Achieve and The Case Foundation just released their 2016 Millennial Impact Report, which focuses on millennial behavior and attitudes toward social good and cause engagement. They carried out extensive national research and gained insight on the trends of today’s young adults. But what does it all mean for you?
For an up-close-and-personal look at their findings, check out the report. Looking for just a snapshot? We’ve got you covered with five key takeaways from the report.
Make Millennials a Priority
As of 2015, millennials (people born between the years 1980 and 2000) make up the largest generation in the country and the workplace. Over and over again, research has been affirming the fact that millennials value interaction with the causes they care about. If you’re looking to make a difference, this is where to do it. This generation likes to do good, and your organization gives them an opportunity to do just that. You can tap into their interests by speaking to a social issue that millennials are passionate about.
Explore the Issues
Top interests for millennials continue to include education and health care. This year, employment and wages also topped the list, and the economy came in soon after. That means it might be time for your nonprofit to do a little digging. Explore topics underneath the umbrella of those bigger issues. Where are more specific areas of interest that relate to your nonprofit? You can highlight those to rally millennials behind your cause.
Give Opportunities for Activism
The good news: through their research, Achieve found that most respondents believed people like them could affect positive change. The bad news: only about half had volunteered for or donated to a social cause they cared about in the month prior to taking the survey. Females reported lower participation than males, which dropped even lower in the second wave of surveys. Just like advocating, activism is an important step toward accomplishing your nonprofit’s goals. If you can find a compelling way to get millennials actively involved with your mission, then you’re on the right track.
Highlight Their Impact
Like we said before, the good news is that most millennials believe that they can affect positive change. Getting a closer look, though, shows that not everyone is as gung-ho about creating change as it might seem. A majority of millennials reported believing that they could only have a small to moderate impact on making the U.S. a better place to live. Of the remaining participants, nine percent believed they could make no impact at all. Millennials hold vital characteristics that can be used for good. They’re tech-savvy and well-connected, and they possess a lot of potential for creating social change. This is where you come in—your organization should be highlighting their impact. Help millennials understand how, through your nonprofit, they can make change.
Spread the Word Via Social
Following their research, Achieve found that Facebook is still the reigning champ when it comes to sharing about social issues. A whopping 91 percent of their Wave 2 participants said that they had used Facebook within the past week to post about or engage with an issue they care for. Along with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube have consistently topped the list of social media platforms that millennials use to engage with meaningful causes. You probably already know that your organization needs to be on social media. The next step is to figure out how to use it effectively. Explore how millennials are using social media and use that to spread your mission.
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Research is a great tool for collecting new insight, but that doesn’t mean much unless you do something with what you’ve learned. Now that you’ve taken a closer look at millennial trends, go make something great out of it.
