Boomer Gloom Affecting Fundraising?

June 27, 2008

Have The Agitator and DonorTrends discovered the Fundraising Rosetta Stone … demystifing the real reason behind falling acquision and retention rates and other recent fundraising plagues? We think so.

In reporting our 2005 DonorTrends survey three years ago, we noted that Boomers had climbed to the top of the donor heap, surpassing Seniors (born before 1946) and Post-Boomers (born after 1964) in average annual contributions. In 2005, Boomers on average contributed $1361 over a 12 month period; Seniors — the traditional bedrock of giving — donated $1138, while the younger generations brought up the rear with $791.

Might this be the beginning of a "Golden Age" of Boomer giving we asked. Well, as it turns out … not quite.

In our recently completed and soon-to-be-released 2008 DonorTrends Survey, Boomers fell to the bottom of the heap — Seniors reclaimed first place, averaging $1542 in donations in the past 12 months, Newbies (our term for the Post-Boomers) jumped up to $1205 in donations (a percentage increase of 52%!), and Boomers fell to $1081.

What happened to the Boomers?

A new "must read" report by Pew Research, called The Gloomiest Generation, suggests the answer.

As it turns out, compared to both their predecessors and their successor generation, Boomers actually have the least optimistic view of both their current and future economic situation, even though in real terms they are the most prosperous. For example, Boomers give their overall quality of life a lower rating than other generations; they are more likely to worry that their incomes won’t keep up with inflation; they believe more than others that it is harder to get ahead now than it was 10 years ago; they are less likely to say their standard of living exceeds the one their parents had when their parents were the age Boomers are now; and not surprisingly then … Boomers are more anxious than other Americans that they will have to cut household spending in the coming year because money is tight.

This adds up to a pretty gloomy head trip! Might it cause a more conservative approach to donating — even a retrenchment? In our opinion…Absolutely.

Pew suggests a few possible reasons for Boomer gloom.They note that substantial percentages of Boomers are in a "sandwich" phase of life — many are financially supporting their parents, their own children in the home, as well as adult children outside the home — at the very time they are beginning to contemplate retirement and living on fixed incomes. Also, Pew finds seven-in-ten Boomers dissatisfied with the direction in which the country is going, a worse assessment than other generations. The DonorTrends 2008 Survey, to be reported fully soon, probes Boomers’ issue attitudes in detail and finds the same concerns.

But taking their gloom into account, and noting the fall-off in their average giving, we still need to remind ourselves that Boomers numerically dominate the donor universe … so target them we must!

Fundraising Implications Today and Tomorrow. Make no mistake. When the largest and most wealthy generation of donors is in a near-Prozac stage and scared to death of their financial future in a society they perceive is going to the dogs, it’s not good news for fundraisers.

Acquisition suffers because they’re reluctant to make new commitments. Retention suffers because the generally skeptical nature of Boomer generation is turbo charged by fear of the future … and perhaps the perception that the world’s problems are getting solved after all, despite Boomers’ original idealism. In short, they’re skittish, disappointed, and they bail far more quickly than either the Seniors or the Newbies. Is it any wonder acquisition and retention rates for many organizations hit the downward skids at the same time the Boomer generation succeeded the blindly-loyal Seniors as the majority of America’s donors?

And rising gas prices, food prices, and health care costs merely exacerbate the giving malaise.

In short, fasten your fundraising seat belts! This is about more than a temporary economic downturn.

Roger and Tom

P.S. In the DonorTrends 2008 Survey on Generational Giving, available shortly, we’ll set forth actionable recommendations on how to survive and thrive in this sea of depression afflicting America’s largest group of donors. Meanwhile, download the Pew report and stay tuned to The Agitator. Roger & Tom

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under Boomers, Don't Miss these Posts, DonorTrends, Hot Research, demographic trends, fundraising | Leave a Comment 

March To Online Video Continues

May 13, 2008

From ComScore, here are the latest figures re online video viewing. In the month of March:

  • 73.7 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video, averaging 83 videos per viewer.
  • 84.8 million viewers watched 4.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (50.4 videos per viewer).
  • 47.7 million viewers watched 400 million videos on MySpace.com (8.4 videos per viewer).
  • The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes.
  • The average online video viewer watched 235 minutes of video.

