Caution: you are not your target audience

Not to pour gas on the millennials vs. boomers fire, but if you’re a fundraiser this is important.

Baby Boomers are now the dominant donor demographic in both numbers and dollars. And that isn’t going to change, probably not for 15 years or more.

The wrinkle comes as more and more millennials rise up through the fundraising ranks. Millennials think differently than boomers. Not better or worse, just different. And when it comes to fundraising it’s a difference that matters.

Jeff Brooks, as usual makes the point nicely on this post.

Here is the gist: as we age we rely more heavily on intuition, values and emotion and less on rational thinking. Fewer bullet points. More stories. More evocative photos.

Don’t take my word for it, or Jeff’s. Just don’t fall into the trap of believing that if you don’t like it, it’s bad fundraising. Test. test. test.