Broadening your donor base to include people of all ages is a smart way to increase revenue and bolster your nonprofit’s future: Older Americans are expected to pass down more than $84 trillion in total wealth within the next two decades, research shows.
Forward-thinking fundraisers are using targeted tactics to engage not only older supporters who often are focused on their legacies, but also their younger family members and friends, including Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Z donors.
“We know that donor loyalty to any particular nonprofit begins in the 30s, so if you’re not cultivating relationships with those folks now, the long-term payoffs, so to speak, won’t happen,” says Emily Davis, a recently retired consultant who focused on multigenerational philanthropy and wrote the book, Fundraising and the Next Generation.
But it can be tricky to devise strategies and messages that resonate with donors of multiple generations — and inspire them to give. To help you start or improve, the Chronicle gathered insights and advice from several experienced fundraisers and consultants. Here’s what they say.
Tell Stories That Reach Across Generations
Storytelling is a tactic that works for all ages, especially if you take an intergenerational approach, says Sadé Dozan, chief of operations and development at Caring Across Generations, a nonprofit whose donors range from members of Gen Z to the Silent Generation. The human element of stories helps make your cause relatable to everyone, she explains. Plus, all generations want to see tangible results and feel like their contribution matters, so it’s important to convey the direct impact of giving.
For example, a literacy program could share a story about how its work transformed an entire family, from the child learning to read, to their parents getting more involved in the school, and even how the grandparents are benefiting.
While you’re sharing this story arc and highlighting the impact, Dozan says, you could also run campaigns encouraging families to give together, such as through peer-to-peer campaigns.
“You’re taking this intergenerational example of storytelling, connecting it to a multigenerational giving opportunity, and that’s a way to make a holistic approach on both ends,” she says.
Learn About Donors’ Values
Research shows that members of each generation share some core values, Dozan says, which can help inform your communication strategies. For example, millennials tend to care a lot about work-life balance, Gen Zers often value inclusivity and diversity, and baby boomers generally value security and tradition. However, these are broad stereotypes based on data, Dozan says, so you shouldn’t assume they apply to everyone in an age group.
You could try to learn more about your supporters’ values through conversations or surveys, for example. This information can also help you figure out which generation people may belong to even if you aren’t collecting data on ages.
Caring Across Generations asks donors about their connections to the cause in its email welcome series; the responses shed light on their values and help the group determine how to best engage each person, including which kinds of stories and resources they might like.
Tailor Campaign Messages
Dozan shares an example of how to adapt a single campaign for several generations. To reach all donors, you might start with a broad message focused on concepts like unity and building something better, Dozan says. “Anything that gets people visioning typically can rally them together.”
You could then tailor the message to Gen Z donors using language that resonates with this group’s common values, such as community, being a part of an active movement, and digital integration. A call to action like, “Join us in uniting across generations and online platforms to shape a brighter future” might work, Dozan says.
For Silent Generation donors, you could focus on legacy giving and say something like, “Your lifetime of service and community involvement can help unite generations.” Donors in their 70s and 80s are often thinking about their legacies and place a high value on helping others, while Gen Zers are typically more interested in joining and being directly involved in shaping change, Dozan explains.
Use A/B Testing
Even if you don’t yet know all your donors’ ages, Dozan says, you can test messages targeting specific generations to help you segment supporters and refine your approaches based on what works.
“It’s less about knowing exactly the age range of your group and more about what resonates with them,” she says. “So, no matter the generation, personalization, or the feeling of personalization, is what’s critical to success.”
To get started, you could create two versions of a message: one with key words geared toward younger donors and another for older generations. It’s O.K. to do testing in small chunks, Dozan says. For example, if you have a list of 1,000 donors, you could first focus on a group of 150 and send version A to one half and version B to the other. See which message performs better, and then send it to another subset to make sure it still works. If it does, share it with everyone else.
Use Targeted Tactics and Communication Channels
Dozan offers a few examples based on generational trends:
- Many Gen Zers and millennials are into technology and crowdfunding, she says, so things like QR codes and peer-to-peer campaigns often work with them.
- Gen Xers are often strong prospects for monthly giving because of their consistent income.
- Baby-boomer and Silent Generation donors are often considering their legacies, so it’s smart to talk with them about planned giving.
