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NONPROFIT“CAUSE” DRIVEN
MILLENNIALS:THE UPSIDE FOR
NONPROFITSJason Leo, CPA - Manager,Assurance & Advisory
With the economic doldrums of the past few years limiting the number of job opportunities available for recent college graduates, there has never been a better time for Nonprofit organizations to tap into this workforce. College graduates entering the workforce today are part of what’s known as the “Millennial” generation. The general ideals exhibited by this cohort are frequently in line with the traits that a Non-profit organization seeks in its volunteers and work staff.
Also known as Generation Y, the Millennial generation is believed to span those individuals born in the years 1982 to 2000. They’ve been through September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, the economic reces-sion, the election of Barak Obama to presidency, and most recently the drive for democracy in the Middle East. They have “hovering” parents who’ve played active roles in their education and development. They’ve experienced and taken part in the birth and rise of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. All of these factors have largely contributed to the type of individual that a Nonprofit would love to have: a person who is highly educated, idealistic, cause/experience driven, motivated and technologi-cally savvy.
It is interesting to see that the millennial generation is not solely focused on being financially stable the way their parents were. For millennials, it’s not always about making money. A start for many Millennials’
“CAUSE” DRIVEN MILLENNIALS:THE UPSIDE FOR NONPROFITS
Jason Leo, CPA - Manager, Assurance & Advisory
JUNE 2011
career is driven by the immediate impact they will make to a cause they believe in, and the experience they will have in effecting change. Finishing college and starting the next chapter of life is about self-ex-ploration and finding oneself. What better way to do this than to join a cause and make a difference? An ideal vehicle towards this will be to seek employment with a Nonprofit organization. Thus, it’s in every Nonprofit’s best interest to employ individuals who believe in its mission, and Millennials are a passion-ate bunch who fit this need.
Another plus is their adeptness with technology and social media. As we’ve seen with the recent push for democracy in the Middle East, social media such as Facebook and Twitter can have a large and im-mediate impact towards sending a message and creating change. With the rise of the smartphone and other portable web-based hardware, it’s never been easier to “get the word out”. The Millennial gen-eration has been a driving force behind the development of social media, and the skills that Millennials carry in this area would be well served in a Nonprofit’s goal of communicating its mission and reaching out to a larger audience.
The world is a fast changing place, and to successfully get its message across in a timely manner, Non-profits will have to employ passionate, “cause” driven individuals who are in tune with, and can adapt to, the environment in which they operate on a local, national, and sometimes global scale. For the rea-sons mentioned above, I can’t think of a better group of individuals that fit this bill than Millenials.
Stephen P. Carter - Silicon [email protected]
Lewis Sharpstone - Los [email protected]
Jeff Holt - Los [email protected]
Rob Schlener - Orange [email protected]
