Under the watchful eye of seasoned fundraisers, students in the Development Summer Internship Program at the University of Michigan attended the program’s annual etiquette dinner, where they nibbled on salad and sipped sparkling white grape juice as they were instructed in the proper way to pass a bread basket, which fork to use, and how to decide whether it’s appropriate to use their smartphones to share photos of the fancy food on Instagram.
For a fundraiser of the millennial generation—someone born after 1979—a blunder with a smartphone could turn off a donor and lose a charity crucial support.
But focus on etiquette helps fledgling fundraisers learn how to handle such an episode gracefully, says Katy Wallander, who, as assistant director of student philanthropy in the university’s development office, helped preside over the table-manners lessons in June. “Even if the donor or the person of interest—the reason you’re there—is taking a picture of their food, you smile and you’re very kind to them and say, ‘This is such a beautiful meal,’ " Ms. Wallander says. “But you do not take out your phone.”
A Rising Generation
Millennials, goes the stereotype, are wrapped up in their own little worlds and relentlessly distracted by texts and tweets and statuses and updates. They are ambitious and optimistic. Some even say they feel entitled.
But many fundraisers of all ages reject the notion that there’s anything drastically different about the rising generation when it comes to a desire to raise money for charities. Lots of young people have already set their sights on that career path: Fundraisers under age 30 make up the fastest growing segment of members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, says Andrew Watt, the group’s leader.
“I suspect that we always believe that the next generation is not going to be able to fulfill the responsibilities in the same way,” says Bruce Flessner, a fundraising consultant. " And if you’re a part of the younger generation, you look at all the people who are currently in there, thinking, ‘Someday we’ll be in charge and we’ll do it better.’ "
Texting and Talking
Still, there are some sticking points that millennial fundraisers and their supervisors say that they often negotiate.
Technology and communication are often flashpoints between generations in fundraising offices.
For example, Amie Latterman, director of development at SPUR, a community advocacy group in San Francisco, reminds young colleagues to tone down instant messaging and social media when board members or other VIPs are in the office, because it could look like the fundraisers are slacking.
On the other hand, Ms. Latterman says, these activities function as a sort of virtual water cooler, and as long as employees get the work done, she doesn’t mind some online socializing.
“They all work hard, and I know that, because I get emails from them at all hours of the day, and I get texts from them at all hours of the day.”
And yet for all their communicating by text, millennials do not love speaking on the phone. In the high-touch world of fundraising, this can cause rifts between generations and potentially turn off donors.
Salmiyeh Karamali, a 28-year-old public-relations associate in the office of development at the University of Michigan, admits that, like many of her peers, she opts for text or email over the phone.
“I think our younger generation likes doing something that’s quick,” she says. “It’s a little less scary and a little less intimidating.”
Nevertheless, the University of Michigan puts the donors’ desires first, says Judith Malcolm, senior director of executive communications at Michigan and Ms. Karamali’s supervisor.
“We have a donor who refuses to use email. He’s on a high-level committee, and we send out an email to everyone on the committee and we fax him,” Ms. Malcolm says. “If a donor wants an email or wants a fax or wants a phone call, that’s what you do. And it’s not about what your preference is at all.”
Ms. Latterman agrees that speaking on the phone can be a sticking point among her young staff members and volunteers.
“I have to really push my staff and be like, ‘Call them. You’ve been emailing back and forth enough, it’s clearly not working. Try the phone.’ "
Paying Dues
Millennials sometimes face another charge: They want to bypass paying their dues in their quest for greater responsibility. In a field like fundraising, where interpersonal skills gained with experience are crucial, young people may overestimate their abilities.
Ms. Malcolm recalls an entry-level fundraiser whose boss left the university. The employee wanted to jump up to that vacant position after only a year on the job.
“I said to her that I didn’t feel she had the experience—she was brand new to fundraising,” recalls Ms. Malcolm. “She literally said, ‘What could I go online and read so that I could be ready for that job?’—totally dismissing the idea that there are just lots of things you don’t know.”
The professionalization of the fundraising field is partly responsible for fostering this overconfidence, suggests Daniel Blakemore, assistant director of development at International House, a nonprofit group that serves international students in New York. Colleges offer degrees in philanthropy and fundraising, he notes, and thus young graduates may feel more ready for the real world than they actually are.
“I can’t totally fault millennials who are coming up with that experience and saying, ‘I’ve learned this for four years, I know the sector now,’ " he says.
Starting Early
Some organizations are working to get more undergraduates and even high-school students into the fundraising pipeline by introducing them to the potential career path very early.
The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance offers the Certified Nonprofit Professional credential through 40 universities nationwide. And the Association of Fundraising Professionals offers a certification in fundraising at 35 universities, and reaches high-school students in three states through the Youth in Philanthropy curriculum as well as the newly announced Students in Action program. That program, a partnership with the Jefferson Awards Foundation, will be available in 12 states in 2015.
With many more high-school programs requiring some type of volunteer service, the newest class of rising fundraisers is more idealistic and experienced than ever before, says Pat Bjorhovde, coordinator of the association’s youth programs.
“We find 22- to 24-year-olds coming in and becoming professional members who already have four or five years of fundraising experience,” she says. “They’ve been volunteers. They’ve done internships. It’s amazing.”
But sometimes even precocious talent needs a reality check. Mr. Blakemore, who also serves as vice chair of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network’s Board of Directors, encourages young fundraisers to talk to people who are already doing the jobs they want. He notes, “There are a lot of different ways that organizations operate that have absolutely nothing to do with what is in a textbook.”
Job Hopping
Millennials’ ambition, paired with a raging demand for talented fundraisers, means a lot of job prospects—and job hopping.
They also want validation for their achievements.
“We’re a fast-moving generation,” says Kate Gagne, 29, development associate at the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, who works with the young-professionals committee of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. “We like things to happen quickly. So if we’re doing something and we’re excelling at it, we don’t want to be told, ‘OK, now that you know what you’re doing, you have to do this for two more years before we’re going to look at you for a promotion.’”
Young people aren’t as loyal to their employers as in the past, Ms. Gagne acknowledges. However, she notes, “they’re not as loyal to us. They’re not providing us necessarily the retirement benefits or different things that our parents grew up with.”
Some organizations put structures in place to help young fundraisers grow professionally and keep them on the job. At the University of Michigan, for example, new hires may start in the production department, working on marketing materials to gain a base of knowledge, but can move up in a few years to the annual-giving team.
“Hiring a person is very expensive,” says Ms. Malcolm. “Moving them isn’t.”
Fundraisers in their 50s and 60s often recall that they stumbled into fundraising accidentally, so many caution nonprofit managers to maintain perspective when dealing with their energetic but sometimes puzzling young colleagues.
“I don’t think that we have the right to stand in judgment of what I think is an exceptional generation,” says Mr. Watt, of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. “I am enormously positive, I think there’s huge talent out there and huge commitment, and I see nothing to worry about.”
