5 Tips for Attracting (and Keeping) Millennial Employees

Posted on March 3, 2016October 30, 2018 by Case Foundation

Millennials (those born between 1980-2000) are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce and represent more than one in three workers according to Pew Research Center. And while this generation is growing in size, influence and power within the workplace, many employers, managers and HR departments still find it difficult to recruit and retain next gen talent.

For many leaders at organizations around the country, the challenge is in more effectively engaging Millennial employees and in understanding that their passions, interests and ideas are part of their identity—not just at home or with friends, but also at the office. Through the Millennial Impact Project, we have learned that one key way employers can tap into those interests is by integrating them into the organization’s cause- and service-related issues and projects, which resonate well with this generation. The 2014 Millennial Impact Report, which focused primarily on Millennials’ preferences in the workplace, identified the linkage between a company’s cause-related efforts and the interest of and desire by their Millennial employees to engage in those efforts as part of their employment.

In the newly released report by Achieve titled, “Cause, Influence & the Next Generation Workforce – Six-Month Research Update,” researchers built upon their 2014 and 2015 surveys of Millennials and engagement in the workplace and looked specifically at data on company size and cause work programs as a means to foster workplace engagement. Researchers wanted to know in this six-month update: how participation in company cause work programs are influenced by the existing and structuring of such programs; why companies should consider incorporating cause work initiatives earlier in an employee’s tenure; and the importance of companies preventing participation fatigue. (Note: Reports referenced above are sponsored by the Case Foundation.)

My big takeaway for organizations interested in deeper engagement is that offering service opportunities alone is not enough. Organizations that take their engagement a step further and tailor those opportunities with and for next gen employees are more successful at engaging Millennial employees over the long term.

Based on the findings of this research, here are five practical tips that any team manager or leader who wants to better engage their next gen employees can put into practice—today:

Tip #1: Companies should look to establish service initiatives and volunteer opportunities for Millennial employees—not only to be a socially responsible company, but also to foster a service oriented culture that can align with the employees’ passions and will ultimately help to retain Millennial employees and managers.

Tip #2: Executives and managers should make sure to promote the service-related opportunities and foster awareness about those programs available. This will help to ensure that Millennial employees have the opportunity to be fully engaged.

Tip #3: Consider offering incentives to those who participate in the service-related programs. Make sure that they are incentives that would be appreciated by the employees and managers alike, and are aligned with the service opportunity (e.g., time allowances for staff to volunteer with an organization of their choice).

Tip #4: Consult team members at all professional levels to ensure that the organization’s engagement strategies and offerings resonate with the next gen employees. Suggesting employees donate to an organization selected by the company—without input from the staff—could likely result in disinterested participation and lackluster support from next gen team members.

Tip #5: Engage with employees and involve them early on during their careers with your organization (e.g., orientation or within the first few months). When leaders did not engage employees early on, it often took one to two years for employees to become involved with cause related activities led by the employer.

And finally, as noted in the report: “To truly engage—and retain—their Millennial employees and managers in cause work initiatives for years to come, employers must take the time to learn about what causes employees value, how they want to make an impact, what influences them and what challenges them to continue participating.”

Do you have a tip for how to attract and retain Millennial talent through service related activities? Share it with us on Twitter using @CaseFoundation and #Millennials.

My (too) Close Encounter With Virtual Reality and How it Sparked Imagining VR for Good

Posted on January 21, 2016October 30, 2018 by Case Foundation

In the spirit of learning, one of our staff ordered a Google Cardboard virtual reality (VR) viewer and brought it to a recent staff meeting for us to experience. The story we were watching to test out this new technology was The New York Times’ groundbreaking three-part series on the plight of refugee children, a series that I had previously read about, but had not yet had the chance to view. In “The Displaced,” viewers follow along on the harrowing journey of Chuol, a South Sudanese boy (only two years older than my eldest child).

In my excitement to try out this storytelling tech, I threw my hand up like an enthusiastic fifth grader would. My colleague reached across the conference room table to double check that I was holding the iPhone and VR goggles correctly as I adjusted the headphones and hit play. Immediately I was walking through a room, presumably an intro to the NYT VR series. I looked all around amazed that it really did feel like I was in that room, then the article title came up and I was thrust into Chuol’s story. It felt like I was really there, floating in a roughhewn wooden boat in the middle of a swamp under cloudy skies, and it suddenly hit me that I knew what the surrounding reeds were hiding: women and children in flight from unspeakable atrocities.

