But our donors are old

Our donor base is… old.

Reluctantly, many fund-raising professionals confess the truth. The names in the database come from an aging population. There aren’t as many young people in the mix as they would like. And this, perhaps, is a reason why social network fundraising won’t work for their organization.

It may, in fact, be that a failure to use social networking tools is one reason why the donor base is aging. Honestly, when was the last time you wrote a friend who lives at some distance a letter and mailed it as a way of staying in touch? It doesn’t happen much anymore. We pick up the phone, e-mail or remain in touch through social networking sites. But non-profits, for some reason, continue to send traditional mail to court donors as if the 18^th century marked the high point of fund-raising technology.

Then, too, there is an underlying and false supposition regarding older populations and their relationship with technology. While it is true that, at least according to most sources, many people age 65+ do not have internet access, it is also the case that a growing minority do. Some attribute the growth in older people accessing e-mail and social networking sites in particular to a desire on the part of grandparents to remain in touch with their grandchildren in college. Retired constituents are increasingly tech-savvy and many non-profits will find themselves surprised at how quickly their “aging donor base” have taken to the ‘net.

The social network fund-raising provides an unequaled tool for donor acquisition. Your supporters can lend their personal credibility to your organization by opening their social network to you. These new donors will have arrived through the internet and thus increase the number of individuals with technological savvy available to you. Cycle through this process a few times, and any concerns about the ability of your donor base to participate should be allayed.

The only thing standing between non-profits and reaching out to a new generation of philanthropists is a willingness to adapt the means to the times.