According to The Agitator’s recent DonorTrends survey, 40% of post-Boomers, 32% of Boomers, and even 25% of pre-Boomers report having watched an online video from a charity or cause. What’s your nonprofit doing to capitalize upon this adoption trend?

Tom

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under Boomers, DonorTrends, Hot Research, online advocacy, online fundraising, online video | Leave a Comment 

Talking To Boomers Online

April 22, 2008

In The Agitator’s latest DonorTrends survey (completed last month), 62% of Boomers said they had never donated online to a charity, 78% had never donated online to an issue advocacy organization, and 86% had not given online to a political campaign. Still a lot of fields to plow here! [And much more data to come from DonorTrends.]

And keep in mind that our respondents took the survey online … so they are not folks adverse to the medium (indeed, 95% report going online daily).

This article offers some advice on marketing to Boomers online from Hollis Thomases of WebAdvantage.net, an online marketing company. It’s not focused on fundraising, but still has some useful insights on the online likes and dislikes of Boomers.

My favorite comment (being a Boomer): "Frankly, what I like about advertising to Boomers is they have an attention span greater than 10 seconds. You can actually say something meaningful and appeal to a Boomer." Wow! Is that pickin’ a fight or what?!

Tom

 

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under Boomers, Don't Miss these Posts, online advocacy, online fundraising | 1 Comment 

Replacing Older Donors

June 1, 2007

As usual, Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog offers pointed advice when he tells nonprofit fundraisiers to stop wasting time prospecting for donors in the under-30 population.

Focus instead, he says, on Boomers, loosely 40- to 60-year olders (more precisely, the 1946-64 birth date cohort), to replace your aging core donors.

I think he's only partly right.

To be sure, the Boomer cohort is where most of the “new” money is to be found today. As documented in our White Paper, Boomers! Navigating the Generational Divide in Fundraising (downloadable from our home page), these folks are already giving generously.

But where to aim your marketing dollars is a tricky proposition. Not the least, it is influenced (or should be) by the flexibility you have budget-wise to allocate spending against long-term seed planting versus near-term income maximization.

Maximizing immediate income translates into finding clones of your current donors. Given the incestuous nature of the direct mail list market, this is effectively what you do if you stick to your most historically proven outside mailing list rentals. Those lists are almost certain to mirror your house file in age profile.

Pushing down the age range requires finding and experimenting with mailing lists, otherwise compatible, that have a younger profile … if you can find them. How much of your mail prospecting budget should be allocated to testing new (and here I'm talking younger) markets? As much as 20% if you can afford it.

However, notice that I've been talking about mail. And looking only at mail, I'd largely agree with Jeff' about chasing the “young” … whereas he'd be adverse, I'd be cautious.

But now we have the online medium to play in as well, and the data is clear that online fundraising is yielding younger donors.

Maybe not droves of them in the under-30 crowd. But plenty who are under-40.

I suspect even Jeff would expect the 100,000+ online donors so far recruited by Barack Obama include a very sizeable under-40 contingent. The same for all the presidential candidates currently campaigning aggressively online. And when all but one of those candidacies are put to rest in 2008, there will be a helluva lot of new, younger donor names available in the list market!

Political names aside, as we've argued in our White Paper, 4 Reasons You Should Care About the Under-40s (downloadable from our home page), there's a strong case for devoting resources — especially online resources — to cultivating this younger garden:

  • First of all, they do give … our data says that 48% of “post-Boomers” already give, and this group gives on average nearly $800 per year.
  • Second, the under-40s have proven immediate value as activists and volunteers. And for many this involvement will translate into later contributions.
  • Third, all brands need to refresh and renew themselves. Starting now to communicate with younger prospects, seeing what does resonate, will provide invaluable insight as you seek to remain relevant across time.
  • Fourth, if you want them later, brand awareness matters now. Our research indicates that post-Boomers are the segment least familiar with the organizations working on issues they already care about. And they're the most likely to give money to organizations they've never heard of before (so established groups need to get in their face).