My pulse soared, my breath grew instantly shallow, my eyes burned and I began to sob. The virtual reality of Chuol’s actual reality was so vivid that it overwhelmed me. I pulled off the headphones and apologized through tears to my coworkers, some of whom had been trying to capture a fun video to share about our first collective experience with VR. Instead I’m sure they recorded my face unfolding in horror of what I knew lay ahead for that little boy.

It was too close for comfort, but maybe that was the point. My head and my heart were already hooked by the story that had received widespread coverage in the days leading up to this experience and the VR experience sealed it inextricably. I’ll never forget that moment of “seeing” through Chuol’s eyes. Short of a plane ticket and dropping into a conflict zone, the experience could not have been more authentic.

Marketers of all stripes will undoubtedly tap into this possibility of authenticity to attract, engage and retain their target audiences. But my hope is that we will also see VR storytelling as a method to win hearts and minds for good.

The 2013 Millennial Impact Research report found that 70 percent of Millennials are willing to raise money for causes they care about. What better way to capture a broader group of donors than to let them have a virtual experience around a cause? Potential donors could “explore” a pristine marine reserve before it has been destroyed to understand why it matters. “Listening in” on a prognosis meeting for a cancer patient might help articulate the intricacies of fighting that disease. Perhaps hearing a VR testimonial of a client that benefitted from post-incarceration training to land a new job might convey the need to support an effort typically difficult to fund.

Likewise, given the ubiquity of mobile technology around the globe and the exquisite simplicity and lower cost of a cardboard viewer (as one of many VR methods), imagine the possibilities for good beyond donations of money. A business owner in an emerging market could virtually walk the storeroom floor and peer around the globe to get some ideas on how to improve sales rather than examining floor plans; a student could augment their studies of ancient societies by “traipsing” along timeworn streets without needing to afford overseas studies; a homebound person could “climb” treacherous trails to visit impossibly constructed temples on mountain ridges. By using VR, people’s lives could be enriched by having access to knowledge and experience that was previously out of reach.

My incredibly visceral and brief experience with VR was more than enough to convince me of the power of this technology as it begins to enjoy widespread use. I can’t wait to see what the clever do-gooders of the world do next with this medium. Though, next time I strap on a VR viewer I might choose a less heartrending topic.

Interested in using #VR4Good? Share your ideas for this emerging technology with us on Twitter.

Header photo credit: Flickr user Nan Palmero, used via Creative Commons.

Business as a Force for Social Good

Posted on June 29, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was written by J.D. Brady on behalf of the Case Foundation:

At the Case Foundation, we believe impact investing is an excellent example of how business and philanthropy can work hand-in-hand to drive social change. We applaud the work of for-profit enterprises that deliver both a financial and social return, and we encourage investors to support the growth of these companies.

J.P. Morgan’s Nicholas Tedesco is doing just that–creating a bridge between for-profit and non-profit worlds. He joined us at MCON 2015—our annual event that brings together thought leaders from across sectors to explore new ideas regarding engagement with the Millennial generation. As a Senior Philanthropic Advisor in the J.P. Morgan Philanthropy Centre, Nicholas helps clients achieve their philanthropic goals. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Nicholas was with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In that role, Nicholas helped launch the Giving Pledge, an undertaking that encourages the world’s wealthiest people to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic endeavors. To date, nearly 200 philanthropists have signed the pledge.

The Case Foundation sat down with Nicholas to discuss the Millennial generation’s approach to investing, where the impact investing sector is headed and what challenges leaders in the philanthropic space.

CF: How do you see Millennials engaging in philanthropy?

NT: It has been widely talked about that we are in the midst of the greatest wealth transfer in history–-the next generation will inherit an estimated $59 trillion over the next 40 years and are positioned to be some of the most influential donors in history. We are seeing some interesting trends among Millennials with respect to their giving. It is starting earlier: wealth is being made at a much earlier age and on a much larger scale than ever before. And people are looking to give back much earlier. They are taking a venture approach–-they are looking to address large-scale social problems with a more hands-on and results-oriented approach. They are also willing to experiment and test new approaches and are more apt to employ nontraditional methods like impact investing.

