Most charities may still be reeling from the negative publicity the sector has attracted over the past year but they have a new set of fans in the form of Generation Zers – that’s the under 16s to most of us – whom, it has been claimed, like nothing more than receiving direct mail from third sector organisations.
That is according to a new study by Wilmington Millennium, which found that just 6% of those under 16 believe that charities have been irresponsible with their direct mail targeting in comparison to the mean consensus of 20%.
But they are also an unforgiving bunch, with that age group being the most likely to boycott an organisation if they discovered it had sent poorly targeted mail, for example to people that had passed away or moved house.
The study also chimes with recent Royal Mail MarketReach research which revealed that youngsters value direct mailings but rarely get them.
According to this Wilmington Millennium, Generation Z were found to receive the least amount of direct mail – five pieces per week in comparison to the average eight pieces and receive the most amount of non-personally addressed ‘Dear resident’ mail.
They also believe that a piece of direct mail explicitly addressed to them is worth opening – 50% compared to the average of 19% – and have the highest open rate. They are also the least likely group to throw away a piece of direct mail, that is addressed to them, unopened.
Wilmington Millennium director Karen Pritchard said: “Understandably many organisations, charities included, overlook Generation Z as their spending power is significantly less than their older siblings, parents and grandparents.
“In the case of charities, it is well know that older people are more likely to donate than younger people, but it is worth remembering that Generation Z’s potential lifetime value is stronger than Millennials and Baby Boomers. However, a word of warning – as indicated by the research – it is crucial that charities ensure their data is as clean as possible or they risk alienating this potentially lucrative, untapped demographic.”
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