Understanding Millennial Giving: 5 Key Considerations
When segmenting your donors, there are many different characteristics you can choose to group them by. One of the most common ways to categorize donors is by age or generation.
Millennials are one of the most active generations of donors. Considering millennial giving increased by 40% between 2016 and 2022, it’s worth digging into how this group’s lived experience impacts their approach to philanthropy.
To tap into this group’s unique interests and perspectives, we’ve compiled a list of the top five millennial giving considerations. Armed with these insights, you can maximize donations from this group and establish a strong foundation of millennial supporters that can propel your organization into sustainable future growth. Let’s dive in!
1. Digital Focus
Millennials are digital natives. Nearly everything they do—from work to hobbies—involves a digital element, and donating is no different. This group expects to easily support their favorite causes online.
To ensure millennials can digitally participate in your nonprofit’s initiatives, make sure to offer:
An easily navigable website. Encourage website engagement by making your website easy to use and navigate. Add a menu that links to important areas of your site and a search bar that allows users to seamlessly find the content they’re looking for.
A mobile-optimized donation page. Increasingly, more millennial donors are contributing to their favorite causes from their phones. In fact, 81% of millennials only donate online or through their mobile devices. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your donation page is mobile-friendly. Use a tool like Lighthouse to investigate mobile optimization, and make changes such as resizing images or text accordingly.
Various online payment options. From Venmo to Apple Pay, there are so many ways to submit payments online and from a mobile device. Offer as many of these options as possible so that millennials can give using their preferred payment method.
With the right tools, you can also take traditional fundraising methods online. For example, Fundly recommends using a crowdfunding website specifically catered to nonprofits to facilitate this type of campaign. Make sure to include a brief and compelling description of your organization’s work, an explanation of how the campaign will work, and branded images of your staff helping your beneficiaries to entice millennials to join in.
2. Transparency
Millennial donors want to know how nonprofits are using their contributions. They look to support organizations they can trust will put their hard-earned funds to good use.
To build strong relationships with millennial donors, share regular updates on the impact of their donations. You likely already produce an annual report that details your nonprofit’s activities over the past year. Ensure your millennial donors have access to this document and that it features clear statistics about which programs and initiatives donation revenue helps support.
NXUnite also suggests incorporating storytelling into your annual appeal or report. Millennials will appreciate hearing about the real beneficiaries their funds have supported, as it will make the positive outcomes of their giving more tangible.
3. Social and Environmental Causes
Many millennials are especially passionate about social and environmental issues. An overwhelming 90% of millennials are motivated to give by a compelling mission, not necessarily a large, well-known organization. They want to contribute to small grassroots organizations and causes that align with their values.
If your mission relates to social and environmental issues, make sure your work in this area is clear to millennial supporters. Add a page to your website that describes your social and environmental efforts in great detail, and promote relevant initiatives on social media.
Even if your organization isn’t specifically focused on social and environmental issues, you can still take steps to work toward social justice and sustainability and share those efforts with your supporters. Brainstorm with your team how you can incorporate these concepts into your existing work and mission. For example, you might discuss your partnerships with environmentally conscious sister nonprofits or corporate organizations.
4. Peer Influence
Millennials are easily influenced by their peers and networks. For instance, they’re 46% more likely to make a donation and 65% more likely to volunteer if their coworkers participate. They value the opinions of others and often discover new interests and organizations from their personal networks, both online and offline.
To encourage your current millennial donors to share your organization with their family and friends, leverage the following methods:
Peer-to-peer fundraising. As the name suggests, peer-to-peer fundraising allows people to engage their personal networks in fundraising. Your supporters can create their own individual donation pages and send them to their friends and family to raise funds on your organization’s behalf.
Influencer marketing. Millennials care about the opinions of their favorite influencers. Consider partnering with influencers who are passionate about your cause to promote your nonprofit to a wider audience.
Social media communities. Leverage platforms that facilitate community and encourage interactions among your supporters. On social media, you can create a welcoming environment for people interested in your cause and expand your reach by hosting live-streamed Q&A sessions, creating hashtag campaigns, and adding polls to your page.
With increased exposure to your organization, potential millennial donors can learn more about your cause from people they trust and start to form a connection to your nonprofit, making them more inclined to contribute.
5. Additional Engagement
Go beyond just requesting donations from your millennial supporters. These donors want to form a deeper connection with their favorite causes.
Allow millennials to get more involved with your organization by offering the following engagement opportunities:
Volunteer outings. Encourage these donors to explore your volunteer program. Remind them to check if their employers offer volunteer grants so they can expand their impact on your nonprofit even further.
Events. Whether you’re hosting a gala or a 5K, events can make millennial donors feel ingrained in your nonprofit’s community of support. Invite them to events where they can meet other like-minded individuals who passionately support your organization’s work and mission.
Advocacy work. Your millennial donors can be an important asset in getting the word out about your organization and cause. Give them the tools (such as social media templates or rallying dates) they need to canvas in their communities, communicate with policymakers, or post about relevant issues on social media.
Acknowledge the donors who go above and beyond to support your organization in a variety of ways. Perhaps you can feature an “all-star supporter” on your social media each month and interview them about what their involvement in your nonprofit means to them.
The next time you’re wondering how to involve millennials in your fundraising efforts, think about these considerations to be sure you cover their giving interests and preferences. Survey existing supporters to get their input and determine what would enhance their involvement in your organization.