Giving Compass' Take:

• Sarah Landrum, writing for Forbes, discusses why millennials care about social impact investing and believe that they should be working for companies invested in making a difference. 

• How can donors partner with millennial impact investors to spur growth across the impact investing landscape? 

• Read more about the millennial perspective that supports social impact investments within philanthropy. 

In a variety of ways, millennials seem determined to shake off the apathetic label assigned to them by their elders. For starters, the work ethic gap seems to be a myth. Young folks work hard — and they also want their work to matter.

And now they want these investments of time, concern, and money to matter, as well.

Most of us probably think of financial investments as passive and self-serving, but making the right investment can see a return for both the investor and for the world — and help give us a sense of accomplishment and happiness at work.

According to a United States Treasury survey, millennials are investing in organizations that prioritize the greater good more than any previous generation. In other words, millennials prefer working with socially responsible entities, this may exclude organizations like banks with histories of misleading customers.

Millennials want to invest in organizations that don’t focus on lining the pockets of their boards of directors. They want to make strategic investments with the intention of positively impacting the world. In a survey of 684 investors, millennials were found to make more “social impact investments” than any other segment of America, while 85% of millennials who responded to the survey signaled interest for this type of investing.

Catalysts for Change suggests that the millennial generation — all 75 million of them — are likely to become the wealthiest generation in America’s history. As Baby Boomers grow old and pass on, some $41 trillion is expected to be “transferred” to their heirs in the millennial generation. And given what we’ve learned about the average millennial’s tendency toward civic engagement, we might see quite a bit of that money put to pro-social uses.

Why? It’s pretty simple — millennials might just be the first generation to take the phrase “money doesn’t buy happiness” seriously. That they prioritize “making a difference” over a cushier paycheck is proof enough of that.

Read the full article about millennials and social investing by Sarah Landrum at Forbes.