Chapter 2: Nonprofit Challenges and Trends

I found the texts discussion about Millenials quite interesting. It is a remarkable feeling to read about yourself, or at the very least, the assumptions that others have about you, in a textbook for school. It felt like the feeling you get when you look in the mirror for too long and start to wonder, who am I really? But I liked it. I didn’t agree with all of what they had to say, but I did with most of it and hey- every person is different.

Since this book is about how non profits should reform their organizations to be more open and willing to work with outsiders, I think that it would be daft to not look at Millenials and how they will influence nonprofits from today on.

Personally, I would consider us, Millenials, more of an asset to nonprofits today than a “potential fatal blow to the large, ongoing membership donor bases for traditionally organizations.” I agree with the text’s assertion that we are much more fluid, we donate and work for causes sporadically when they ring true to our lives. However, there is more to helping a nonprofit than by giving them money and time. Millenials can do what they do best- use the Internet to spread awareness about causes that speak to them. Although nonprofits cannot always control what is being said about their organization, when it is something positive and constructive it is authentic because it is coming from a third party. The more people genuinely involved in spreading the word about a cause, the funding and volunteer time an organization will ultimately get.

An added bonus? Millenials will do all of this at no cost to the nonprofit, social media is free!

---