The Younger Audience: 
Don’t Let Your First Date Be Blind

by Billy Vaudry

Coffee BreakThese days it seems all conversational roads with development directors lead to one destination:  reaching that “younger audience.”  Lot of talk.  Little action.  Understandable since “younger” is relative compared to the 65+ female who is believed to populate files across the U.S.  But you can expand your reach across the great generational divide if you follow three simple steps:

First, make sure your target audience is well-defined.

  • Baby Boomers are the generation of Americans who were born in a “baby boom” following World War II. The Boomers were born between 1944 and 1964.
  • Generation X is people born after the baby boom ended, extending from the early-to-mid 1960s to late 1970s.
  • Generation Y, also known as The Millennial Generation (Millennials) or as Generation Next, is most commonly defined as those born in the late 1970s to mid 1990s.

Second, establish your goals. While an acceptable goal among Baby Boomers would be fundraising, it is more likely that you would engage Millennials on a different level – say activism or participation in an event.

Third, focus your tactics. You stand a good chance reaching Baby Boomers with direct mail and email, but would most likely want to add social networking to the mix for your Gen Y targets.

Have you had success reaching a younger audience?  I’d love to hear how you did it. Post your comments below and I’ll get back to you.

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