of Millennials who donated less than $1,000 volunteered that often. Just like other generations of donors, the more involved they are with the organization, the more likely they are to give.
Last week we had the opportunity to hear from a group of Millennials (and perhaps a few Gen-Xers) on why they give. Keith made a presentation to The Beach Fund, a group of young professionals in Hampton Roads between the ages of 25-40 who pool their resources annually to make a greater impact in their community. Much of what we heard from these “real world” Millennials was in line with the findings mentioned above.
The bottom line is that the more we examine the differences between Millennials and older more established donors the more similarities that are revealed between the two groups. While different generations of donors often want to be engaged in different ways, Millennials, like Baby Boomers for example, still value personal contact and place a high priority on trusting an organization. We may have been raised in different environments and with different expectations, but at the end of the day we’re all human, right?
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