The digital divide runs parallel with generational divides. You can almost pinpoint someone’s age by assessing their computer and tech knowledge. In many communities, alumni participation in a school district runs along with those same age demographics. Younger alumni are less likely to participate in giving to their high school or college. A great study from AlumniAccess.com looked at stats for alumni participation and giving and came to the conclusion that baby boomers comprise about 36% of most alumni organizations constituencies and millennials only make up about 19%. Yet, they make up nearly the same percentage of the overall population (blog.alumniaccess.com). So, the question becomes: Are they not participating because they are not interested or because not enough is being done to speak to their generation?
We are going to use this great survey and the responses from millennials to give you some ways to market your alumni association directly to their demographic and on their terms. You can’t market to them the same way you marketed to their parents, but you also can’t afford to ignore them. Let’s look at how your alumni association can do a better job of reaching millennials.
There are many high schools that are still using paper forms and mailing out applications by request to get new members to join their organization. Most of the time, this is because it’s the way things have “always been done” and organizations are reluctant to change. Anyone who knows anything about millennials will tell you that if it can’t be done on their smartphone, it’s probably not getting done. Millennials are known to have a shorter attention span compared to past generations, and they aren’t going to sit down and fill out a long application form either. Your best bet is to make an online form for application and keep it short. Get the basics and move on. You can always ask for more information later but get the buy-in on membership first and then backfill info, like job details, for your networking database.
$1.4 trillion is a whole lot of donating power. Are you making it easy for them to donate? If your current website doesn’t have updated digital tools that make membership and paying for enrollment easy, you aren’t alone. 73% of alumni organizations believe they need to update the technology solutions offered to engage alumni. If your alumni association is still relying on check payments and doesn’t offer an online payment method, you are missing out on a lot of money. There are many easy-to-use plugins for content management systems that will accept payments for you and help you integrate tracking with your organization’s system to make it easy. You simply can’t afford to operate your organization without electronic payment options!
For the boomers and even older Gen Xers, social media can often be considered a nuisance. Many people from those generations think it’s just about politics and seeing what people had for breakfast in the morning. For millennials, there is a deep emotional connection to social media platforms and social networks. It is a huge part of how they communicate and, therefore, a huge influence in their life. If you don’t use Snapchat, do you even exist? You’ve got to look for ways to tailor your messaging on those platforms to speak directly to millennials as well. 64% of millennials will respond to content that is “thought-provoking or intelligent.” 30% will refuse to read any content that doesn’t entertain or educate them. If you are just coming at them with your hand out for a donation, you will miss what they value most: connection. Make them feel special and then engage them with thought provocation, and you can build a long-lasting bond.
This stat isn’t about millennials exclusively, but they would be the most impacted by an organization not having updated digital databases. Email addresses, social media account info, and cell phones are currency nowadays. Each of them has a tangible value, a dollar amount, that can easily be tracked based on the return you get when you use them. Data and analytics are everything in today’s marketing world, and that’s no different when it comes to your alumni organization. If you only have phone numbers and physical addresses, you are missing out on huge opportunities to reach your younger demographic groups. It is necessary to have not only an email address but also at least one social media channel to communicate with your millennials.
Email marketing is still highly effective. 80% of organizations report that email is “very” or “somewhat” effective as a tool to recruit new members. The only disadvantage to email is that you must have the exact email address to target the person you are looking to speak to. With social media and Google advertising, you can use demographics, locations, and interests to find the people you are hoping to locate and market to them right on their phone. If they list your school as their alma mater, you can speak to them through ads. If they are going to the school website to check sports schedules, Google will see that and make sure they see your ads. The possibilities are endless.
Plus, when coupled with an email list, Facebook can turn into a great channel for nurturing members who aren’t participating in activities or donating like they use to. You can get messaging to them that won’t appear to be intrusive and will appear natural on their social media timeline, but can also project images and content that will foster engagement. The tracking metrics are also invaluable. When you mail out a flyer, it can be hard to track the impact that it made unless the recipient completes the call to action. With digital marketing, you can track if they clicked the ad, the pages they visited on the site after they saw the ad, how much time they spent looking at the ad, and what actions they took, even if they didn’t make the final donation or fill out the enrollment form.
Digital marketing is a powerful tool that has an incredible ROI.
If done right, it can change the stream of donations you have coming in and make you better at interacting with your base. You can attract donors to give sooner rather than waiting for them to reach the age where your current strategies find success. Company 119 can build educational websites and implement the strategies that can take your alumni group into the digital age. Contact us today, and let’s start reaching the millennials you’re missing through marketing automation precision!
