Insights for Non-Profits

Millennials, between the ages of 18-32 or born after 1980, are overtaking baby boomers as the largest living population, according to the 2015 census. Millennials already account for 11% of total non-profit giving and nearly 60% of millennials say they give to charities. With more millennials than baby boomers, it is important to incorporate marketing tactics in your overall strategy to attract millennials to help your organization create life-long donors.

Non-profits must realize that a one-size fits all approach doesn’t work when it comes to millennial donors. Giving strategies that worked for previous generations will need to be tailored in order to attract millennials. We have outlined five ways your organization can adopt a millennial mindset and attract millennial donors.

Utilize online and mobile friendly donation forms.

Millennials are accustomed to having the world at their fingertips. According to Pew Research Institute, more than 62% of millennials and Gen Xers use their smartphone to make donations. Making donation forms available online and mobile friendly makes donating even easier for millennials. With just a few clicks to invest in your non-profit’s cause, millennials are more likely to support your organization if you make the donation process easy and seamless.

Incorporate social media and social giving into your strategy.

In 2015, organizations that incorporated social media into their marketing strategy saw growth in the charitable gifts they received compared to 2014 through this method. Millennials are the heaviest consumers of social media. Engaging with millennials on social media helps to create a stronger connection and build a relationship. Millennials are also more likely to research online before they donate and invest in a non-profit, and are likely to see if your organization is active on social media. Seeing what a non-profit organization posts on social media and how their cause is supported will help potential millennial donors better understand the organization, its mission, and how they can help make an impact.

Allow donors to share on social media after they’ve made a contribution and encourage them to share their experience. 50% of people say they will support a cause because their friend asked them. Giving donors the option to share on social media also allows them to tag your organization and their friends to encourage them to donate. This will also give your organization increased exposure and reach on social media. Millennials sharing their contribution on social media is a form of validation, but also encourages their peers to do the same.

Give them an experience.

The key to getting millennials to donate is to create something they can experience. Millennials place a greater importance on personal experiences and showing off pictures of them, which is why it is important for non-profits to incorporate social media into their overall marketing strategy. Millennials are encouraged to invest in a non-profit if there are opportunities to not only make monetary donations, but donate their time, skill set and opportunities for professional development. This could be through sitting on an associate board with other like-minded young professionals; helping plan an event; fundraising; providing marketing support for an event and volunteering their time at events, races, or at member activities.

Give them instant feedback and gratification.

Follow-up with millennials right after they give to your organization. Millennials want to know what their impact was in a timely manner, instead of when you send out your annual report. Consider sending a quick recap that quantifies how their gift made a difference. Consider sharing this information on social media and sending it via email. The sooner you can provide feedback and details to millennials, the better.

Learn from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in the summer of 2014 was the perfect example of millennials giving to non-profits. The ALS Association nearly doubled its annual budget by raising $115 million through the Ice Bucket Challenge. Not only did the challenge go viral, it was solely promoted through social media. More than 17 million people shared videos on social media of them dumping ice cold water over themselves and nominating others to do the same to raise awareness to “Strike out ALS”.

In turn, 67% of the $115 million raised went to ALS research, according to CNN, which resulted in the discovery of a new gene that will hopefully bring scientists one step closer to treating the disease and finding a cure.

Millennials think differently about giving than previous generations. There are effective and easy ways your organization can adopt a millennial mindset to attract millennial donors and turn them into life-long supporters of your organization.

Fundraising support is one of the many services we offer our endowment and foundation clients. Learn more about Manning & Napier’s Endowment & Foundation Services.