Millennial donors and loyalty

There are simple ways your organization's development team can cultivate millennial donors and gain their loyalty. As millennials begin to fill the boards of major foundations and think about their personal giving, they will arrive with a set of perspectives that correspond to their unique formative experiences. As I often emphasize, the trust deficit affects millennial decision-making (Pew, 2014). Thus, millennial philanthropists will arrive with a unique set of demands of grantees.

          Mistrust may manifest itself in a reversal in the trend toward funding general operating support. Millennials constantly ask the question can you make change without the institutions? This may result in more program-specific funding (GrantCraft, 2012). In my informal survey, 61.5% of respondents stated that if they had $1,000 to donate to a nonprofit organization, one of the most important factors (they could choose two) would be “if they are transparent about how they spend donor money.” A quarter of respondents chose “if they used effectiveness metrics to measure their programming.”

The high frequency in millennial social entrepreneurship and very young Silicon Valley CEO's are accompanied by a rise in venture philanthropy, with more rigor in giving objectives, more hands-on work with grantees centered on impact evaluation, and smart innovation (GrantCraft, 2012; LaFrance, 2008).

Additionally, millennials are a highly collaborative cohort, eager to bridge chasms between the public and private sectors to foster innovation. Millennial donors are eager to collaborate with diverse organizations, e.g. nonprofit, for-profit, media, government, and communities (GrantCraft 2012, Deloitte 2014).