CF: What is the most interesting thing that you’ve seen in the last year regarding impact investing?

NT: One of the most interesting things I have seen in the last year is the rise in popularity of social impact bonds. Although they are still largely in their infancy, social impact bonds are gaining traction. Utah is spearheading a program that will bring a lot of attention to the “pay for success” model, as are California and Oregon. Although the model will likely never be widely adopted due to its reliance on the government, it is shedding light on the importance of impact metrics.

CF: Is the impact investing movement growing? Do you think we’re at a tipping point?

NT: I absolutely believe that the impact investing movement is growing–-particularly on the west coast. Its core tenants appeal to younger donors who are eager to tackle longstanding social issues with a multipronged approach. We are also seeing an increased awareness among the business community that social and economic returns do not have to be mutually exclusive and decoupled. I do not think we are at a tipping point (yet). We need a few more years to allow more deals to surface, investments to mature, and thought leaders (like Jean and Steve Case) to inform the general public. Impact investing is still a largely unknown and young movement and people are reluctant to be a pioneer.

CF: What are the greatest challenges philanthropic leaders are addressing today?

NT: One of the greatest challenges philanthropy–-as a discipline–-is facing is how to define and measure impact. Americans gave a record $335 billion to charitable causes in 2013, yet it is hard to quantify the impact of those gifts. There are very few philanthropists who are equipped to adequately assess the yield of their grants–-with a large number of donors simply trusting their grantees to execute a successful strategy. However, we are seeing an increased focus on measurement and evaluation from philanthropists at all levels, and as a result, we are seeing donors who are much more engaged with the organizations that they choose to fund.

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts featuring speakers from MCON 2015. Check back to learn about more innovators and leaders from the private, nonprofit and public sectors. Also, be sure to check out the 2015 Millennial Impact Report.

Reinventing Civic Engagement: A Conversation With Carol Coletta

Posted on June 23, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was written by J.D. Brady on behalf of the Case Foundation:

The Millennial Generation is tech savvy, entrepreneurial and eager to make a positive impact in the world—just like the team at the Knight Foundation. The Knight Foundation works to revolutionize philanthropy each day as they support of quality journalism, engage local communities and ignite media innovation. They believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. This month the foundation released a study focused on Millennial voters and found three-quarters of Millennials cited the biggest obstacle to local voting was a lack of information.

Carol Coletta, Vice President of Community and National Initiatives at the Knight Foundation, understands the importance of informed communities and increasing Millennials engagement. An expert on the development of cities, Carol shared with the Case Foundation her insights on leadership, trends shaping cities and challenges civic leaders face today. We are truly excited to learn even more from Carol during her talk at MCON 2015.

CF: The organization has embarked on several “city learning tours” that expose leaders from Knight to communities. What have you learned from these tours and the cities themselves?

CC: First, leadership in communities can come from unexpected places. There is no longer a leadership formula that is title-bound. You don’t have to have a certain title, including CEO, to shape your city’s future. Leadership is all about who can muster followers. Second, leaders with new ideas shouldn’t fly solo. It’s hard to get anything done. Therefore, we take groups of leaders from a single city on these trips so that they learn together and can reinforce each other when they go home. Typically, too, these leaders are not from a single organization. We like to mix it up with representation across sectors. Leaders from various cities are eager to learn from one another. People get new ideas from their peers in other cities, and then they form their own exchanges.

CF: How can cities increase civic engagement with Millennials in their communities?

CC: Accepting that Millennials are generally not going to engage on institutional terms is key. They aren’t going to show up every Wednesday to pledge allegiance and hear a speaker. So we have to accept that Millennials will reinvent civic engagement on their terms. It will be more informal and more episodic with more immediate and tangible results. We need to do all we can to make it easy for them to engage, including reviewing a lot of out-of-date rules and ways that discourage the kind of action they want to put their energies behind. On the other hand, we need to keep pushing them to turn their episodic efforts into transformational change and not ignore the hard work of governing.

