SPLIT PERSONALITIES

Like so many parents, I’m concerned about whether my twin boys, part of the Millenial generation (born on a frigid January 1st, 1988), are participating in philanthropy to the extent they should. I’ll acknowledge I may be making flawed generational assumptions as I look at their snowboards, longboards and keyboards, which didn’t exist when I was their age. I’m over 30 and one of my generation’s maxims was, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”

Obviously, fundraising professionals need to understand multigenerational personalities and the motivational values and considerations shaped by their life experiences. For example, this perception that today’s young people aren’t as philanthropic as previous generations is turned on its head by a new study from Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.

Based on data from a 2007 survey of more than 10,000 individuals spread across five generations, the report, Generation Differences in Charitable Giving and in Motivations for Giving, found that while those in the Millennial generation, born after 1981, are generally less likely to give and tend to give less when they do make a donation, those tendencies are associated more with income, education level and religious attendance than generational affiliation. All other factors being equal, the report found, the average giving level of Millennials was roughly equivalent to that of donors across all generations.

According to the report, the Millennial generation is more likely than any other generation to cite the "desire to make the world a better place to live" as a key motivation for their giving, while members of the "Silent" generation — individuals born between 1929 and 1945 — are more likely to cite a "need to provide services that the government can't or won't" as one of their most important motivations for giving.

Members of my kids’ Millennial generation still want to make fundamental contributions to society. Often younger generations are eager to participate in their family’s tradition of giving with a gravity and commitment that surprises and surpasses parents and grandparents. They have great potential to become life-long donors with rising earning power.

Does this good news offset the concerns of my Baby Boom generation about our ability to live comfortably in retirement? Ruy Teixeira of the Century Foundation says that as the “U.S. economy slides into a recession, the economic insecurity that has afflicted so many Americans during the Bush administration is likely to get even worse…. Back in early 2002, 59 percent of non-retirees said they expected to have enough money to live in retirement. That figure has now fallen to just 46 percent.”

The “Boomers” saw a tremendous transfer of wealth from their Depression era parents. While these are turbulent economic times, there has been an enormous creation of wealth in some sectors in the past seven years and new foundations are cropping up by the thousands.

All non-profits should be seeking diversification in their donor base and opportunities to inspire current and future donors. As ambassadors for philanthropy, understanding differences helps us illuminate current and prospective donors underlying values, strengthen relationships and achieve mutual goals.