Giving Compass' Take:

• This Blue Avocado post discusses what is known about millennial donors and how they connect with certain social causes.

• One of the key takeaways here is that the next generation of donors has many different options for giving, so it's important that your organization has a clear message that's built on authenticity.

• Here's more advice on engaging millennials in philanthropy. 

I’ve studied how millennials engage with nonprofits and social causes for more than 10 years — a decade in which young leaders have revolutionized cause engagement. The way young America today approaches injustices is unlike that of their parents’ generation, and not just because technology and social media have given these digital natives new tools. There’s been a paradigm shift in what cause engagement means and how social change can be achieved.

Much of what my research colleagues and I have learned about millennials dictates that nonprofits and causes need to shift their mindset, too. That shift means nonprofits need to both embrace (or at least accept) new ways of thinking about what engagement means and also create new practical approaches in the areas of fundraising, participation, and communications. Here are three of the most important traits to consider when creating your millennial outreach and giving strategies:

  1. Millennials engage and give to causes to help others, not to strengthen institutions.
  2. Millennials view all their assets as having equal value.
  3. Millennials are influenced by the decisions and behaviors of their peers.

Read the full article about engaging millennials by Derrick Feldmann at Blue Avocado.