Yesterday, the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg made a passionate and emotional address at the United Nations Climate Change Summit, demanding immediate action to combat climate change. Her speech was the culmination of months of global climate activism she has spearheaded, catalyzed by her FridaysforFuture strikes, and demonstrated recently in an emissions-free sail across the Atlantic. She also led the Gen Z-led global climate strike last Friday, September 20th, where hundreds of thousands of people around the world came together to protest against government inaction on climate change.
In Boston, thousands of people gathered in City Hall Plaza in Boston demand action from Governor Charlie Baker. The size and fervor of the crowd encapsulated the frustration and anxiety felt by locals of all ages, but it also showed just how powerful Gen-z’s voice is proving to be.
For nonprofits and socially responsible organizations, it’s important to not leave Generation Z out of audience engagement strategies. Your communication plan should effectively target and pique the interest of this fiery generation. Here are some tips for how to get their attention and keep it:
They value clarity.
This generation is fired up – about climate change, about racism, and about sexism. They’ve grown up watching their peers be leaders in global movements – the Parkland Five, Greta Thunberg, Bana Alabed, etc. They want to be involved with change-making institutions in a big way, and want to dedicate their time and money to do this. The teenagers who organized and led the protest on Friday did not beat around the bush by any means, calling out the Baby Boomer generation and demanding the Green New Deal.
To gain their time, be clear about what you are asking of them. Vague, fancy descriptions of community events won’t be as effective with this generation. Show them the change they can create and follow through with helping them create it. Do this quickly though – they have a very short attention span and will lose interest if messaging is too long.
They don’t need a lecture.
Particularly if your mission has to do with education, climate change, or racial injustice, by-and-large Gen Z already cares. This means that your messaging should be less about explaining why someone should pay attention to the issue, and focus more on what they can do about it. Your job is just to show them how they can make the impact they are genuinely interested in making.
Based on the sheer number of young people who potentially defied teachers and parents by leaving school to go protest, this generation really cares about the issues facing our species and society today, and they are willing to do something about them. Make it easy for them to do so.
They care about diversity.
More than any other generation before, Gen-Z takes notice of the diversity of representation (or lack thereof) in any situation. Beyond that, they recognize the value of having a diverse makeup of voices in any debate. Leaders and figureheads of all backgrounds and races spoke at the protest on Friday, and a good portion of it focused on the lack of indigenous representation in climate change conversations.
Make sure that the people and/or events you are putting forward in your messaging are diverse, whether in race, gender, or sexual orientation. Your organization will benefit in more ways than one.
They will social everything.
Gen-Z spends an inordinate amount of time on social media. At Friday’s protest there were more cell phones than signs being held up in the air. Use Gen-Zs’ social media expertise to disseminate your content and programming far and wide. If there is any way to make your art opening or community event or 5k seem like a good social media opportunity, do it. The media world is turning towards visual, and Gen-Z is no different.
Social media is also how you can reach them. The 2017 Global Trends in Giving report stated that about two thirds of Gen-Z donated to a charity after seeing a posting for it on social media. It is worth investing in paid social media campaigns to reach this social media-loving generation.
This generation is proving to be an influential one. I predict that they will play a larger role in nonprofits and social issues than any generation before. It’s prudent for organizations to begin developing strategies to reach them and engage them from a young age.
