When It Comes To Giving, Baby Boomers Remain Most Generous
There may be more than one reason Generation X is dubbed the Forgotten Generation. According to a Giving USA survey, they are being surpassed by their younger counterparts — millennials — when it comes to charitable giving. However, baby boomers surpass everyone.
While millennial donors had already surpassed Gen X in terms of giving by 2021, the margin has continued to grow. In 2024, millennial donors gave $1,616 annually on average, while Gen X gave just $1,371.
The oldest generation included in the survey, baby boomers, contributed far more than the others — an annual average of $3,256, twice the rate of the second-place millennials. The youngest generation included in the workforce, Gen Z, donated an annual average of $867.
This is the third survey about generational giving patterns conducted by Giving USA and Dunham+Company, along with the research firm Campbell Rinker. Results are based on responses from 1,500 donors who gave at least $20 to charity last year. The first report was released in 2016, and the second in 2022.
The increased giving by millennials might be connected to their increased interest in religion. Forty-three percent say they attend religious services in person every week or nearly every week. Gen Z has the highest percentage attending religious services, at 50%. Only about 30% of Gen X and boomers are faithful in attending religious services weekly.
“The level of spirituality among younger people is higher than among the older generations right now,” Rick Dunham, chair of Dunham+Company, told The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “We really saw a pretty dramatic shift in attendance by boomers post-Covid. What’s really interesting is that their level of participation went down, and then it stayed down.”
While those among Gen Z are giving the least in donations presently, they are the most eager to increase their donations. They are three times as likely as boomers to say they plan to increase their support for churches and other places of worship. Only 9% of boomers plan to increase their giving to churches in the coming year, while 29% of Gen Z is likely to give more.
All generations are most likely to give donations to places of worship. However, the second most likely recipient varies by generation. Second place for boomers is education, for Gen X and millennials is faith-based organizations, and for Gen Z is health and medical groups.
What Gen X doesn’t give in money, they make up for with volunteer time. Gen X is most likely to volunteer, giving an average of 39 hours a year to charitable causes. Boomers and millennials give about 30 hours per year, and Gen Z was last, volunteering 26 hours a year.
“I think that’s probably just related to aging and Gen Xers having a little bit more time on their hands,” Dunham said.
The most effective form of solicitation for donations varied by generation as well. Boomers are most responsive to direct mail, while millennials and Gen Z are more likely to give a donation based on content found on a charity’s website or on social media.
This article has been republished with permission from Ministry Watch.
Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.