We’ve been talking about millennial, Gen X, and Gen Z donors for nearly a decade. We knew they were coming, and we spent hours thinking about what to do with them and what their impact would be on healthcare philanthropy.
It’s time to stop just thinking and start building and implementing thoughtful donor-centered strategies because these donors have arrived—and they’re already making their mark.
Giving USA, now in its 70th year, continues to be one of the most comprehensive, influential, and informative annual assessments of fundraising in the U.S. The 2025 report lays out the most current themes and trends in giving across all sectors, and many of those are shaped by donors aged 45 and younger. Here’s a look at how this research can and should shape healthcare fundraising in the coming year and beyond.
Key Giving USA 2025 Themes
- Giving to human services and public benefit is growing. This highlights the interest of younger donors in giving to causes and missions more than institutions themselves as their parents did.
- Total donor dollars rose but the number of gifts declined. Young donors are not filling the void of the exceptionally large and now declining baby boomer generation of donors—the largest generation in history. What does that mean for decreasing donor counts, especially at the base of the giving pyramid? Still, millennials as the largest young donor group have increased their giving by 40% from 2016 to 2022, indicating hope for continued growth in dollars raised.
- Bequests are declining and fewer people have wills. Younger donors are using other methods of giving and wealth transfer, such as Donor Advised Funds (DAFs).
- The great wealth transfer refers to the projected shift of wealth, from the baby boomer generation to younger generations and charities. This change is already taking place. What does that mean for donor stewardship?
- Younger donors are more data and technology savvy, pointing to the impetus to grow data usage and AI strategies for donor engagement.
How These Themes Impact Your Strategy for Healthcare Fundraising Growth
- A Shift in Donor Priorities: Baby boomers and those older than them tended to be institutionally loyal; they believed in the importance of giving to “their hospital.” They wanted to support the mission to advance care in their community and were comfortable giving to what the hospitals determined was “the greatest need.” Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z donors are more focused on specific impact, whether that be special projects, programs, or initiatives that make a clear difference with measurable outcomes. This will continue to drive the trend in healthcare toward mini-campaigns (often service-line specific), as well as comprehensive campaigns that encompass new care initiatives and programs, workforce development, and workplace safety, in addition to the perennial capital needs of every hospital and health system.
- Donor Count Declines: The decline in the number of gifts was somewhat inevitable given the tremendous size of the baby boomer generation, which outnumbers the younger generations. What is more significant is that the amount of dollars donated has not decreased, demonstrating the willingness of younger generations to give and give generously. In fact, millennial giving increased by 40% from 2016 to 2022. Although they are not yet near the stage of life for optimal philanthropic support due to the financial pressures of raising young families, school loans, and other commitments, younger donors have demonstrated an interest in giving and now is the optimal time to get their attention. One challenge in attracting these donors to healthcare giving has been their youth and relatively good health, meaning they are less likely to need significant care. We need to evolve our messaging to demonstrate our relevance to these donors as to how we are caring for their aging parents and making advancements in geriatric care or how we are improving care for their children with pediatric initiatives. Engaging these generations now and implementing strong donor engagement strategies will yield meaningful fundraising results down the road.
- Waning Giving Through Bequests: The decline in bequests from traditional vehicles such as wills and trusts indicates another difference with our younger donors. They are open to and interested in other, and newer, methods of wealth transfer and charitable giving as demonstrated by the rise in DAF giving. It is vital to develop and grow strong relationships with local community foundations (where many donors keep their DAFs), as well as financial advisory firms that house DAFs such as Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, and others. We need to optimize how we articulate to these influencers the vital healthcare needs that depend on philanthropic funds. Examples of these areas include behavioral health, clinical research, care for the underserved, and care differentiators such as nurse navigators and child life specialists that are not supported through insurance reimbursements.
- The Next Generation: As wealth is transferred to the next generation, it marks the need for enhanced focus on stewardship, donor conversations around multi-generational gifts (involving two or more generations in a giving discussion with related donor recognition), and strategies to engage the next generation in meaningful ways. Healthcare has a unique opportunity over other sectors as we represent nonprofit organizations that uniquely touch everyone from cradle to grave. This makes our prospect pools larger than most, and we can demonstrate generational impacts of giving that keep a family connected through this shift. Donor engagement has never been more important or more complex, more multi-faceted, and more important in moving the needle.
- Harnessing Technology: Younger donors are more data and tech savvy than their predecessors, and in a post-pandemic era, technology is becoming more “normal” in how we care for our patients. Telehealth usage and capabilities increased exponentially during and after the COVID pandemic, and this trend is continuing. All of this bodes well for the effectiveness and value of enhancing multiple channels of donor engagement, such as social media, online giving strategies, enewsletters, and more. Now is the time to engage fundraising experts who can help you grow your understanding of AI tools like BWF’s DonorAI and the most current methods for optimizing your data to connect with donors and prospects.
It’s Time to Start Engaging the Next Generation of Donors
From a global perspective, the trends connected to millennial, Gen X, and Gen Z donors are promising, and their impact is likely to increase significantly over the next three decades. How will you and your team rise to meet the needs of current and upcoming donor generations and capitalize on the associated opportunities? How will you adapt and expand your messaging related to how you care for your community, and how will you evolve your engagement strategies to optimize your fundraising results and growth? There is no time to wait. This is the year to further refine and devote increased resources to cultivate these younger donors. They have arrived and are ready to give.
