With the winter months just around the corner, odds are your marketing team is hard at work pulling together a holiday donation strategy. Hopefully, that strategy includes some tactics that specifically target millennial consumers. That’s because as of this year, millennials now have the largest purchasing power in the U.S., which makes it a necessity to engage them in order to get the most out of your campaign.

The good news is this: One of the major characteristics of the millennial generation is a desire to do good and impact society in a meaningful way. More so than past generations, millennials take action when it comes to getting involved with charitable organizations and nonprofits; an astonishing 84% of millennials reported making a charitable donation in 2014, according to the 2015 Millennial Impact Report.

However, just knowing that millennials have a penchant for helping good causes will not be enough when it comes to hitting the donation goals your organization is aiming for.

Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to marketing your mission to millennial consumers:

Transparency is Key

Millennials are known for being extremely discerning shoppers, and this is mainly due to the fact that they can easily access more information than any generation before them. Whether it’s scouring online reviews or quickly comparing prices at different retailers, millennials have been trained to get to the bottom of things before they make buying decisions. This same thinking will come into play when it comes time for them to donate—“Where exactly is my money going? Who exactly am I helping through my donation?” When it comes to targeting millennials, it pays to be as forthcoming as possible, so that the impact they stand to make is nothing but clear.

Provide Your Donors with a Choice on How to Give

While millennials are known for being tech-savvy denizens of the internet, research shows that millennials are still receptive to direct mail marketing. Targeting a millennial audience through a variety of marketing channels is a winning strategy when it comes to capturing their attention; it’s also a winning strategy when it comes to getting donations. In the same way you can use your direct mail marketing and digital marketing strategies to complement each other, you can also use both channels as way to collect donations and, more importantly, give the consumer the choice of how they want to donate. For example, if you send a donation envelope in the mail, be sure to include a website they can visit if they’d prefer to donate online. 

Get to the Point

Similar to the point above about striving for transparency, when it comes to soliciting donations, nonprofits should keep their mission clear and their messaging concise. That’s because millennials have a shorter attention span than members of other generations (even shorter than that of an average goldfish). For this reason, your marketing efforts—whether it be a social media post or print collateral—need to be even more engaging.

While marketing to millennials can sometimes feel like a challenge, especially if your organization relies on more traditional forms of marketing, the reality is that millennials want to be involved in supporting your cause. It’s just a matter of making them aware.

Want to learn more about how direct mail can help achieve your nonprofit’s goals this quarter? Get in touch.