How Your Nonprofit Can Reach Babyboomers with Social Media

AARP California Twitter Account

Last week at the WeAreMedia Workshop, someone asked a question about babyboomers and social media use.  Is it only younger people who are using social media.  I answered no.  I told the story about posting a video interview with my dad (who was 86 at the time) on YouTube about his first blog post and how I discovered a community of "older" people using YouTube.

Some recent studies on social media and social networking use and baby boomers show that more and more are adopting social media.  It may be mean rethinking multi-channel campaigns, particularly use of direct mail as Allyson Kapin writes on the Frog Loop blog.   It also means getting passed automatically dismissing a social media/networking strategy because "its for young folks."

Source: Pew and American Life Internet Project, Adults and Social Networking Use

In January, 2009, the Pew and American Life project released a report on Adults and Social Networking Use mentioning that more older adults have set up profiles on social networking sites, but that younger people more likely to be using social networking sites regularly.

The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey. Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social networks is still a phenomenon of the young.

The Pew and American Life project also released another report in January called "Generations Online" that speaks to the different ways that generations use the Internet in general.

Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the "Net Generation," internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

Source: How To Reach Babyboomers With Social Technology

A new report from Forrester Research on the demographics of social media use or social technographics also discovered that Baby Boomers that more than 60% of boomers actively consume socially created content like blogs, videos, podcasts, and forums.  The percentage of boomers participating in social media is on the rise. 

According to a post on Read Write Web about the report:

The one thing that Boomers are less likely to do in the online world is actually create content - outside of updating their online profiles and leaving blog comments, that is. Boomers are still not involved heavily in writing blog articles or creating videos and posting them online.

The best bets for getting Boomers interested in your content is to create blogs or videos that relate to the life or work-style of Boomers, Forrester suggests. And if you're looking for feedback and contributions from the Boomers themselves - like comments or criticisms - make that process dead simple. Don't introduce overly complex sign up forms or processes. Instead, encourage low-effort contributions such as star ratings.

Laura Lee Dooley suggests that adoption of social media or rather lack of adoption by baby boomers is simply a generational issues.  She believes it is a usability issue.

But I have to say that I don't think lack of adoption of social media by baby boomers is primarily an age-related issue. I believe it is a usability issue.

As social media has developed over the years, some standards have started to emerge, including:

• many of the services are free (so people don't have to worry about online credit card use)

• many of the tools have similar elements - status updates, profile pictures, short bios

• tools are easy to adopt because they've become their interfaces have become somewhat standardized and easier to understand

If it were a question of age, then folks like me would be using it.  I think there is also when in your professional career did you start using computers and Internet - and what is your tolerance for non-linear thinking or hyperlink thinking.  (See NetGen research and comparison of older and younger brains and how they change with using the Internet)

Allyson Kapin, Frog Loop Blog, in a post called "Reaching Babyboomers: The Next Big Demographic in Online Fundraising" discusses the question: "Should nonprofits continue to pour money into direct mail programs to reach new Baby Boomers?"

In short, nonprofits need to develop an integrated strategy using email marketing, outreach and social media to brand their organizations and raise money. It’s critical that nonprofits use 2009 as an opportunity to go where their target audiences increasingly are—which is online. Early Boomers are pretty tech savvy, and have been using the Internet as a communications, ecommerce, and research tool for over 15 years. In the words of Vinay Bhagat, CEO of Convio: “Donors increasingly prefer online channels. While there’s a lot of discussion targeting youth in online fundraising through micro-payments etc, which is sexy, the 50+ category is really the next huge dollar opportunity for nonprofits.”

Connie Reece, co-founder of Social Media Club International and a Boomer herself, says in her presentation "Email Is for Old People" that organizations need to reach out to Boomers on social networks, and integrate this outreach with their email marketing strategy. “Your outreach should not be limited to social networks created especially for Boomers, sites like Eons or Grandparents.com," Reece says. "This age group is increasingly on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter -- more ’mainstream’ social networks.“

Reece warns people not to underestimate what Boomers are doing on online social networks. They are not just posting photos of their grandkids. “Boomers are sharing links to their favorite causes,” says Reece. “Establishing a presence on social networks, although inexpensive as far as cash outlay is concerned, is time-intensive. Yet devoting the staff resources necessary to build relationships, and making your content easy to find and share on these sites, can help you connect with volunteers and donors who will spread the word about your cause --becoming, in effect, unpaid advocates for your nonprofit organization.”

