For most charities, a key part of their ongoing income generation strategy will be the recruitment of new donors. And as part of that, the recruitment of younger donors is also high on most charities’ agendas in order to counteract the natural attrition inherent in an older base of existing donors.
How young is young?
The safest route is normally to target people slightly younger than current donors as they are generally the group next most likely to respond after look-a-likes of current donors.
Target Group Index (TGI) data shows us that it’s a more mature demographic who donate to charities, rather than participate in events or get involved with campaigns. However, for charities that support ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community or aid research and human rights, it’s Gen Z who should be the key target audience.
For example, 22.7% of people who give to charities that support ethnic minorities are 15-24, compared to 2.5% of people 65+.
People who are 15-24 years old are 40% more likely than the national average to give to LGBTQ+ charities, compared to people who are 65+ who are 27% less likely than the national average.
So, how should charities in this sector be targeting Gen Z?
Key channels for reaching this audience include social media, video on demand (VOD) and cinema.
And whilst radio as a channel doesn’t index very highly, we know a high percentage of this audience will be using audio streaming platforms.
These aren’t the traditional channels used for donor recruitment, so how should this generation be approached?
TikTok is going to be an increasingly important tool. It’s doing some interesting work with charities and has created ‘donation stickers’, which are clickable buttons that can be embedded directly in videos and TikTok LIVEs. When a user clicks on the sticker, they will be taken through to a frictionless donation window without having to leave the app.
TikTok’s Charity Academy also runs a training course for charities on using the platform for advocacy and fundraising.
Channel 4’s 4Studio creates branded content which is distributed across social platforms, with formats including social branded entertainments and sponsorships.
They specialise in creating content which appeals to youth audiences, providing and championing alternative views. To resonate with the Gen Z audience, their content reflects modern society and is often bold, interesting and subversive. This can be used to great effect to connect with prospective donors and drive donations.
Spotify allows charity brands to deliver multi-media storytelling throughout the day. Through audio, charities can create personal one-to-one connections in unique screenless contexts and with podcasts, charities can access a valuable, highly-engaged and hard-to-reach audience. The visual elements of Spotify, whether it’s through the app, a tablet or desktop, can generate awareness and engagement which can ultimately be converted to donation through search.
From a long-term growth perspective, recruiting younger donors and nurturing them over time has great potential. Their lifetime value is likely to be higher and they are also more likely to become advocates for the work their chosen charity does.
If you’ would like any more information on how your charity can target younger audiences, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
