GenerationYGive: A New Blog by Miriam Kagan

Screencapture by Beth Kanter   
Source Morgan Stanley Internet Report

Yes, email is still electric and by showing this statistic I'm not saying to dump your email newsletters.   But you should be testing social media  where it makes sense for your donors and prospects, particularly younger ones or "social citizens."

But don't take my word for it.  Listen to what Miriam Kagan has to say about Gen Y and charitable giving.  She's the 26-year old author of the GenerationYGive blog - a blog that is described as "this blog is about why you too should get on the 'Let's get Gen Yers' to Give" bandwagon."

Donors like me, I am told over and over again, don’t really exist, or if we do, we exist in the single digits. We are not really worth focusing on in the big scheme of fundraising ... But I just don’t believe that’s true. I believe there are many donors like me out there, or at least many donors with my potential for giving. There are even more donors like me out there who may not be able to give financially, but who would gladly give their time. You just have to get our attention (or that of our friends and peers-word spreads fast when you’re always plugged in), give us a reason, tell us a story that's compelling for us, our world, that of our friends and families.... I believe in younger donors. I believe we want to give and to get engaged with issues we care about. I believe most of us non-profit marketers haven’t yet really truly understood how to reach these younger donors-going beyond the digi-fad of the day to build a relationship with donors whose own relationships are intervowen with technology and constantly shifting attention spans.

Miriam's blog is about thoughts, ideas, and news items to help further the discussion about the benefits of focusing on the younger generation as a donor segment for nonprofit organizations, as well as on how to get them to open their wallets (or PayPal accounts or Google Wallets), their hearts, and their friends.

I'm all ears, Miriam.   Here's a few questions:

• Given that you are of that generation, how should nonprofits find and communicate with donors like you?
• What captures your attention?
• What will inspire you to give money or time or pass the word along to your friends?
• What turns you off?

Comments

[Miriam]

Thanks Beth. I'll try to answer your questions but of course each question is an entire discussion in itself, so I'll just try to get the discussion started!

1) As we say where I work, "offer to audience" not "audience to offer." I.e. don’t try to jam the people you are talking to into YOUR preferred method of communication, tailor your message to your different audiences. If your organization wants to talk to donors like me, then go where we are and talk the way we talk. Don't send me direct mail and then act surprised when you don't hear back from me. I would even forget about email-if it's not from someone I know, I don't read it. Does your ad pop-up on my Facebook page? Am I getting emails and notes from all my friends about your cool YouTube video? Are you one of Oprah's favorite things (j/k folks). Yes, Gen Yers expect that you took some time to get to know us before you started asking us for money. And yes, we know when you didn't take the time. And let me just throw this out there-mobile web.

2) I hope this is not a surprise to anyone, but what really gets my attention is when my friends and networks get excited about something. I remember when it seemed all of my friends suddenly started adding "Causes" to their profiles on Facebook. And then before you knew it, (lil)Green Patch requests filled my inbox. If my friends are all talking about you, I will be talking about you.

But how do you get my friends talking about you? First and foremost, be genuine. Be clear-what's your mission, why do you matter? Make it easy for me to find you online, in fact, it would be better if you found me. Make it easy for me to give to you? I still don't understand why so many organizations don't have PayPal as a payment option. Keep me in the loop-how is my money being used? Let me know how else I can help. Don't just treat me as a wallet, make me feel engaged and valued.

3) I think my last thoughts above kind of answered question 3. I am inspired all the time to get engaged-and very often it's when I hear the story of how a few people can make a large difference. I think with all the problems in the world it can be so easy to get overwhelmed, to become paralyzed by the gravity of all the issues that need our help and attention. But when I hear of how just a few people are making a difference, I am completely inspired to get involved.

This past weekend, I met the founder of KarmaKrew.org-an organization that encourages yoga practitioners to also give back to the community. It is amazing what these people have done and they are not a huge organization-by providing small volunteering opportunities that let their people feel they CAN help.

4) Here is an example of what turns me off: I gave to an organization 2 years ago online. Since then, I have received an email from them 3-4 times a week. I have not opened an email since, and they keep emailing me. Even if I had a good reason, I probably would not give to them again because they made me feel like they don't "know me," if they did, they would have stopped sending me emails oh say, 12 months ago? Personalization. That's what Gen Y is all about. Make us feel like you recognize we are a unique individual, or at least you've managed to get us into a small group of people with like interests, and we'll appreciate the effort.

P.S. When I attended the ePhilanthropy's Nonprofit Social Networking Symposium this weekend there was a fascinating presentation on "sneezers"-turning your donors into infectious fundraisers who recruit their friends and families. My next post on my blog is about applying this to Gen Y. If any generation has shown the power of "viral" fundraising, it's Gen Y.

[TonishaG]

Thanks Beth, and Miriam for bringing this up. Very good information to keep in mind! I'm not too far removed from you, so I truly understand...and is exactly what I want to bring to my organization