Resources

Forrester Social Technographics Explained
How Boomers Use Social Media by Jeremiah Owyang
Baby Boomer Luddites?  Not so Fast  By Jenna Wortham, NY Times
How To Reach Baby Boomers With Social Media by Sarah Perez, Read/Write Web
Baby Boomers and Social Media and Usability by Laura Lee Dooley
Reaching Baby Boomers: The Next Big Demographic in Nonprofit Fundraising by FrogLoop Blog
The Digital Generational Divide: Baby Boomers Are Not Old!  by Beth Kanter
Social Network Demographics:  Is there a middle ground between email is for old folks, social networks are for young folks?  by Beth Kanter
Dancing in the Space Between Digital Immigrants and Natives by Beth Kanter
Is Email Just for Old Folks? by Beth Kanter
When I was your age, I had to walk ten miles in the snow to use the Internet by Beth Kanter

Does your nonprofit view social media is only for young folks?  How is your nonprofit engaging with babyboomers through social media or other channels?  What have you found that works?

Comments

[Bruce Trachtenberg]

Great stuff. Certainly opened my eyes to the far greater numbers of baby boomers involved in social networking. That said, I don't think we can ever forget that another reason these efforts are worthwhile is that the "baby boomers" we connect with online are also part of other "offline" networks. By connecting with them, informing them, motivating them, we increase the chances they'll similarly pass on what they are learning or be asked to do to their non-social-networked friends and colleagues. In other words -- a multiplier effect.

[Beth]

Bruce:

That's an interesting point you make about offline/online connections. I like to think of my connections as:

Current Active Network: These are people I know and are working with.
Past Active Network: People I know from the past, but not currently working with.
Future Active Network: People I don't work or haven't met in person but may potentially be an important node in my network in the future.

[Roger Carr]

Hi Beth,

This is a fantastic post. I agree with the need for an integrated strategy which includes social media for targeting baby boomers.

A recent example of the impact it can have is related to a blog post I wrote on the site of a nonprofit I volunteer with, the Arthritis Foundation. The post was about an event I attended that supported kids with arthritis (and their families). A comment was left by a parent in Indonesia who also had a teenager with arthritis. This parent felt better just knowing there were other families that are dealing with similar life issues. We are now connecting this parent with others in a Juvenile Arthritis online community.

I am a baby boomer who has met many remarkable baby boomers online. Social media should be an important part of a nonprofit organization's communication toolset.

Go to http://community.arthritis.org/post/Roger2/blog/2009_juvenile_arthritis_weekend.html to read the blog post.

[Rabbi Hayim Herring]

I'm commenting for the first time on your blog, Beth, which is very informative, pragmatic and enjoyable. You probably know the research better than I, but it seems like with technology utilization, there is a "trickle up" effect. Youth transmit their techno-wisdom upwards to older generations (as happened with Internet usage)until their rate of adoption increases. With massive unemployment, which is affecting Boomers, do you think that we will see an increase in usage of social media technologies among Boomers and up and what can non-profits do to coach their Boomer audiences around new technologies?

Thanks, Rabbi Hayim Herring, Executive Director STAR
(Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal)
www.starsynagogue.org; wwww.toolsforshuls.com

[Tara Pringle Jefferson]

This post is going to be perfect to share with my colleagues as we figure out our social media fundraising strategy. Thanks so much for this!

Tara Pringle Jefferson
The Cleveland Foundation

[elizabeth]

That's right! Some of us 80-year-olds are blogging, too. I work in an non-profit library of an institution that has members in 30 countries. I send library news all over the world to them.
And on another blog I create and illustrate children's stories that parents can tell to their pre-schoolers.

[Erica Burman, Director of Communications, National Peace Corps Association]

Sorry for being late to the conversation, but just wanted to share that we are very excited to see lots of "boomers" and beyond jumping into social networking for the first time on our newly launched site for people with a Peace Corps connection at http://community.peacecorpsconnect.org

It's been so gratifying to see the mix of 20-somethings and 50+ folks sign on! Many are using the site to reconnect with people they haven't been in touch with in decades. Here's a comment I just got today:

Connected Peace Corp is such a great web site. I have already connected to other Somali RPCV. I also connected with a former RPCV, who was a fraternity brother of mine @ Portland State College in the 1960's. Neither of us knew that each of us had joined PC in 1966. He was in Kenya and I was in Somalia. In June 1967, I was on vacation in Nairobi, Kenya and literally he and I bumped into each other outside the hotel where I was staying. After I joined last week I was looking at the African Group and there was his name & picture. I emailed him and we have emailed each other several time since. What a great tool thing PC Connect is! Thanks,