| by Jason Paez, Founder and CEO, Party4APurpose
Setting the Stage
Part One
This summer, Giving USA FoundationT reported that U.S. charitable
giving set a new record in 2006, with Americans donating
an incredible $295 billion to worthy causes. Every
year when this data comes out it is natural (and important!)
that nonprofit professionals ask themselves two fundamental
questions:
- How can our organization maximize its share of this growing
pie?
- How do we as the charitable community at-large continue
to push and even accelerate this growth in the coming years?
In order to answer "how," it is helpful for us to first
understand the "who" that has become our future. While Baby
Boomers will likely become even more important as they retire,
Millennials (those born after 1979, also know as Generation
Y) already outnumber Baby Boomers in this country. These
78 million Americans, who will undoubtedly increase their
spending power each year, are interconnected through an infinite
number of virtual hangouts, information portals, and social
networks. Members of this generation - defined by its technological
connectivity as well as the shared formative experience of
September 11, Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina - have voiced a
desire to make the world a better place. In some surveys,
80% of Millenials have stated they feel personally responsible
to make a difference in their communities and in the broader
world on a daily basis.
Despite these statistics, this generation is hard to pin
down and impossible to fully categorize. They are passionate
about "causes" but skeptical about "organizations." They
are masters of multi-tasking but demand greater returns for
their time - whether personal, professional, or philanthropic
- than their parents ever did. So how can they be effectively
integrated into your own organization's efforts?
The answer lies beyond connecting to Millennials through
their chosen communication outlets (social media, micro-blogging,
lifecasting, virtual worlds, etc.). To truly engage this
generation, you must integrate your cause into their social
life. According to Cone,
a Boston-based marketing firm, 89% of Millennials are likely
to switch from one brand to another (price and quality being
equal) if the second brand is associated with a cause they
believe in. They will also make similar decisions with respect
to other areas of life, which includes weekend plans and
social activity.
Our challenge to you this week: organize a happy hour for
your cause. It's up to you if you want to charge a small
fee, accept donations, or just treat it as an outreach/promotion
opportunity to set the stage for future engagement. Be sure
to get the word out to everyone in your organization, and
have them each invite as many family members and friends
under 30 as they know. Need help with this? Check out the
free tools available on www.Party4APurpose.com.
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