CF: How do you see Millennials engaging in the philanthropic and community development space?

CC: One of the most encouraging trends I see is the move by Millennials back to cities — specifically to the heart of the city. And when they get there, they aren’t content to leave things as they are. They are taking over the streets with bike advocacy and parklets, starting charter schools, fixing up old building, hacking government data, opening small businesses, reinventing gathering spaces. You see it everywhere. For a lot of millennials, philanthropy and community development have mashed up into one thing.

This is the third post in a series of blogs featuring speakers from MCON 2015. Check back to learn about more innovators and leaders from the private, nonprofit and public sectors. Also, be sure to tune in to the livestream of MCON on June 24th and 25.

Millennial Employees & The Power Of Influence

Posted on June 22, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was written by Derrick Feldmann on behalf of the Case Foundation:

Who will you influence?

If you’ve ever had the experience of managing other employees, you understand just how influential (for better or worse) your words and actions can be.

Of course, your colleagues have lives and relationships outside of work, but we spend a significant portion of the day with our co-workers. As supervisors, we yield tremendous potential to influence employees, learn their passions and leverage them to cultivate a more engaged workforce. The question is whether or not we will recognize and use this influence for the benefit of social good.

Last year, I moderated a discussion on corporate social responsibility and Millennial engagement for an event at a large telecommunications company. On stage, I led a panel that included a Millennial employee who had been at the company for two years and her direct supervisor. During the discussion, it became clear to me that the Millennial employee was looking for her supervisor’s approval and encouragement to participate in the company’s cause work. However, the employee’s direct supervisor maintained a passive stance during their responses.

These dynamics made me wonder: Who influences a Millennial employee to participate in a company-wide day of service? What inspires Millennials and their managers to donate through company-sponsored giving? How does the manager’s views on company cause work influence the employees? And what about the CEO?

In last year’s study, we learned that Millennials look to their employer to be active in social good and that company-sponsored cause work helps cultivate a well-rounded, motivated work culture. But we still wanted to know who encourages participation in company cause work. What inspires Millennial employees to move from the point of interest to a place of action?

The purpose of this year’s 2015 Millennial Impact Report is to understand the relationships between Millennial employees and their managers. The average American employee spends 47 hours a week in the workplace. As Millennials increasingly make up the majority of many companies, we have to shape cultures that empower this generation of “do-gooders.”

In our first phase of research, we’ve found that Millennial employees are essentially disrupting the traditional hierarchy of influence. Most companies are modeled on the premise that the highest ranking employee (the CEO) influences participation and culture the most, followed by other executives, managers and then peers. However, our research shows that for Millennials, their managers or direct supervisors influence participation and culture the most when it comes to corporate social responsibility and company cause work.

In fact, peers and direct co-workers are the most likely individuals to influence Millennial employees to participate in company cause work. Managers also influence participation, and direct managers carry much more influence than higher-level executive employees. Over 27 percent of Millennial employees said they are more likely to donate to a cause if their supervisor does; while 46 percent of employees are likely to donate if a co-worker asks them to. Interestingly, only 21percent of Millennial employees said they are more likely to make a donation if the CEO or a top-ranking executive asks them to.

Today, we see influence growing more at the bottom of the hierarchy. A manager’s personal involvement with causes directly impacts engagement for the employees they supervise. Basically, corporate culture and CSR engagement still require executive-level buy-in, but grassroots support is vital all the way down to the peer level if you want to see true involvement.

To get the full report and recommendations from this year’s study, download the 2015 Millennial Impact Report, which will be available for free on Wednesday, June 24.

You can get an advanced copy of the report buy purchasing an in-person Premium Ticket to MCON 2015, happening June 24-25 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Can’t make it to Chicago? Sign up to watch MCON online for free.

Derrick Feldmann is the producer of MCON, the nation’s premier conference on Millennials and causes. He leads the research efforts for The Millennial Impact Project and serves as president of Achieve, a research and creative agency for causes.

The Power of Influence: Get Ready for MCON 2015

Posted on May 21, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was written by Derrick Feldmann on behalf of the Case Foundation:

In 2010, Achieve and the Case Foundation began an effort to understand the dynamics between organizations and a new generation of donors and activists. Together, we established the Millennial Impact Project to fill a knowledge gap that existed in the field: How does the Millennial generation connect, involve and support causes?

