This document discusses strategies for fundraising across different generations. It identifies four living adult generations (Matures, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials), their defining historical influences and characteristics. Strategies suggested include investing in digital outreach, providing transparency on gift usage, engaging students early, enhancing alumni engagement, and offering non-monetary ways to get involved. EverTrue is presented as a tool to help uncover insights about alumni from social media and enhance donor identification and prioritization.

2. Jim Zimmerman
Chief Evangelist
EverTrue
John Templeman
Director of Annual Giving in
Central Development
Case Western Reserve
University
@EverTrueJim
linkedin.com/in/jjzim
jim@evertrue.com
@jtemp13
linkedin.com/in/johntempleman
jnt2@case.edu

3. 1. Identify the different behaviors and mindsets of today’s
living adult generations.
2. Understand how the characteristics of a generation can
influence giving habits.
3. Discuss strategies to harness the giving potential of each
generation.
Today’s Agenda

4. 4 Living Adult Generations in the USA:

5. Historical Influencers:
● The Great Depression
● World War II and Korean War
● Creation and denotation of first atomic
bomb
Characteristics:
● Hard working
● Disciplined
● Loyal
Matures
Born 1927-1945, Age 70+

6. Matures
“[Older alumni] love getting a call from students, and they love getting a
letter in the mail, especially a letter that’s been written by a classmate
and is addressed to them — a personal, old-style, formal letter.”
-Emily Steiger, Assistant Director of Annual Leadership Giving at Colgate
University

7. Historical Influencers:
● Vietnam War
● Sexual revolution
● Space travel
Characteristics:
● Ambitious
● Hard working
● Leaders
Baby Boomers
Born 1946-1964, Ages 51-69

8. Baby Boomers give consistently but in LOWER dollar amounts, with a
preference for multi-year pledges
40% of the generation has given via direct mail in the past two years*
40% of the generation gave in response to an email request and 42%
gave online*
Baby Boomers
* Via 2013 Blackbaud Report

9. Historical Influencers:
● Record-high divorce rate
● Childhood independence
● Technological advancements
Characteristics:
● Self sufficient
● Entrepreneurial
● Tech savvy
Gen X
Born 1965-1980, Ages 35-50

10. 40% of Gen Xers give online and 13% through a mobile
device.*
53% of Gen Xers give through their workplace; this includes
sponsored fundraisers and payroll deductions.*
Gen X
* Via 2013 Blackbaud Report

11. Historical Influencers:
● Terrorism and violence
● Rapid technological growth
● The Great Recession
Characteristics:
● Passionate
● Global minded
● Loyal to peers
Millennials (Generation Y)
Born 1981-2000, Ages 15-34

12. 1/3 of millennials who did not give to their alma mater chose not to
because they thought their donation would be better used elsewhere*
Millennials (Generation Y)
Millennials want to see a NEED for their gift
*2015 Achieve Study

13. How do we catch a millennial's attention?
ONLINE & SOCIAL MEDIA
69% of millennials
say a social media
message or post
motivates them to
take action*
*2013 Blackbaud Survey

14. Donor Giving Patterns
via EverTrue Research

15. What Motivates Each Generation to Give?
Why are all these
generational
differences
important?
Shouldn’t people
give to their alma
mater because,
well, it’s their alma
mater?

16. Ways to Adapt to the Changing Donor
(Especially Millennials)!
1. Spread your resources! Invest in digital.
2. Don’t leave donors in the dark!
3. Educate students while you have them on campus.
4. Enhance alumni lives post-grad.
5. Don't just ask for money.

18. #1 - Invest in Digital
Engage them through a variety of communication channels!

19. Advantages of Social Platforms
● Can provide donation link
● Allows organizations to have continual presence in donors’ lives
● Gives organizations the ability to uncover valuable donor insights
● Advancement officers can pool social data from individuals
○ Allows them to identify organization-specific trends
○ Allows them to more accurately target outreach

20. With new technology, is
direct mail still important
to utilize?

21. How Can We Make Direct Mail Effective?
● Creative mail & personalization
● When is it ineffective?
● Segmenting

22. Text to Give Platform @ Case Western Reserve

23. What About Student Call Centers?
48% of new alumni donors
at Case Western Reserve
University were acquired
through the SCC.

