It’s never too soon to begin planning for the future. When it comes to nonprofit donor development, the earlier you can recruit a supporter, the greater return on your investment, since you have the opportunity to build a partnership that can last a lifetime.

Recruiting young adults at this time means you’re looking to add Millennials to your donor database, and this outreach effort is plaguing development teams. Millennials are an interesting generation — the first to grow up with ubiquitous technology, which influences every aspect of their lives, including the way they regard nonprofit work and their attitudes about giving and volunteering.

It’s important for nonprofit organizations to realize that to reach this generation effectively, you’ve first got to grasp their background, motivations, and goals.

In our research, we found a helpful report that outlines some interesting statistics about Millennials (The Millennial Impact Report 2012). Some of these may be somewhat obvious, but we think most of them will blow your mind and radically affect the way you’ve been thinking about recruiting Millennial donors.

1. 65% of Millennials prefer to learn about a nonprofit by visiting their website and 55% prefer social media.
2. Millennials said they’d share the following types of nonprofit info on Facebook:
   1. Cool events 74%
   2. Stats 69%
   3. News 65%
   4. Opportunities 61%

3. 67% have interacted with a nonprofit on Facebook.

4. 77% have smartphones.

5. 88% will first visit the “About Us” page of a nonprofit’s website; 43% research how donations are used and how they are making an impact.

6. Almost 65% say they prefer that an email from a nonprofit deliver news and updates from the organization, 61% want to know about upcoming events, and 47% want to be informed about volunteer opportunities.

7. Millennials use their smartphones as mobile computers; the majority of those connections have been for the purpose of reading emails or e-newsletters (67%), getting updates from an organization (51%), or sharing news or updates about a nonprofit organization with friends and family (33%).

8. The top two reasons preventing Millennials from taking leadership roles with nonprofits: 62% lack of time, 40% never been asked.

9. Nearly one-third of respondents said they’re open to any type of volunteer role if it’s with an organization they believe in, but they are most likely to give of their time if they know their efforts will make a difference.

10. By a margin of more than two-to-one, Millennials who volunteer for nonprofits are more likely to make donations.

Because recruiting Millennial donors now is so crucial to the health and longevity of nonprofit organizations, we at Donor.com have created a free downloadable resource to help you learn more about effective ways to reach the next generation.

If you’re intrigued by these facts and want to learn more, get your free copy of “The Definitive Guide to Millennial Givers” now.