This research has helped thousands of organizations and companies reach and activate this generation of do-gooders, but we didn’t want our findings to stay just on paper; we wanted to cultivate a learning experience. That is why we launched MCON in 2012, and it has since grown into the nation’s premier conference on the movements that are improving our world and how the next generation is shaping the work we do in communities across the country.

Year after year, MCON proves to be an unforgettable experience for every online and in-person attendee. Participants come from across the country to discover how the next generation is influencing their world and the way they operate within it. MCON provides the foundation for understanding today’s cause movements and how to move interest in a cause into action for a cause.

In that spirit, MCON 2015 will focus on the concept of influence. Specifically, we will explore the power of influence through “art, media business and place.” In today’s super connected world, we are constantly being influenced to act. This year, we want to understand how these four industries influence people to ‘do good’ and act on behalf of an issue. We will discuss ways to bring people together, activate the next generation and create company and organizational cultures that establish openness, accessibility and transparency.

To help the audience understand the power of influence, we’re gathering an incredible lineup of entrepreneurs, activists, artists and visionaries who are influencing others to ‘do good’.

Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND Snacks, will headline the first night of this two-day conference. Daniel is a pioneering social entrepreneur known in the international community for developing business models that integrate social objectives with sustainable market-driven forces. He founded KIND Healthy Snacks in 2004 with the mission of making the world a little kinder, one snack and act at a time. Today, KIND is available at more than 150,000 retailers and is the fastest-growing snack company in the U.S., and the KIND Movement has inspired nearly a million acts of kindness among its community.

In the art section, we’re highlighting designers and artists whose projects have increased awareness and inspired change. Sarah Urist Green is the creator and curator of The Art Assignment, an educational video series produced by PBS Digital Studios that introduces us to the most innovative minds in art today, practicing alternative approaches to art-making. Designer Stephen Kenn will also present on some of the ideas and works that have made him one of the most sought-after artists of our time.

This year, MCON also features several journalists and media professionals who are experts in highlighting social issues. Peter Koechley, for example, served as an editor for The Onion before co-founding Upworthy. To date, the Upworthy community has dedicated nearly 2 billion minutes of attention to important stories for a better world, ranging from the criminal justice system reform to advertising’s adverse effects on body image to clean energy.

The business session will include social entrepreneurs, companies and leaders who are transforming business models to influence social change. One speaker in this session, Daniel Jae-Won Lee, Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation, will present on how his organization advances pioneering social change in the areas of HIV/AIDS, worker rights and well being, asset building and social justice in communities touched by Levi Strauss & Co.’s business.

The place session features civic and cause activists who are driving community and cultural change. Fagan Harris, CEO and President of Baltimore Corps, an organization dedicated to building a stronger Baltimore by mobilizing a new generation of leaders focused on urban renewal. We’ll also hear from the co-founder and president of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative, Tyson Gersh. Tyson uses urban agriculture as a platform to promote education, sustainability and community to solve some of the social issues currently facing Detroit.

That just scratches what will happen at MCON this year.

You’ll want to attend MCON if you are a:

Cause leader seeking to change the culture of your organization and better engage a new generation of cause enthusiast.
Cause marketer looking to build an effective platform to move individuals from cause enthusiasm to action.
Cause enthusiast looking to embark on a new personal journey of social good that you haven’t yet defined.

Join us at MCON June 24-25 and discover the power of influence. There are two ways to experience this year’s event. Attend in person at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, or you can watch both days of speaker presentations online. Learn more and register at mcon.events.

Meet the MCON14 Be Fearless Pitch It Challengers

Posted on June 19, 2014October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

Congratulations to the MCON14 Be Fearless Pitch It finalists! New this year at the Millennial engagement conference, MCON14, the Case Foundation will host the first ever Be Fearless Pitch It challenge exclusively for Millennial social entrepreneurs. Up for grabs is $2,000, which the winner can use to help turn their idea into a reality. Both in-person attendees as well as live stream viewers will be able to watch all three pitches and vote to help determine the winner. Be sure to cast your vote on June 19 at 10:50 AM CT by tuning into the livestream at www.themillennialimpact.com.

