Don’t wait to engage millennial donors

For fundraising, most organizations solely look to boomers and seniors for donations. As a major gifts officer, I completely understand it. The prospect pool is much higher because of the sheer population numbers and income.

This conventional wisdom often leads organizations to completely ignore young donors, but they are making big mistakes if they don’t build donor relationships with millennials.

Millennials are willing to give. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (working with Campbell & Company consultants) released an excellent report confirming that millennials are just as likely as any other generation to donate. In a study of 10,000 people representing each generation, the average giving level of millennials is on par with that of other generations.

The study also found that millennials are more likely than any other generation to cite the “desire to make the world a better place to live” as a key motivation for their philanthropy. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, this response suggests that younger donors will respond better to messages that focus on the global impact of an organization’s work.

Millennials are willing to raise money. From activities like Jump Rope for Heart to collegiate dance marathons, philanthropy has been part of most millennials’ complete educational careers. Fundraising allows us to scratch the entrepreneurial itch, and more college and even high school students are stepping up to the philanthropic plate.

Non-profits would be remiss to not engage students in their fundraising efforts. My organization, the Ronald McDonald House and Family Room of Durham, is working with Duke University through DukeEngage, a program that places Duke students in summer internships at non-profit agencies. Our great interns are engineering a program called Schools of Hope that will engage local elementary and high school students in fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House.

Millennials are willing to take on executive volunteer roles and make major gifts. I serve on the board of Traction, a 501c3 organization that engages young people in civic life, and I’m a major donor to both Traction and the Ronald McDonald House. My best friend Josh is a trustee of his church and contributes over 10% of his salary to the church and it’s non-profit foundation. We both deduct manageable amounts each month from my paycheck that add up to major gifts for the organizations.

One of the best ideas I’ve heard is from Tracey, a VP for Development at the United Way who commented on my blog over at Brazen Careerist. Her organization is starting a Young Leaders Society to encourage major giving among 20 and 30-somethings.

And millennials could become lifetime donors. Investing in young donors now can be very profitable for organization’s long-term success. Getting a donor engaged in her 20s — even at a low-dollar level — and effectively stewarding her generosity could develop a lifetime donor. Over a potential 30+ year relationship, donations will grow with her income and she’d be perfect for capital projects and planned giving as years go on.

Universities have long realized these points. UNC, my alma mater, begins donor relationships from the day you enroll. Their HeelRaisers Society and senior campaigns even allow students to network and solicit other students via Facebook. Once you graduate, you’re invited to join the Young Alumni donor network and given “discounts” to join the University’s highest giving societies.

The sooner non-profit organizations borrow these ideas and engage with young donors, the better their outlook for the future.

June 2, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Fundraising, Non-Profits

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Carefully shifting staff, board time from grassroots fundraising yields greater results

Many non-profits use grassroots fundraising — small, low-dollar, community based strategies including sales, low-dollar fundraising events, and community fundraisers — as their main method of fundraising. And many folks think they’re wastes of time — that non-profits should completely ditch them for major gifts.

I fall in the middle; balancing grassroots and major gift fundraising is key to the success of an organization’s development program. Major gifts should be the top priority, but despite its very low return on investment, grassroots fundraising gives you community visibility and gets donors’ “feet in the door.”

Before 2007, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham, the organization I’m working with, made grassroots mechanisms its primary focus. They used a significant amount of staff, volunteer, and board time planning an executing these events, although they don’t bring in a lot of money. Factoring in paid staff time, I’m sure the organization, like most non-profits, lost money on these events.

We are currently undergoing a large transformation, particularly in development — part of which includes a large shift from grassroots fundraising to major gifts. Here are some specific strategies we’re trying:

Spend the bulk of staff time on major gifts. My boss and I have been spending most of our time on capacity building and launching our major gifts program.

Engage the board in major giving. Our board previously spent time on grassroots events, but we’ve started getting them involved in major gifts — connecting us to and talking about the organization with community leaders. The shift is going well. So far we’ve gotten three board members formally with our annual giving program, and five others are working on a lead gift ask for our capital campaign.

Spend time on corporate sponsorships for events. Each year, we host a large wine auction, and we increased gross revenue by $30,000 because of corporate sponsorships. We hope to bring it up by $75,000 more next year. Our community events directors primary role for this event is soliciting corporate sponsors.

Let volunteers lead low-dollar programs. We are letting committed volunteers take the lead on our large community events, and in 2009, we hope to get a handful of volunteers signed on to lead a comprehensive program for donors who give $999 or below annually.

Use the Internet for grassroots donors. Barack Obama’s fundraising juggernaut exemplifies the power of having many low-dollar donors. At work, we’re seeing more and more inquiries about donating online, especially setting up recurring donations.

We’re not only trying these techniques at work, but I’ve pitched a similar model to Traction, the 501c3 whose board I serve on. As a young organization with only one staffer (an ED), board members have to take on many roles usually reserved for a development staff.

I’m trying to lead the shift from grassroots to major gifts for Traction, and here’s a training PowerPoint I prepared to start that move. I welcome feedback on it or anything else in this post.

April 5, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Fundraising, Non-Profits

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