- Don’t assume direct mail works only with older donors. Research shows Gen Zers get excited to receive regular mail because they get so much of their communications online, Dozan says. They’ll open an envelope, but unlike older donors, they won’t write a check. So, make sure to include a digital way to give, like a Venmo QR code or a simple website URL. “They’re not going to give if it’s not super easy,” she says.
Build Ties With Donors’ Families and Networks
To start, you could have one-on-one meetings or focus groups with existing donors to explain why reaching people from different generations is important for your mission, Davis suggests. Ask them who they know who might be interested in your cause, she adds — “not ‘Who do you know who we can squeeze money out of?’”
As you engage key supporters, make sure to include their families, says Elizabeth Abel, senior vice president at the firm CCS Fundraising. She shares a few ways to do this:
- If you communicate mainly with one spouse, make sure to invite both to events.
- If you’re talking with donors who have a public history of significant giving, ask them how they are involving their children, she suggests, and whether they should join the conversation with your nonprofit. “It’s a missed opportunity if you don’t,” Abel says. “And I think it also makes donors feel like we’re not just valuing them, but we’re valuing their families and what their family values represent.”
- Broaden engagement activities for donors’ families. For example, a food bank could organize a family volunteering day, and an advocacy organization could encourage supporters to join marches as a family.
If you’re not sure how to include and honor donors’ families, ask them what else you can do, she says. “If positioned in a way that it’s a question where you really care and will act upon the donors’ response, I think there’s so much potential to keep that next-generation commitment alive.”
Offer Events That Appeal to Young People
Find ways to introduce younger donors to fundraising events with a lower barrier to entry than galas, says Lauren Miller, advancement and alliance director at the Bushwick Starr, a nonprofit theater in Brooklyn whose donors are mostly millennials and Gen Xers.
If you can offer free or low-cost entry, create an “open vibe” where people can come at any time during a certain period, and have staff members introduce themselves and mingle with attendees, she says, that’s a good start.
For example, the Bushwick Starr last year sent an email inviting everyone on its mailing list to attend an open house if they were curious about the organization’s board and interested in potentially serving. Some who came ended up becoming board members, Miller says, and others got to know the group’s work and staff in a deeper way.
“Creating a space for really casual engagement, but also a lot of high touch, listening, asking questions, and not talking about us as much, but really connecting with them, helps you understand who is out there, who is interested, and who you can engage,” she says.
Make Young Donors Feel Like They Are Part of Something Bigger
Emphasizing how each individual gift contributes to a collective impact is powerful to younger supporters, who may doubt whether their donation will really help make a difference, Miller says. “By showing them how we’re all acting together, I think we can make that beautiful future that we all deserve really tangible.”
For example, at the start of the Bushwick Starr’s capital campaign, which began in 2021 and ends in 2024, the organization asked its board members to make a three-year commitment upfront, which they could adjust later if needed. Based on a sizable early gift from one of the trustees, Miller challenged the board to bring in $3 million collectively — 30 percent of the total campaign goal. Because it was a group project, she says, each member could feel like they were helping reach that major milestone, whether they gave $3,000, $300,000, or seven figures.
Plus, the nonprofit could then tell other donors it had secured this initial investment from its board to build momentum and inspire others to pitch in. (The Starr already exceeded its $10 million goal and is stretching to hit $11 million by this summer.)
Offer Hands-On Ways to Contribute
Many “next-generation” donors — those under 40, roughly — value social activism, Abel says. “They want to see impact and they want to be a part of that impact,” she explains. That means you should give these donors physical, in-person opportunities to help make change by volunteering, showing up in different ways, and building community — not just giving money.
Be Authentic
Stay true to your nonprofit’s principles and mission, even if that means potentially raising less money. For example, the Bushwick Starr sometimes does work on stage that is experimental or may be considered controversial or edgy, Miller says. But the group doesn’t apologize for that, and those who don’t like these kinds of performances don’t go to or support the theater.
“You sort of have to be willing to go after the people who are actually aligned with your mission and not twist yourself into knots trying to grab every dollar, because I have found that it’s inefficient and it reads as false,” Miller says. “So, because we’re able to stand by who we are with consistency in everything we do, I think that reads as authentic to the younger donors and they come to trust us more.”
Plus, being consistent and standing by your philosophy is more meaningful to younger generations than gestures like thank-you cards and donor-appreciation gatherings, she says. “The stewardship that they want is to see that the proof of concept of what you’ve proposed to them is actually being realized in real time.”