Here’s a special sneak peak about each of the final three organizations—Ecoviate, Give Mob and Scholarships Expanding Education—and how their big ideas embody the Be Fearless principles.

What goals are you working towards at your organization? How would the grand prize from the Challenge help you achieve that goal?

Ecoviate – Our ultimate goal is to eradicate global warming. Sounds crazy, right? We currently have two technologies, the EcoTube and Greenshields, that reduce emissions from transportation and the industrial sector. We are working towards launching our products after an initial pilot phase. So far, we have bootstrapped and hacked our way into prototypes, testing, and a pilot program. The MCON funds will help us remain fearless with our approach and give us the capital to further perfect our design and go-to-market strategy. We are doing this because we want to show the kids of the world that even teenagers can do impactful things in their own lives with limited resources.

Give Mob – At GiveMob we strive to inspire small acts of kindness that anyone, regardless of age, can participate in. We hope to make charitable giving as easy, accessible, and intuitive as possible on mobile. Our goal is to become the primary way individuals discover, explore, and give to nonprofit and charitable causes while on their mobile devices.

Scholarships Expanding Education – When we initially developed the SEE concept, our outlook centered around scaling the platform quickly. It became clear, however, that long-term, sustainable growth will result from exceptional SEE scholarship organizer experiences. Our goal is to have each SEE user come away from their SEE experience saying, “Wow…that was cool. I did something there”. We want to craft philanthropic experiences that are meaningful and personal. We’re willing to trade slower growth, in the short term, for the awesome stories that will emerge from investing in the experience of each user.

What fearless approaches have you implemented in your life/organization?

Ecoviate – We strongly believe that age is not a determining factor to success. The Ecoviate team consists of some of the brightest young minds in the country. We know that our age is not a limiting factor. The beauty of being young is that it gives you room to take risk and be bold with your pursuits. Using our fearless story, we want to show other kids around the world that they too have the ability to build the future that they want to see.

Give Mob – If we were to win the MCON funds, we would put it towards development of Version 2 of our iPhone and Android app. In the past few months, we’ve learned an immense amount about how people are using and interacting with our app, and we know exactly what we need to improve on. We also have a few new features, including location-based giving and offline interactions, that we are exploring.

Scholarships Expanding Education – We came up with the SEE scholarship creation concept in early 2013. We had what we thought was a great idea, a platform where anyone can create a named scholarship in honor of a loved one, but we had no computer programming experience and no money. During that final semester at Wesleyan I decided to teach myself enough computer programming to build a simple prototype that we could use to explain the concept. I would go to forums, copy and paste snippets of code, and pretty much just see what happened. After five months of this, I managed to cobble together a platform that actually worked. The thing was a mess, but it worked. We built up enough courage to launch it at giveandsee.org as a beta-version of our platform and over the past six months, we’ve helped create 20 scholarships that have raised over $15,000. Putting the platform out there was a bit scary, but the experience has been incredible.

Do you have a question to ask these millennial entrepreneurs? Leave a comment or tweet us at @CaseFoundation with the hashtag #MCON14.

____________________

Ecoviate

Ecoviate creates sustainable technologies and empowers others to do the exact same. To see their incredible work, visit www.ecoviate.com

Give Mob

GiveMob was developed with the idea that mobile giving can and should be as seamless and accessible as possible. GiveMob is a charitable giving app for iPhone and Android that allows users to donate a small sum of money ($5-$10) to featured charities through SMS. Visit www.givemobapp.org to learn more.

Scholarships Expanding Education (SEE)

Scholarships Expanding Education (SEE) provides the necessary tools and logistical support for anyone to create, and fundraise for, a named scholarship in honor of a loved one. Anyone can create a SEE scholarship at giveandsee.org.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Millennials

Posted on June 12, 2014October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

The Case Foundation invites you to join us at MCON14—a special convening on Millennial engagement—June 18 and 19, 2014, in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Together, we’ll explore how this fearless generation is redefining issues in our communities, building movements to create change and using their talents and resources to inspire peers.

