Tapping Into the Millennial (Blood)stream
While travelling in Cambodia in 2004, I gave blood at a hospital in Siem Reap, as many young travellers do during their visit to the nearby Angkor Wat temple complex. The director of the hospital held a weekly classical music concert as a fundraiser for the hospital at which he appealed, "...from the young we want your blood; from the old we want your money; from the in between we want both." The appeal was direct and memorable, and it illustrates an important point. In the voluntary sector, it is important that we know what our young supporters are interested in and able to contribute, and that we attempt to match their interests with our needs in meaningful ways. This is true of all our supporters—donors, staff and volunteers. As the demographics of these supporters change over time, I argue that understanding the interests, abilities, motivations and characteristics of the Millennial generation is crucial to the sustainability of the voluntary sector. The Millennial Generation, among other labels referred to as Gen@, Gen Y and the Net Generation, is the generation of youth currently rising up through the school system and the workforce. This under-30 crowd is already demonstrating itself to be brimming with leaders and changemakers keen to enhance their multiple communities by social, environmental and economic means. They are passionate about causes. If the voluntary sector does not effectively offer opportunities for engagement that are meaningful to the Millennial Generation, its members will very likely create opportunities of their own. Millennials being independently engaged in civil society is not in and of itself a bad thing; but it could lead to deflation and splintering of the current efforts of the voluntary sector. While each member of any generation is unique, Millennials as a generation share some common attributes as a result of the events and trends that shaped their formative years. So how can we offer opportunities for engagement that mesh with the general attributes of this generation? Provide Structure: Millennials grew up with high parental involvement and a planned extracurricular life. They value authority, rules and structure, but have high expectations of these and lose trust and interest easily. Note that they value authority, though they don’t necessarily play into hierarchies; Millennials are known to jump over reporting levels to share ideas and ask for feedback if they aren’t getting support from immediate supervisors. To provide structure, ensure that there are clear expectations set for the work, time commitment and deliverables desired from the Millennials you work with. Make certain that rules and policies have sound and well-communicated reasoning behind them. Create clear job descriptions for staff and volunteer roles. Think about ways you can create structure out of current ad-hoc involvement. For example, many Millennials start their volunteer career with special events. If you have multiple events over the course of a year, consider building an “ambassador” program that includes involvement in each event. Recognize the Net Impact: They have confidence in school and at work and enjoy seeing the success of their labours. They’ve been told they can do anything they put their mind to, and they believe it. They value a balance between all aspects of their life. They may question “how things are done” as efficiency and project orientation have more weight than just “putting in the hours.” They are very goal and achievement oriented, as they have felt more pressure than any previous generation to succeed. This focus on achievement instead of “putting in the hours” brings challenges—many Boomers speak of a sense of entitlement in this generation—but it also brings opportunities. Millennials’ interest in efficiency can lead to more effective organizational processes. In order to reap these benefits, youth need to be offered an opportunity to share ideas and be listened to. Millennials thrive on projects that result in tangible outcomes. They also understand that success relies on experience, and Millennials thus are driven to gain skills and develop themselves in order to further their career development. As one would expect, youth aged 15-29 ranked “exploring strengths”, “using skills and experience”, and “improve job opportunities” higher than all other generations as reason to volunteer.i Appeal to the “Team”: Millennials grew up working in teams, and often prefer group work over independent activities. They have high expectations of their peers. They are less likely to rebel and more likely to value social norms. In order to demonstrate how your organization offers opportunities to connect with others, communicate how Millennials are already involved with your organizations. Include Millennial staff, volunteer, or donor testimonials. Profile your Millennial supporters on your website. Use Millennials to recruit their peers to your organization (both online and in person). The 2004 Canada Survey on Giving Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP) notes that Millennials volunteer because “friends volunteer” much higher than any other age group.ii Think about how current roles in your organization that rely on people working as individuals can be restructured to allow group activities. For example, if you currently recruit individuals for a “buddy” program, consider creating team roles instead, or at a minimum highlight group opportunities offered within the buddy program. Appeal to the desirability for team and social norms. Focus on People: Millennials are noted to be loyal to people, not organizations. In order to retain your best and brightest young people, importance must be placed on the relationships among staff and volunteers. To ensure retention, Millennials need to feel supported in their roles. Do you have a good employee or volunteer manual? Do your staff and senior volunteers respond in timely manners to requests for information or support? Much work in this area requires an upfront investment of time and energy, but offers great returns. For example, outlining plans for ongoing volunteer and employee training and recognition takes time and money. However, having to recruit and train new volunteers and employees to replace those that are leave is also a drain on resources. Building strong, supportive relationships with Millennials can have spillover benefits in long-term fund development and for all generations of your supporters. Highlight the Cause: Millennials have a strong sense of self-worth and believe that young people will bring a better future to the world. Contributing to causes and the betterment of society ranks highly. According to the CSGVP, the most common reason that Millennials (and all generations, for that matter) volunteer is because of a belief in a cause.iii Do you highlight how contributions in time, talent or treasure contribute to the mission of your organization (as opposed to how they contribute to your organization’s programs)? The difference is subtle but can impact a relationship between organizations and their people. Are your Millennial supporters seeing themselves as an extra set of hands? Or contributing to a bigger picture with the support of others with similar interests and ideals? In all of your communication, including staff and volunteer recruitment and recognition, be sure to connect their involvement to the cause.
Communication to Millennials: An SFU Campaign At Simon Fraser University where I am developing Volunteer Services and Community-Based Learning programs, my coop student and I wanted to increase awareness of Volunteer Services and increase the perception of engaged citizenship as a common student activity (appealing to social norms that I spoke of earlier). We did a survey of students earlier this year to measure awareness of our services as well as students’ intentions and perceptions surrounding volunteerism and civic participation. The survey had almost 500 respondents and provided a few noteworthy results. Out of all respondents, 63% said that they are currently volunteering or plan to in 2009. Interestingly, this group of intending volunteers believed only 36% of SFU students were currently volunteering or plan to in 2009; the students not planning to volunteer believed an even smaller percentage – 28% - of students planned to volunteer. There is a connection between personal plans to volunteer and the perception of others’ plans to volunteers. Appealing to certain traits and motivations of Millennials—interest in causes, achievement and teamwork—we implemented a social marketing plan that featured SFU students and focused on three key messages - "What's your cause?", "How can you contribute?" and "Where are you connecting?". Our campaign involves print and web activities, as well as awareness-building in other staff (authorities) on campus that Millennials go to for support and information. We'll be re-surveying the SFU student population in the next school year to determine our success in increasing perceptions and intentions around volunteerism and civic engagement. How will your organization measure its success in tapping into the Millennial (blood)stream?
i 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, available at http://www.givingandvolunteering.ca/Reports.asp.
Trina Isakson currently works at Simon Fraser University doing program development for Volunteer Services and Community-Based Learning, with the goal of connecting the community to the university though student engaged citizenship. She has worked and volunteered with various nonprofit organizations, including YWCA Vancouver, Take a Hike Youth at Risk Foundation, Vancouver AIDS Memorial Society, Western Canadian Pediatric AIDS Society, Volunthai, Canadian Red Cross and Pipedream Theatre Project. She is currently pursuing an MBA in Community Economic Development and has research interests in youth engaged citizenship. You can find her on Twitter at @telleni and on her blog at trinaisakson.wordpress.com, where she writes about nonprofits, engaged citizenship, communication and the Millennial generation.
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