Giving Trends
Would you consider yourself a generous person? How about your generation? Do you think they’re generous as a whole?
As part of their research into A New Era of Giving, Barna recently released an interesting report about how the different generations view themselves (and each other) when it comes to generosity.
In general, survey respondents feel as though society is about as generous as it ever was. However, opinions are divided when it comes to the younger generation.
More than half of Boomers feel that young adults are less generous than older generations. Millennials and Gen Z disagree.
Why This Matters
Generosity is the quality of being kind or generous, but when people think about what generosity means, they often think of a specific dollar amount and compare their “generosity capacity” to others.
Barna points out the importance of remembering there are many natural reasons why younger adults feel as though they cannot support organizations at the same financial level as older adults.
- They’re in a stage of life where they have little disposable income and feel like it’s difficult to donate large amounts
- Typically, they’re pursuing higher education, are in early stages of professional life, or are not yet financially independent
- They have not yet acquired the resources, experiences, and disciplines older adults have
It’s also important to note that generosity isn’t limited to finances. While Millennials and Gen Z adults may not have as many financial resources to donate, they are more generous with their time than older generations.
Next Step
It will benefit organizations to create pathways for younger generations to express their generosity in ways they are able, until they have the financial capacity to donate at the same level as the older generations.
To learn more about this research report, and its findings, click here.
Photo from Canva.