The four themes we’ll be covering at MCON14 include:

Culture: How organizations and companies can redefine culture in order to build stronger businesses.
Relationships: How technologies build transparent relationships among constituents and consumers.
Movements: How Millennials are using communities and a common purpose to promote change.
Resources: How to use talent and financial resources to build stronger products, services and human centered organizations.

Whether you join us in-person (register) or via livestream (free), you’ll be able to hear unique insights from our own Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation Dale Partridge of Sevenly; Sujean Lee of Chobani; Justin Herman of the Federal government; Paulie Harraka the NASCAR driver; and many more talented changemakers.

You’ll also be one of the first to hear new findings from the 2014 Millennial Impact Report—part of the ongoing Millennial Impact Project. To date, more than 16,000 Millennials and 50 partners have participated in the project to amplify the voices of this generation. This year the report focuses on corporate engagement with Millennials and offers fresh perspectives straight from Millennial respondents.

Can’t make it? Follow along on Twitter at @CaseFoundation and #MCON14 for live updates from the team.

The Case Foundation is the proud Presenting and Founding sponsor of MCON14 and the official Research and Insights partner for the Millennial Impact Project.

How your nonprofit can engage with Millennials

Posted on July 31, 2013November 1, 2018 by Case Foundation

This past July, more than 10,000 young adults, thought leaders, and philanthropists joined us in person and online for the Millennial Impact Conference (MCON13) – a conference hosted by Achieve, the Case Foundation, and the Buckingham Foundation, that explored the expectations of Millennials interacting with issues and organizations they care about. The conference marked the fourth release of the Millennial Impact Report, a comprehensive digest of how this young generation of do-gooders connect, get involved, and give. Our top takeaways from the report outline the importance of nonprofit engagement with this impact and tech-minded group and how we can tap into this next great generation to drive social change.

Engage: The way nonprofits interact and engage with Millennials is changing. It isn’t just about asking for a donation and expecting them to give, but rather asking them to engage in other low-lift methods like spreading the word about a cause through social media or signing a petition.
Going Mobile: Eight in 10 Millennials have smartphones and use those to connect with causes, which means the ways organizations communicate and how must evolve. Nonprofits and foundations should think “mobile first” and explore responsive design and content to optimize their online platforms for the Millennial community to meet them on their playing field. They need to re-imagine their digital presence for the most effective ways to share their mission and success stories.
Word-of-Mouth: Three out of four Millennials like, retweet, or share content on social media. Nonprofits can capitalize on this and create easy ways for their followers to spread information about issues and organizations they care about. Three out of four respondents also expressed an interest in joining nonprofit young professionals groups; this is an opportunity for charities to create networking and educational events for this demographic.
Collaborate: Milllennials tend to share information about preferred causes instead of specific organizations. One of our Be Fearless principles here at the Case Foundation is to “reach beyond your bubble” and embrace collaboration, a key element for reaching the masses. When nonprofits partner with each other, businesses, and government, their message grows stronger, they garner more attention to their cause, and they grow their supporter base.
Be Authentic: Hype and jargon no longer drive action. Philanthropies need to humanize their voice in the digital world and avoid trying to manipulate their readers through emotional visuals or words. Try using straightforward communications that clearly define the mission, the issue being addressed, and how a potential supporter can make a difference.
Embrace Email: Twenty years ago, when our founders Steve and Jean Case were building AOL, most of the world had never heard of “email.” They worked to bring America online and revolutionize the way people communicated and shared information. Today, email is still paramount and Millennials are using the preverbal “old school” method to learn more about brands and causes that interest them. This is an opportunity for organizations to design and drive action with email in mind – such as using plain text messages and optimizing images for smartphones and email clients.
Be succinct: “#Millennials are a generation speaking in 140 characters, watching 6 sec. @VineApp & @SnapChat videos. Learn to speak in Milllennial.” Now go tweet that!
Use Visuals: With new platforms like Pinterest and Instagram emerging as top players in the social community space, nonprofits have new channels for storytelling. In addition to educating your community on the basics, there are many opportunities for sharing impact through photos, videos, infographics, and even the infamous animated GIF. Some of the most shared and liked posts on Twitter and Facebook are rich media content.

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