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Millennials refer to the demographic cohort that was born between 1981 and 1994/6. In this day and age, there are a lot of negative stereotypes that are associated with millennials. In particular, many people believe that millennials are lazy, selfish, inappropriate, and unprofessional individuals who do not have much respect for authority, love being the center of attention, and want a trophy for everything they do.

However, Generation X and the baby boomers are not exactly right about millennials. These older generations simply do not see the whole picture. As a matter of fact, millennials care a lot about other people, love giving back to their communities, and contribute to worthy causes. With their unique way of thinking, millennials are currently changing philanthropic activities as societies know it.

With the prevalence of laptops, tablets, and smartphones, millennials spend a lot of their time in the digital world. For these reasons, when it comes to donating to a cause, millennials prefer to perform their philanthropic activities online. Consequently, a substantial number of organizations are now using Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook in order to connect with millennials to increase the number of donations.

In addition to being digitally connected, millennials also love sharing information with other people. Whether it is a relationship status, food content, memes, or inspirational quotes, millennials have definitely embodied this day and age’s culture of I share, therefore I am. This also remains true when it comes to charitable giving. If millennials genuinely care about a specific cause, they will definitely donate and share it with as many people as they can.

Millennials also care a lot more about results than the organization or institution itself. Millennials love causes that inspire people. They value tangible results and want to see what the non-profit institution produces rather than the cause’s ideas or people.

In addition to results, millennials also care a lot about authentic stories. Millennials want to relate and feel a connection with the cause they are donating to as well as the stories of those they aided. Also, millennials value transparency and do not appreciate organizations that say the right things in order to sound solid. That being said, organizations are now trying to be very transparent. They are showing how the money being given is being utilized and how issues are being solved as a result.