Gen Z: Engaging The Next Wave Of Donors

It’s no secret that the most effective fundraising strategies begin with understanding your target audience. When talking about generational cohorts, there are countless articles written on cultivating and soliciting Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. However, Generation Z is still an audience to be explored.

Who is Generation Z?

While generational cutoffs aren’t set in stone, Gen Z includes individuals born between 1997 and 2012. This means that in 2022, this group ranges in age from 15-26. Members of Gen Z are digital natives growing up with tech, social media, and information available at their fingertips.

According to the Pew Research Center, Gen Z is more ethnically and racially diverse than their generational predecessors. Gen Z youth and young adults are inclined to be socially conscious and politically active. Moreover, Gen Z makes up nearly a quarter of the U.S. population. By 2030, they are expected to make up 30% of the U.S. workforce.

As their giving capacity grows, it’s only a matter of time before Gen Zers take up the mantle as the next wave of nonprofit supporters. So, how do we refocus and tailor our fundraising to this new generation of savvy movers and shakers?

1. Leverage Peer-to-Peer

Gen Zers are impact-oriented and they care about solving social problems. Almost three out of four young adults are willing to raise money on behalf of an org that matters to them. 

To best leverage collective impact and technology, peer-to-peer (P2P) campaigns are a popular way to engage and influence others – especially when shared across social media platforms. 

With CauseVox’s hands-free peer-to-peer, you can harness the power of your community and empower young donors to share your mission and amplify your cause.

2. Optimize Mobile Giving

We can’t stress this one enough. 

With over 95% of Gen Z members owning smartphones (the average receiving their first phone before the age of 10), making your campaigns mobile-friendly isn’t just trendy, it’s a necessity.

It can be frustrating when a website isn’t mobile responsive and it certainly doesn’t promote a sense of confidence in the organization.

Optimizing mobile giving doesn’t just apply to your website or campaign page. It also means having a mobile-friendly, branded donation form. In 2020, online giving increased by 21%. In fact, over half of all traffic to nonprofit websites was on a mobile device and 26% of all online fundraising was processed through mobile devices. 

With CauseVox’s mobile-optimized donation forms, supporters can donate quickly and effortlessly. Our smart forms can automatically detect whether a donor is on a desktop or mobile device, optimizing their online giving experience from the get-go. 

In addition, with CauseVox’s pledge feature, donors have the option of making a pledge today and paying in automatic installments that best work with their budget:

Is your fundraising ready for mobile? See if you check all the boxes with our self-graded rubric.

3. Keep Your Appeals Short and Succinct

If you thought the average attention span was short before, did you know that the average attention span today is 8 seconds?

With an overload of information day in and day out, being able to capture someone’s attention in a short time frame is critical. So how do you convince someone to care in a matter of seconds?

• Cut out the fluff – if you’re writing a text appeal, keep your content around 300-500 words. 
• Pay attention to readability – The Flesch reading ease score measures how easy to read your text is. It’s ideal to score between 70 to 80 (which is equivalent to an 8th grade reading level). Basically, the higher the score, the easier your text is to read.
• Play with the formatting – Consider using different heading sizes or formatting styles to make certain words or phrases pop.
• Chunk it out – Avoid text walls by “chunking” your content into sections. You can also use bullet points to make it more easily digestible and memorable. 
• Have a strong call to action – It’s obvious but we like to hammer this point home every time.

4. #Hashtags

Over the years, hashtags have gained traction and popularity across all social media platforms. As something that started on Twitter, hashtags are powerful marketing tools when used correctly. Crafting an effective hashtag remains a great way to boost shares and promote awareness about your cause. 

#GivingTuesday is an excellent example. Fiver’s Children Foundation used #GivingTuesday to promote their widely successful 2021 campaign by adding it to the title and in their appeal. 

Even better – use a unique hashtag! Unique hashtags can help people filter through the noise, follow your campaign, and ultimately donate to your cause. 

Here’s a few tips when brainstorming your next hashtag:

• Keep it short and sweet –  While this is especially true with Twitter where you’re limited to 280 characters, a long hashtag won’t be easy to remember.
• Make sure it hasn’t been taken – Check to see if your hashtag has already been used by another organization or campaign. If so, you’ll need to get creative. 
• Check your hashtag to see where else it’s being used – Sometimes a certain phrase that may be relevant to your mission is already being used in an entirely different way. We suggest plugging in your chosen tag into different social media platforms and seeing what other posts come up. 

For more tips on crafting the perfect hashtag for your next campaign, check out this article.

The Bottom Line

Gen Z is an emerging philanthropic powerhouse that shouldn’t be discounted. Their technological prowess and ability to mobilize their personal networks positions them to be the next generation of donors. However, to engage Gen Z in a meaningful way, it’s important to have the right technology that delivers a phenomenal user experience. 

Get Started On CauseVox

Ready to raise more for your organization or favorite charity? CauseVox makes it easy for you to make a big impact with less effort.

We’ll give you donation-optimized forms to convert more donors on any type of campaign including website donations, peer-to-peer, crowdfunding, birthday fundraisers, challenges, special events and more!

Book a demo to learn how to maximize your fundraising on CauseVox.