It's Not You... It's Me!

Recently I read this blog from the venerable Jeff Brooks.

In this blog, Jeff warns charities to "stay away!" from youth.  I'd love to know what data this wisdom is based on?  What detailed fundraising studies have been conducted on donors between the ages of 15 - 49?  How often were these studies repeated among various sectors, cultures, and different forms of fundraising?

When Jeff calls young people fickle, I have to wonder if that's true.

Corporate businesses are falling over themselves to "imprint" their brands on kids and youth.  Partly because they want them asking Mom and Dad for their product, but also because they know that they can generate brand loyalty from a young age and it will stick for a lifetime. 

These brands are spending millions and even billions of dollars trying to connect with youth.  They certainly aren't ignoring them.  Do you really think that those major corporate brands would throw away millions of dollars for nothing? 

Maybe youth aren't as fickle as Jeff portrays them to be.  Maybe charities are just really bad at communicating and connecting with youth? 

Clearly older people are going to have more disposable income.  I'm not suggesting that anyone stop their existing fundraising with that demographic.  However, I think one of the reason's we do that well, is because most of the people who run charities are - well - old farts.  And old farts are good at communicating with other old farts.  We understand older demographics.  We've studied this demographic inside out and backwards.  We're comfortable with the older demographic and we're too damned lazy and risk averse to try and figure out how to do better with other demographics.

Sixty-ish Syndrome

Lets face it, folks.  Most of the leaders in the charitable sector today are men (and to a lesser degree women) who are approaching 60, or who have already passed it.  How well can they communicate or even identify with today's youth?  How many of you talk to younger people like they're your kid or your grandkid? Seriously, do you think you're going to get a good response from that?  Young people can smell condescension a mile away. 

It may be that youth are fickle, not because it's who they are, but because we suck at connecting and communicating with them.  It's not them... It's us! 

I know that charities have a hard time investing in the future and are under pressure to produce results today.  But is your job to focus only on today, with no regard for the future?  As the boomer generation dies off, there will be FAR fewer older people around to raise money from and far more competition for their support.  Is that how you want to position your charity for the future? 

So I challenge you all to ask yourselves: Is it them, or is it us?

And just because... Here's one of my favourite Seinfeld moments:

Comments

[Barbara Talisman]

Laurie,
You are so right. Thanks for sharing Jeff's comments and your response.

I thought (successful) fundraising was all about the donor needs. No matter how old, young, sexual orientation blah blah blah. As far as I know an aging donor eventually dies - with a great relationship a planned gift may have been arranged. Otherwise, that ends the donors ability to give - No?

So where are we going to find the next generation of donors. And I thought youth in philanthropy was all about teaching and empowering them to give early and make it a behavior they enjoy and becomes a habit.

Seems to me folks like Alex of Alex's Lemonade Stand and @StovesforRwanda and @KidsareHeroes via Twitter (just to name 3) are doing just that. For us old folks to ignore or place OUR expectations on their giving is wrong on all sorts of levels.

[Laurie]

Thanks so much for your comments, Barb. I couldn't agree more!