The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week on new research into how different generations – from Millennials to Silents – support and interact with charities. The survey claims that Gen X and Millennials/Gen Y now make the majority of potential donors but notes that both younger cohorts “contribute less money and support fewer charities” than Baby Boomers. Convio estimates 79% of matures (defined as born before 1945) give, as do 67% of Boomers, 58% of Gen X and 56% of 18-29 year-olds. The amount given increases signnificantly with age.
Direct Mail Dominates for Boomers, Silent Generation Donors
The report finds that direct mail, long a consistent vehicle for for-profit marketing, continues to be an effective way for not-for-profits to reach members of the Silent and Baby Boom generations.
Direct mail remains the dominant way through which older people give, with 77 percent of donors born in1945 or earlier saying they had given through the mail in the last two years. But among members of Generation X and Generation Y, no single way of giving dominated.
Forty-three percent of Generation X and 26 percent of Generation Y members in the survey said they had given through the mail in the last two years, while 35 percent of Generation X had used a charity’s Web site and and 29 percent of Generation Y had used that approach.
The full report from Convio notes that today’s traditional direct marketing fundraising letter – that long form, friendly piece that feels like it came off a typewriter – grew up with today’s Silent Generation and older. And it still works for them. 35% of people older than 65 first heard about a charity through the mail. Asked how they first learned of their top charity, Millennials did not even register mail as an option.
Convio’s take-away? “Direct mail has a bright future — but it needs to evolve.” It needs to be one part of a multichannel mix, one that includes the web, email, telemarketing and social media.
I had the honor of talking with a group of Northern Virginia charities and government agencies last week, at a lunch sponsored by the Coalition for Human Services. Our topic was another channel in Convio’s desired mix: social marketing. Friday, I’ll share some of the insights from that presentation and the lively discussions that followed.
Thanks for taking the time to read the report and share your insight. As the communications/marketing/fundraising world gets more complex we want to make sure organizations are getting the best return for their investment, so that more dollars go to supporting their charitable mission.
Tad, Director of Communications for Convio.
This all seems pretty sensible and is mirrored by similar research completed in the UK over the last year or so. In no particular order, I think some of the key insights include:
- ‘one size communication’ does not fit all. None of us should be treating different audiences as if they are one homogeneous group. Nowadays, their communications preferences are as much a part of our targeting and segmentation as age, gender, occupation etc. This means we use what works (of course this assumes that we know what we are trying to achieve…)
- If possible don’t assume we know what those preferences are. Find out directly by asking target groups or at the very least use available research like the reports listed above. Don’t be fooled by slick sales pitches for various media or opportunities; match your objective with those of the target audience group and use their preferred media to deliver your message. Do what works!
- The internet is in fact for everyone but the differences lie in how it’s used. Boomers for example tend to shop and research holidays, health matters etc and are getting more and more into email. Seniors are using the web to research health matters but also to communicate with family more and more – teenage David puts a video of his school play on YouTube and Grandma watches with friends or other family members.
- Generation Y (millennials) are trailblazing social media, mobile networking and, coupled with their greater social conscience than any previous generation, are a hugely powerful ‘voice’ for any charity or cause to leverage. All advocacy will come from here in the future even if they don’t give a lot now; ignore developing relationships with this group at your peril!
- Thinking about my ‘do what works’ comment above, we probably need to re-think what success actually is if we are going to work backwards from it to pick the right tools, messages etc. Because of the increasing use of technology by all generations, charity teams can no longer ring-fence individuals as campaigners, donors or volunteers in isolation and hold the contact data to ransom. Relationships are and will continue to be more flexible than this so success can’t be just ‘met this year’s fundraising target’ independently from ‘grew the number of campaigners we have lobbying on our behalf’. Increasingly this will be the same individual as Gen Y and Gen X individuals dictate what they want from their relationship with a charity through the various access points they now have.
Certainly not an exhaustive list and offered as food for thought only…
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