So perhaps the most prudent strategy is to double-track:

  • Maintain your direct mail focus on the “tried and true” older donor universe, with a healthy budget allocation for testing both audience and messaging to gently nudge down the average donor age;
  • But task your online team to begin delivering the really fresh blood. If you have an active online prospecting program, I guarantee you'll see a younger donor skew in response.

Tom

Posted by admin | Filed Under Boomers, Don't Miss these Posts, direct marketing, online fundraising | Leave a Comment 

Boomers To Give $6000 Each in 2006!

December 15, 2006

That's a BIG number from a survey just completed by Fidelity Charity Gift Fund.

But then read the fine print and discover the sample was limited to those who indicated they planned to give at least $1000 during the year.

Headline hyperbole aside, The Agitator knows that Boomers are indeed ready to rock the charity universe. We've conducted our own in-depth study of Boomer giving attitudes and behavior, comparing them with both Pre- and Post-Boomers.

Called Navigating the Generational Divide in Fundraising and Advocacy, our DonorTrends study found that Boomers are currently giving on average $1361 per year, compared to $1138 for older Americans. The pace is set by “late” Boomer donors (born 1956-1964), who give 21% more than their “early” cousins. Moreover, while 33% of Boomers say they intend to donate even more in the future, more older pre-Boomers plan to reduce their giving (26%) than increase it (12%).

Like their elders, Boomers give about 75% of their donations to traditional charities working in the fields of health, education, social needs, disaster relief, arts and culture, with the remaining 25% devoted to issue advocacy and political campaigns.

Download our study for a ton of cross-generation data and analysis on donor loyalty, nonprofit performance expectations, issue interests, online giving, perceptions of charities and giving habits.

PS: Don't forget to take our “Transparency vs. Privacy” survey. Just go to the Survey box at top right of blog, or click here. Just takes 3 minutes!

Posted by admin | Filed Under Boomers, DonorTrends, General Post | Leave a Comment 

Emptying Nests Might Be Good News

August 3, 2006

Yankelovich Research has released a study of the parenting attitudes of Gen Xers, who now represent the cohort most likely to have children under the age of 18 in their households. This was a distinction formerly held by Boomers.

In 1995, Boomers comprised 65% of parents who had children under 18 in their households. Today they represent 37%, while GenXers now commprise 46% of parents with children under 18 at home.

As children leave Boomer households, these homes become the “empty nests” that have accounted in the past for the preponderance of small donations to non-profits, particularly with respect to cause and political giving. History would suggest that giving will accelerate in these empty nest Boomer households.

As we reported in our DonorTrends study, Boomers: Navigating the Generational Divide in Fundraising and Advocacy, Boomers are already giving more than the pre-Boomer generation that previously fueled most non-profit direct marketing. Check out the free study to see where this money might flow.

Posted by admin | Filed Under Boomers, DonorTrends, Hot Research, fundraising | Leave a Comment 

Prez Bush On the Cutting Edge

July 7, 2006

Reaching his 60th birthday, President Bush reminds us that the leading edge of the Boomer generation (born 1946-1964) is now crossing the 60 year milestone.

Pew Research Center has marked the occasion with an important study on the financial attitudes and situation of Boomers as they begin to reckon with retirement.

From a fundraising standpoint, perhaps the key takeaway is that Boomers are carrying inter-generational financial burdens that might impinge on their willingness to give. That is, many Boomers are financially supporting their own children (no news here), but also one or both of their own parents (who are living longer). One might hypothesize that these obligations might make Boomers more cautious about giving.

Our own DonorTrends study comparing Boomer giving attitudes and behavior with younger and older generations, Boomers! Navigating the Generational Divide in Fundraising & Advocacy, found that Boomers are now contributing more than their elders, and 33% indicate they plan to donate even more in the future.

Continue reading “Prez Bush On the Cutting Edge”

Posted by admin | Filed Under Boomers, Don't Miss these Posts, DonorTrends, philanthropy, planned giving | Leave a Comment