ARI mission supports the position that Autism is treatable. With the funding they raise from donors, ARI supports autism related scientific studies and share the results of these studies with the target audience (e.g., individuals and families living with autism, organizations to support people with intellectual and development disabilities).
Millennials (Born 1982-1996) represent the largest group of people with the buying power in the US. As the millennial generation is approaching its peak in earning years, and that millennials represent the future of most donations. Therefore, Autism Research Institute as a non-profit organization wants to find out how and why millennials support a non-profit organization that they care about. In this research project the following questions are to explored. What are the motivational factors behind millennials’ donation behavior? What triggers them to donate? What type of fundraising campaigns are millennials attracted to? What should a small nonprofit like ARI should be prepared for? How do we get millennials to give to non-profit organizations? What mechanisms, tools, and messages are key factors to attracting donors under 30 to give to nonprofits today?
ARI strength and weakness are as follow. ARI is always constantly seeking better treatment and solution for autism. ARI has connections with numerous leading experts in conducting innovative research that are awarded several hundred thousand in grants to scientists a year.
The weaknesses experienced by ARI are that they have lack of connection with the public and a lack of fundraising methods aimed to millennials and the general public. The ease of Autism.com is very incompetent.
ARI opportunities and threats are as follows. The opportunities presented to ARI should be to make Autism.com more friendly and attractive to all of its users. Also to grab interest now of all millennials volunteered help for future donations and acceptance. ARI has numerous threats in the industry. There are numerous competitive non-profit organizations like National Autism Association, Autism Speaks, and ASE. These other autism non-profit are doing a better job of acquiring donations from millennials and other age groups. Millennia impact report revealed that members of millennials care more about supporting causes than a specific organization.
The questions being asked are to provide an overall better understanding of the research purpose. It is to point out conclusion and how they could be achieved. Primarily exploratory research is for to gain an understanding of underlying reasons and motivations of a particular group. It provides insights into the problem being asked. The quantitative research is for the purpose to accurately solve the problem by way of generating numerical data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is to determine attitudes and behaviors, as well as provides numeric data and generalize results from a larger population consisting of 266 respondents and 172 being millennials.
The reason Millennials aren’t donating would be that a millennial does not have much in the way of disposable income. It’s not a millennial based issue, it’s all about age. Millennials don’t have money lying around to give to charity, and if they do, it’s mostly would be pocket change or small bills. Millennials are also very nervous about nonprofits’ spending. Millennials want to know that all of their donation is going towards the nonprofits’ mission, and want easy access to information that proves the impact of a contribution.
The research method was to collect relevant information for the purpose of research by interviewing millennials born between (1982-1996) and to analyze a survey provided by Autism Research Institute of 266 respondents of 26 question.
The interview lasted between 45-60 minutes and was analyzed in November of 2018. The interview was an important part of the research. It provided important views of an organization’s brand as well as a perspective on certain subject matters. It was an opportunity to listen carefully and receive information about a specific topic. The people in the interview along with the questions being asked change depending on the overall research goals. The interview provided an opportunity to observe Millennials’ attitudes and behaviors, and to capture any importance to autism, to achieve the purpose in finding out the triggering mechanisms, motivational factors in millennials’ donation behavior. This was an example of exploratory research.
The survey of 266 respondents of 26 question provided by Autism Research Institute was to provide feedback and to understand the hidden patterns in millennials donation habits further. It provided important information of the total population. There was 172 Millennials participating in the survey conducted. The Survey was useful in describing the characteristics of a population. This is the only research method that can provide this broad capability, which ensures a more accurate sample to gather targeted results in and conclude with important decisions. This was an example of descriptive research.
The overall themes that I have derived across the interview are that millennials donate but not to an autism organization due to the lack of awareness and the achievements of other organizations. “The only autism organization I have ever heard of is autism speaks, I’ve never heard of autism research institute.” Autism hasn’t reached the millennial as most nonprofits have. Millennial are prepared to donate if there was an easy way to do so through online or social media. It’s the nonprofit responsibility to allow for this ease so that people would donate. “I have donated to non-profit organizations before, but I never donated to an autism non-profit organization. It never came to my attention.”
