8 Ways Nonprofits Can Engage Millennial Donors

#1

Keep Your Website Up to Date

If your fundraising website looks like it’s from 1992, that will be a hard pass for most millennials. After all, this generation has grown up with the internet and learned to distrust websites that take a long time to load, have outdated or broken features or must be fixed on mobile devices.

When designing your fundraising platform, run performance tests to ensure your website is up to speed, has mobile-friendly capabilities, and has no 404 errors. The easier your website is to use, the more likely millennial donors will return to it.

#2

Ensure Your Payment Platform Has Security Features

In the same way, millennials are dubious of outdated websites and quick to avoid sites that need proper security features. If you want to attract millennial donors—and any other donor, for that matter—it's crucial to provide a secure payment platform that uses data encryption and doesn't compromise their personal information.

#3

Provide Various Payment Options

Most millennials donate digitally via online platforms, apps, and text messages. Because of this, it’s pertinent to have these payment options available.

You’ve probably already set up a payment platform on your website or created an account on a fundraising website, but you can also use fundraising apps designed for digital donations that let donors pay right from their smartphones. Givelify and Fundly are just two examples of the many fundraising apps you can incorporate into your fundraising strategy.

Text messaging is another way to encourage millennial charity giving. With SMS texting, you can set up a keyword that your donors text to your shortcode, which directs them to your payment platform.

For example, you could create messaging that says, “Interested in supporting our animal welfare program? Text DONATE to 443344!”

#4

Offer Auto-Payment Options

When it comes to millennial giving, this generation loves finding shortcuts. Instead of remembering to make a payment each month, millennials prefer auto payments that pull a set amount of money from their bank accounts each month, allowing for easy repeat donations. This way, they can continue to support your cause without having to make reminders or manually enter their payment information each time.

Therefore, when running a fundraising campaign, include automatic payment options as part of your nonprofit marketing strategy.

#5

Turn to Mobile Marketing

According to a recent report, the average millennial sends 128 text messages per day. Therefore, texting should be your go-to if you want to reach someone in this age group. Moreover, this generation also prefers text communication over any other channel. For these reasons and more, it's time to start using conversational text for fundraising engagement.

Start by using conversational language in your marketing messages to spark their interest. Once your donors join your text program, you can keep them up to date on your nonprofit, encourage routine donors, and provide news on upcoming events within your organization.

For example, perhaps you want to let your donors know that a corporation is matching donations for a limited time, meaning your fundraiser could generate twice the funds! In this case, your text could look like this, "(Wildlife Project) AJ Corporation is matching all donations now until June 1. Donate and receive a 100% match today! Click the link to donate."

Or, maybe you want to invite the charity 5K you're hosting in the community. Your message could read, "(Green Parks) Come join our Charity Fun Run this May 27 at 8 a.m.! All proceeds go toward Green Parks. Register at the link below."

#6

Include Sharing Features

Millennials enjoy doing good and encouraging others to do the same. So, if you want to spread the word about your cause, allow your millennial donors to do the heavy lifting for you.

By this, we mean placing share buttons on your donation pages. This lets your donors brag to others about their good deeds and allows them to encourage their friends and family to do the same.

#7

Offer Ways for Them to Take Action

Millennials are all about action. They don’t just want to sit back and hope their money makes a difference. Instead, many want to be on the ground level, helping to contribute to the cause.

With this in mind, you can boost your impact by harnessing those already donating to your campaigns and offering other ways to support your organization.

For example, if you oversee an environmental nonprofit, you could host a beach clean-up and invite donors to join. Or, if you run a homeless shelter, you could have volunteers oversee your soup kitchen initiatives.

When millennials see your organization making a difference firsthand, they may feel more motivated to make financial contributions.

#8

Create Millennial Targeted Campaigns

Understanding some of these key characteristics of millennials, such as the fact that they prefer up-to-date, secure payment platforms and text messaging communication, can help you create campaigns that make them more inclined to donate. By incorporating some of these insights into your strategy, you’ll have a better chance of increasing your donations.