24. Online Giving
20% of all gifts
from Futures came
in via online giving
in FY15 @ Case
Western Reserve
University
The majority of these gifts
were triggered via the
various email solicitations
that were sent throughout the
year.

25. Boosting a Facebook Post
How can it help maximize alumni engagement?
Is it worth
the money?

26. Brown University
Alumni Association
posted this picture to
their Facebook page...

29. When they boosted the post, this happened:

30. Take These Action Steps:
❏ Increase the amount of resources allocated towards
online and social media tools (such as boosting posts).
❏ Develop a plan of how much to focus on each
communication channel based on alumni demographics.
❏ Through each channel, alter language to target
solicitations towards each generation.

31. #2 - Don’t Leave Donors in the Dark
What would encourage respondents to give?
Having a better understanding of where their money
was going and for what it was being used!

32. “People who are becoming philanthropic now, whether they
are 50 years old or 25 years old, especially those making
generous, calculated gifts, are more targeted in their giving
and increasingly want greater authority over how their gift
is going to be used.”
- Pat Hewett, Associate Director for Leadership Gifts at Boston University

33. What About Targeted Gifts?
Targeted gifts are a
good way to nurture
those coveted
bottom- and middle-
of-the-pyramid
donors

34. Take These Action Steps:
❏ Offer the option of targeting gifts to specific funds or initiatives. (Consider
“Family of Funds” if unrestricted giving is critical.)
❏ Consider crowdfunding for specific needs (but count those gifts as
participation).
❏ Create a challenge gift directed at young alumni participation in a project.
❏ Update all donors on the organization’s general progress (with specific
stories and eye catching images!).

35. #3 - Educate Students While They’re On Campus
❏ Treat students like alumni. Treat young alumni like students.
❏ Student Alumni Association
❏ Senior Class Gift
❏ Alumni Mentorship Program
Take These Action Steps:

36. #4 - Enhance Alumni Lives Post-Grad
❏ Encourage alumni networking
❏ Recognize successful young grads
❏ FSU 30 Under 30
❏ Bucknell Young Alumni Award
❏ Include popular professors in alumni events
❏ Avoid out-pricing young alumni
Take These Action Steps:

37. #5 - Don’t Just Ask for Money
What about being philanthropically involved?
● 86% of millennials expressed a desire to use their talents and
knowledge to volunteer
● 43% of millennials admitted to not yet volunteering because their
alma matter had not asked them to.
*2013 Blackbaud data

38. Are we donating to an
organization
or to a cause?

39. Take These Action Steps:
❏ Show alumni that non-monetary engagement is needed and
appreciated.
❏ Allow for varied levels of involvement.
❏ Target volunteer and engagement opportunities towards
the preferences of each generation.

40. Each generation’s personality traits and habits lead to slightly different volunteering preferences:

41. Key Takeaways
1. Spread your resources! Invest in digital.
2. Don’t leave donors in the dark!
3. Educate students while you have them on campus.
4. Enhance alumni lives post-grad.
5. Don't just ask for money.

42. How Can
EverTrue Help?

43. Age
Real estate assets
Wealth screening
Other giving

44. Age
Real estate assets
Wealth screening
Other giving

45. Get updated information on:
● Where alumni live
(LinkedIn location)
● Where alumni work
(LinkedIn career
Information)
EverTrue’s GivingTree Plan an entire trip right from
your desktop and access
profiles from your mobile
device.

47. Which of my “Matures” are engaged with us on Facebook and might be planned
giving candidates?
Which of my “Boomers” live in million-dollar homes in Philadelphia?
Which “Gen Xers” work in finance or technology?
Which “Millennials” are engaged on Facebook but are non-donors?
Questions GivingTree Can Answer

48. Uncover alumni who are
engaged on social media and
what they are interested in.

49. Connect the dots between institutional data and
social/professional data for quicker donor identification
and prioritization.
EverTrue can help...

50. To learn more, contact EverTrue at:
sales@evertrue.com

51. Jim Zimmerman
Chief Evangelist
EverTrue
John Templeman
Director of Annual Giving in
Central Development
Case Western Reserve
University
@EverTrueJim
linkedin.com/in/jjzim
jim@evertrue.com
@jtemp13
linkedin.com/in/johntempleman
jnt2@case.edu
Thank you!