Millennials prefer to donate online, and not in cash or other ways to a nonprofit organization. Only one of the three have heard of an Autism organization and two of the three would donate to Autism if the awareness was strong enough. All have a self-satisfaction in helping people and all have positive attitudes when donating.
Millennials would like to see how donations affect the cause they supported and would also like to have an easy access to information that proves the impact of a contribution. Being Attached to a particular organization does not initiate millennials to donate. They are more involved about specific causes and helping people as much as they could. That’s a major reason millennials want nonprofits to give them strong evidence that there is a huge impact when they donate. They want regular updates about the overall journey and what was accomplished.
When millennials check a nonprofit’s website, they conduct research on the information about what the organization does and how donations are utilized for the overall goal. They are less involved in the people or the news behind a nonprofit. They only care about the results the nonprofit could present. They do it for the satisfaction that they are making a huge impact and improving lives of many people affected by a cause.
Through the research conducted it is discovered that the most effective way to reach millennial would be on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram/ Twitter, and Email. Facebook is 87% the most effective way to communicate to millennials according to a survey provided by ARI. Millennials grew up using smartphones, laptops, and tablets. For them, constant news and technology has been a part of their lives. Whether they’re keeping in touch with friends or researching nonprofits, millennials rely on social media, websites and search engines, and instant access to mobile technology. It has been established that millennials expect to donate online, and they want the websites and platforms where they give to look sleek and up-to-date with new information regularly. Facebook is the best way to communicate to millennial and is 20% more effective than YouTube.
Top way to donate is online through a computer or phone. Online-Computer 54%, Online-Phone 25%, Online-tablet 7% Total Online 86% Offline-Mail 10% Offline-Phone 4% Total Offline 14%. This tells us that millennials prefer to donate online than any other form of donating. It’s no longer how it was when people would donate through mail or over the phone. It is primarily online because of all the new technology in place. It is recommended that ARI as a nonprofit organization to reach more social media accounts and advertise more online, allowing for an increased search user base and donations. ARI must have websites and platforms that are sleek and up-to-date to allow for the best results. Keeping your nonprofit website, social media platforms, and other information continually updated with relevant information allows millennials to be more awarded of what is happening. Make sure the Donate Now page allows for multiple ways to donate via a credit card, check, online, and/or mobile device. This makes the process easier for millennials and keeps them excited about the organization. And to conclude, allows for user to be able to track donations and progress by email or text message to keep users with new updates and progress.
Donations are the most important financial support that non-profit organizations depend on. Without donations, no nonprofit could achieve its overall goal. To achieve this goal many nonprofits, gain the attention of millennial through social media and networking. This has proven to be a successful measure in ensuring that nonprofits receive a donation. Autism and ARI have not done an excellent job pursuing millennials to donate. As concluded most millennials have not heard of an autism organization and have never attended an event relating to autism research. It’s important for organizations to recognize the differences in how millennials behave, what their preferences are and why these qualities give them an outsized influence on donations.
Millennials are receiving thousands of messages each day and getting involved in multiple-cause advertisements. Millennials are willing to donate to charitable causes, but they desire to do so on their terms, which means embracing easy-to-use, flexible, and accessible donation tools. There is a strong emphasis moving away from traditional ways to online and mobile enabled platforms.
Millennials rely on social media, websites and search engines, and have instant access anywhere.
It is recommended that ARI as a nonprofit organization to reach more social media accounts and advertise more online, allowing for an increased search user base and donations. ARI must have websites and platforms that are sleek and up-to-date to allow current information. Keeping your nonprofit website, social media platforms, and other information continually updated with relevant information allows millennials to be more awarded of what is happening. Make sure the Donate Now page allows for multiple ways to donate via a credit card, check, online, and/or mobile device. This makes the process easier for millennials and keeps them excited about the organization. And to conclude, allows for the user to be able to track donations and progress by email or text message to keep users with new updates and progress as they like to stay up-to-date.
