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How to Attract the Youth to Your Nonprofit Organization
When you look at the demographic statistics of most nonprofit organizations, you will notice that they suffer a serious shortage of the youth, otherwise known as millennials. It is not by coincidence, it does take a lot to arouse the interest of this generation. Simply asking for a donation just won’t work as most of them have the time and energy but not the money. More so, most organizations do not even bother with this age group because they have figured that young people are just not consistent donors.
You should be looking to get the support of the youth; after all, they are the future. Here are some of the ways you can attract them.
Step up your promotion strategies
You have to get your organization known. You will achieve this by setting yourself apart from the pack and show the youth that your organization values their input. You do not do this by simply issuing pledge forms. Research shows that young people tend to be very skeptical of corporations and organizations. There is a general feel that these organizations are out to exploit people. You should use transparency as a promotional strategy. Use informatics to showcase your expenditure. You could also plan events where they can meet.
Be passionate about your cause
Graphs on expenditure and other statistics will only get you so far. Young people generally have relatively shorter attention spans. You might have caught their interest, but you might lose it as fast too. This is because of their impulsive nature. In fact, statistics show that over 40% of the youth who have made donations at some point did it because they felt inspired to. You need to inspire them by evoking their emotions.
You need to be passionate about your cause, it will reflect positively to them and they will more than likely want to be part of your organization’s cause. Share stories; show the impact that your organization has on its cause; they will do the promotion for you.
Use social media to your advantage
At this day and age you cannot possibly overstate the influence social media has; especially with the youth. On an average, a typical youth will spend between one to two hours daily. They use these platforms to connect and share ideas. Some of these ideas should be your cause.You should aim to create a strong social media presence. You do this by regularly updating and sharing inspirational content.
Over 50% of youth who are actively involved with nonprofit organizations claim to have reached the organizations’ websites by first connecting with them via social media. Also, the choice of the social media platform is very important. You should have accounts on all of them but as your primary source of communication, 2 or 3 platforms are enough.
Optimize your website
The youth of today are very tech-savvy. You just cannot retain your old website with its outdated web design. It may function, yes, but it won’t help you acquire the millennials. Part of it is because old web designs are not mobile friendly. You have to remember that most of the young generation access social media through their phones.
Your website needs to be optimized so that it is mobile accessible. You also need to keep up with the latest trends in web design. Make your website engaging; you will not believe how much this will work to your advantage.
Offer volunteering options
Youths have more energy and time than money. Instead of asking for monetary donations from them, ask them for their time. These volunteering offers will not only broaden your organization’s audience but will impart the youths with skills that might help them later on. In fact, most young people normally look for jobs as volunteers so that they can gain work experience. You can go about this by linking with educational institutions to help you reach them.
Another thing is that millennials are easily influenced by peer pressure, thus if you get a few of them to join your organization, chances are they will influence their friends to join too.
Entice them to give
The youth love to have something given back to them to reward their effort. Be it recognition or simple gifts, it motivates them to do more. If you want to get them to donate for your cause, you could explain to your current donors that the organization wants to get more youths in its reach. Ask them if it’s possible to offer leverages in that they match whatever the youth are going to donate. When you explain to the young guys that their donations will be matched by other people, they will be more likely to give. You could also use your social media platform to honor the youths that donate to your organization. This public recognition will motivate other young people to contribute to the cause as well.
Regularly plan events for youths that are in your organization where they can meet, have fun and get to promote the organization. Through their social media, they will share these experiences and this will more than likely influence other young people to join your organization.
Nonprofit organizations need to see the potential that lies in the youths. Sure, they may not be the most consistent donors but they serve a critical purpose in broadening your organizations’ reach. In an era where the youth are more skeptical than ever about big corporations and organizations, you could use it as a platform to preach to them that not everyone is out to profit from them.
Unfortunately, this generation has also been termed as incredibly narcissistic. If the trend continues it may mean that nonprofits may not exist in the future. Give them a chance to commit to a cause that they can be proud of. With or without money, the youths can have an incredible impact on nonprofits.