Evolving Events In a Generational Shift
- Julianne Read
Foundationsource recently published a study from earlier this year titled How Gen Z and Millennials View Charitable Giving, there are some key takeaways on how we can evolve event strategy keeping the needs of our nextgen donors at the forefront of strategic event design.
Gen Z and Millennials see themselves less under the nomenclature “philanthropist” and resonate more with the following terms: giver, volunteer, advocate, humanitarian, and changemaker (70% of survey responders wanted to be known as changemakers). Making simple changes in copy in marketing communications, event scripting and collateral can make a significant difference in event donor and participant engagement.
It’s important to note that these changemakers don’t limit their charitable activities to financial contributions – they see the following range of activities as a part of their innate drive for social change:
Financial Donations
Donated Items
Volunteered Time
Helping with Fundraising
Shared Expertise/Knowledge
And even more importantly, Gen Z and Millennials donate at every income level, so even those earning less than $50,000 per year are still making financial contributions to nonprofits. This opens the door at a greater level to events and campaigns in the community giving model space.
The study provides some early direction on what is important to the Gen Z and Millennial donors: Family first, Need for greater inclusion, Look beyond the dollars, Awareness of giving approaches, Making it personal. We encourage you to engage this donor base in a way that appeals to them by incorporating their needs into your event strategy.
