Donor Age … Does It Matter?
I mean, beyond ‘ripeness’ for soliciting bequests (and even here, one could argue it’s never too early to plant and nurture the seed).
I mean in your day-to-day communications to and stewardship of your active donors.
My question is triggered by two Abila reports — one released, one teased at the current AFP conference and about to be released.
Both of these reports treat age of donors as a very significant differentiating characteristic — in terms of channel preference, modes of engagement, motivation to give.
Abila asserts that most nonprofits are doing too little to act upon these important generational distinctions.
In their already-released Donor Engagement Study, Abila argues:
“Age/generational engagement is a missed opportunity:
Very few nonprofit respondents surveyed are actually targeting appeals or communications to their donors with any consistency, particularly by age. Yet we see in this study (and others) that there are big differences in preferences by generation.”
What kind of differences are they talking about?
“Millennials believe in the power of collective action. This is the only generation where volunteering gets a slightly higher engagement score than giving.
“Millennials and (to some extent) Generation Xers feel more involved through participation, like advocacy and peer-to-peer fitness events.
“Boomers and Matures feel more involved in passive ways, like getting updates and information through the mail.”
Abila notes that only 34% of nonprofits target donors based on age/birth year.
In their latest report, 2016 Donor Loyalty Study (to be released April 12, but previewed here in the NonProfit Times), Abila returns to the generational issue, looking at variations, by generation, in how donors give.
For example, only 31% of Millennials report giving via a check in the mail, versus 65% of Matures.
As you think about targeting your communications and fundraising appeals, how important is age segmentation to your planning?
I suspect most fundraisers — at least those focused on direct response — treat age as a ‘nice to have … we’ll get to it someday’ factor, as opposed to a significant driver of messaging and contact tactics.
Am I wrong? Anyone out there — AARP excluded — using age in a serious way?
Tom
One response to “Donor Age … Does It Matter?”
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