Generation Blend

In spite of the economic downturn, nonprofits seem to be well-positioned to survive and thrive, especially when it comes to attracting the young, ambitious, and technologically-savvy new generation of workers. 

Meet the Millennials

Born between 1981 and 2000, according to Generation Blend by Rob Salkowitz, among other books, this generation outnumbers the Baby Boomers.  This is the generation of activists, socially-minded and community-minded people who have volunteered more of their time than any other generation before them. 

Who Are Millennials and What Do They Want? 

• Millennials want to make a difference, not just do work.
• Millennials work collaboratively and come up with new and effective ways of connecting communities, online and offline.
• Monetary bounties are not the most important, when compared to other, less-tangible rewards, like working from home, working flexible hours, having opportunities to learn and develop as professionals, fully integrate work and life, and do meaningful work.

Nonprofits’ attraction is undeniable, especially if they are global and forward-looking, or local with strong community ties and impact. As Millenials continue entering the workforce, they will look for employers that offer the most meaningful and relevant work experience where their tech skills, collaborative work habits and entrepreneurship qualities will be a good fit.

The personal satisfaction derived from doing something worthwhile beats cushy corporate job with a narrow focus almost every time. This means nonprofits can really take this opportunity and run with it. How?

Here are a few suggestions to attract young talent:

• Students trust students trust you plan. Reach out to high school students, university students and new grads. Create an ambassador program for your nonprofit and have a campus rep on every campus out there. Coca Cola and Dell are running very successful programs, posting jobs on jobs.myspace.com. You can, too! Your Facebook group/page is also perfectly positioned to recruit eager young people who believe in what your nonprofit stands for. Then there is always an internal (often free)  campus job board.
• Get Social. Be online more – this is where most of us young people are spending time now, and we are looking for ways to get involved. Relationships and friendships often start online and then get carried into the offline; the two worlds get more integrated every day. Just search for #changecamp, #hohoto, or #lifecamp on search.twitter.com. This is the perfect time to build and nurture your online community.
• Get Diverse. We are the generation that goes global before it goes local. Diversity of all kinds and at all levels within the organization: gender, experience, ethnicity, background, etc.  practically guarantees innovation and relevance in this day and age. Nonprofits have an excellent opportunity to lead change. Great example of this is DiverseCity Project by Maytree Foundation.

The key to attracting the Millennials though is understanding. There are common traits in every generation, because we are often defined and formed by similar life experiences. The book I am reading, Generation Blend, is a great starting point for nonprofits to dive in and figure out how to attract the young, the skilled and the ambitious. Because it is not all about money.

There’s been a huge shift in the bottom line.

1. Donate what you can:  food, time, skill, blood. You have it in you.
2. Email, tweet, and update your Facebook status to spread the word about your favourite charity
3. Contact your MPP and your MP to remind them how important nonprofits are during tight economic times. Tell your friends to do the same.
4. Throw a party to benefit your charity of choice! I am having a blast working with the best team ever to organize #HoHoTo - all the proceeds will go to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank
5. If you have a blog, write a post about your favourite charity and why it matters we support it more than ever  Link to its website and anything else they might have created – videos, facebook pages, twitter, etc.
6. If you have a gift registry, condsider including links to GiveMeaning.com, CanadaHelps.org, and GetInvolved.ca, or the charities of your choice to have your friends donate $5, $10, $20 and up. Every little bit matters.
7. If you have a website, let your favourite orgs advertise on it for free for a day/week/month/year
8. If you are a café/restaurant/bar owner, create a signature dish or drink and name it in honor of your favorite organization. (Love this one, borrowed from the Social Citizens)
9. Write a blog post about a cause/charity that you are passionate about. Include a link to the cause/charity (OK, I borrowed this great idea from Social Citizens, who borrowed it from @rogercarr but it’s a good one!)
10.  Click for charity. Great examples of this are LOVE and Free Rice.

Do you have anything to add to the list? Please leave a comment and I’ll update it.

UPDATE: I just came across 71 ideas on how to give when you’re short on the money:
Do take a look, it’s a fanatastic blogger-generated list.