Some leaders of new charitable initiatives may find this data encouraging, but it does come with some caveats. For instance, given that younger evangelicals prefer to give to a wider variety of charities and enjoy learning about new causes to contribute to, their loyalty to any one given organization tends to be lower, making it harder to retain them as monthly givers.
While the study speculated that some of the responses among younger evangelicals may be a result of their youth and that their giving patterns may become more stable as they age, it nevertheless suggests that charitable organizations must think creatively about how to rise to the current challenges of attracting younger evangelical donors. For example, charitable organizations may need to vary their messaging and communication of needs more frequently, in order to keep the mission fresh and continually attract the same pool of younger donors.
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The conclusion of the study indicates that the key takeaway is to realize that the new generation of charitable donors requires new strategies, saying, “In attempting to reach and retain younger donors right now, it would be wise for organizations to understand just how different they are from their predecessors.”
Mark Dreistadt, founder and president of Infinity Concepts, said of the findings, “In short, if younger donors stay consistent with their current preferences, the fundraising landscape may be considerably different in the future.”
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