Millennials are credited with being the most passionate generation to date, but still nonprofits struggle with how to harness that passion for their organization. It’s important to remember that the biggest value of Millennials to an organization is in participation, rather than in donations. As Millennials age, they’re likely to give more, but right now it’s important to think of them as fundraisers for your organization rather than donors.
So who are these donors that Millennials are bringing to your organization? We did a deep dive into DonorDrive stats to find out and get a look at the behavior of these donors.
Who gives to Millennial events?
Here are the age groups that the dollars come from:
- 18-24 18%
- 25-34 13%
- 35-44 40%
- 45-54 13%
- 55-64 10%
- 65+ 6%
Only a small portion of overall dollars is donated by other Millennials. (Their friends are likely to give, but they give smaller amounts.) 69% of dollars come from older generations, with 40% coming from parents, relatives, bosses, teachers etc. Grandparents are also giving their share at about 16% of the dollars.
Which gender gives more?
We were curious if mom or dad gave more.
- Men 48%
- Women 52%
Women are a little more generous but not by much.
How are they giving?
We continue to see a shift in donation devices. Note that most who are giving in our sample are not Millennials, so these are the devices used mostly by older generations for making their donations.
- Desktop $ 69%
- Mobile $ 24%
- Tablet $ 7%
We’re seeing that both desktop and tablet dollars continue to shrink as mobile continues to grow, and this is definitely happening with older generations as well.
What role is social media playing?
Social fundraising continues to grow. Social media touched 36% of donations in our sample.
- 23% Direct donations (made by directly clicking a link)
- 13% Assisted donations (where social was part of the donation process)
While Millennials do use email, especially for work, everyone (including older generations) are responding to social asks in increasing numbers.
What social media channels are Millennials using to ask?
While we keep hearing that Millennials are abandoning Facebook, they’re certainly using it to make the ask.
- 90% of dollars come through Facebook
- 6% through Twitter
- 4% other social channels
Twitter continues to grow, especially as a channel to remind those in their network to donate after the original ask comes in email or via Facebook.
How did donors first hear about the event?
This provides a vital look at how Millennials communicate with their donors.
- 45% through social media
- 36% through email
- 19% word of mouth
While we expect Millennials to use email and social media to communicate, these word of mouth numbers may seem low at 1 out of 5. But Millennials are often in other cities for college or careers. So between the time they start fundraising and participating in the event, it’s likely they won’t have a face-to-face chat with their donors except for a smaller group of friends or colleagues at their remote location.
Millennials may not have big wallets yet, but they certainly can offer an organization their energy for fundraising. And perhaps more importantly, with an average of 250 in their networks, they introduce you to donors from older generations who could become long-term supporters of your cause.
