Baby Boomers Give More Cash and Give More Often, Study Says

Title: “2016 Connected Nonprofit Report”

Organization: Salesforce.org and the Harris Poll

Summary: Sixty-five percent of baby boomers gave to charity in a recent 12-month period, compared to 48 percent of Gen Xers and 43 percent of millennials, according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults.

Baby boomers also donated in higher amounts — 33 percent reported giving more than $500 in total to charity, compared with 25 percent of Gen Xers and 13 percent of millennials.

Although fewer baby boomers volunteered than did younger generations, those who did were more generous with their time: Half said they dedicated 50 or more hours over a year to assisting nonprofits.

The data is based on an online poll conducted in mid-September about people’s giving during the prior 12 months.

Among the findings:

• Donors of all ages reported that they learned about opportunities to give money or time for a cause primarily through family and friends.
  • Social-media appeals were more likely to get the attention of millennials: Thirty percent reported learning about giving and volunteering opportunities through sites like Facebook and Twitter. Twenty-four percent of Gen Xers and 11 percent of baby boomers said the same.
  • More baby boomers (32 percent) reported learning about giving and volunteering through direct mail than did Gen Xers (21 percent) or millennials (11 percent).
  • More donors reported that they gave in person or by mail than online or by other means. Still, 48 percent of millennials say they would prefer to give through an organization’s website, while 19 percent favor social media.
  • Forty-one percent of millennials say they would be more likely to donate to a nonprofit if the organization had a mobile app.
  • More than half of donors say they don’t know how their contributions are being used by nonprofits, but 90 percent say it’s important that they know “exactly” how the money they give is being spent.
• Sixty-five percent of donors said they would give more money if they felt that the nonprofit “really knew” them, as demonstrated through personalized appeals and relevant updates about the organization.