Our friends over at Crossroads, a public relations firm in Kansas City, recently conducted a study of more than 500 millennial adults and found that one third of millennials are planning to participate in Giving Tuesday, a global holiday created to encourage people to donate to charities or volunteer their time during the holidays.
“While this is up from the eight percent of Millennials who said they participated in #GivingTuesday last year, there’s room for improvement,” said Mike Swenson, president of Crossroads and cause branding expert.
A big hurdle to Millennial participation? Thirty-four percent of those who don’t plan to participate this year said they simply can’t afford to donate. Of the Millennials who will participate in #GivingTuesday, the primary way they will engage with the day is by donating food, clothing or other items (62 percent).
Other interesting finds from the study include:
• When it comes to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and #GivingTuesday, Millennials are nearly equally split on participation (39 percent plan to shop on Black Friday, 39 percent plan to shop on Cyber Monday and 38 percent plan to participate in #GivingTuesday)
• When it comes to top cause passions for Millennials, human services, education and health-related causes make up the top three (at 56 percent, 46 percent, and 34 percent, respectively)
• Of the Millennials who will make a financial donation on #GivingTuesday, nearly a quarter of them (24 percent) will donate $1 – $10
• Of the Millennials who won’t participate in #GivingTuesday, 28 percent said knowing exactly what their donation will be used for would convince them to participate, while 14 percent said they’d be convinced to participate if their donation was matched, such as by a large business or foundation
