Alana Ramo wrote a nice piece over at Policymic about the philanthropic power of today's young adults: Millenials Aren't Millionaires, But We're Great Philanthropists.
She's right. There's a lot of giving power in today's 20-30 year olds, and they're breaking a lot of "rules" when it comes to supporting causes and missions. That scares a lot of people, who are uncomfortable having to learn new ways of doing business. You don't have that luxury. Not only are you missing out on a huge resource if you decide that you can survive without figuring out how to attract Millenial supporters, you're condemning your future.
It's always been the case that donors (as a demographic) gain capacity as they get older, and the first few organizations who treated today's Big Money Donors as VIPs are statistically likely to remain among their top causes. There's no reason to think either of those trends will be changing. Millennials will be richer in 10 years, richer still in 20...and because they're gaining a philanthropic philosophy and practice NOW, getting their attention for significant support years down the road will be even harder. You'll be competing with institutions who've been working with them for decades by the time they're in their 40s.
Alana's article draws a lot from the Chase Foundation's Millenial Impact Report, which you can check out in full here.
Here are the biggest points in support of my dire warning:
-83% of the Millenials surveyed made a financial gift to at least one cause last year.
-73% volunteer for a cause, and a full 70% have raised money online or offline on behalf of a cause.
If you've ever tried to get your older supporters (or even your Board, who should be your most vocal set of supporters, ambassadors to the community at large) to each ask 5 friends to make a gift to one of your campaigns, you will be blown away at the notion of 70% of ANY demographic group seeking out opportunities to put their own name on the line with their own personal networks to raise money.
But these are also folks who aren't going to respond to direct mail or most email campaigns, they don't go to galas in the same pattern, and they aren't content to simply provide financial support and then be updated with newsletters and annual reports. These are folks who want to be intimately involved, they want to be active participants in a cause. You've got to provide that in a way that's authentic, but sustainable for your organization.
What's your strategy for engaging the Millennial generation?
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