Lee Fox, founder of KooDooz and one of our Ideation Conference Speakers, was recently interviewed by Bloganthropy for its article, “9 Expert Tips for Teaching Children About Giving and Volunteering.” As she shared some of her innovative approaches to connecting and mobilizing youth, Bloganthropy asked her to share some of her insights as written in the following article.
Generation Z Tweens
For more and more American families, volunteering has grown from a seasonal act of giving, to a year-round tradition.
Largely prompted by kids facing unequal opportunities for civic engagement, tweens (the 8-14 year olds in particular), are “mashing-up” new ways they can use their passions to serve a cause. Demographically distinct from any other generation, the majority of today’s American tweens are Gen Z kids born to Gen X parents.
This is significant in so much as it characterizes the families’ inter-generational trait of shared experiences revolving around social technology and social good. Such a convergence has not graced any other generational pairing.
Youth Activists
At their fingertips, kids have the same tools as their adult-counterparts to “activate” themselves as agents of change. In reaction to what they perceive is wrong in the world, tweens are going above and beyond the structure of school and scouts to have individual impact. Thankfully, mainstream media has reported some of the “do-it-yourself” youth stories by highlighting:
- 11-year old Olivia Bouler (who has used her artistic skills to raise $200,000 for the Audubon Society); and
- 12-year old Zach Bonner (who has walked tens of thousands of miles across these United States to raise funds and awareness for homeless youth).
By and large, however, the efforts of most pint-sized philanthropists (kids under the age of 14), largely goes unnoticed.
Collective Potential
On the surface, an individual kid’s donation of a few hundred dollars, or a few hundred hours of service, does not seem all that significant. But it’s the collective potential of tweens on which mainstream channels should focus. According to the 2008 Just Kid Inc. study:
- 91% of kids (6-14 yrs) are interested in and care deeply about helping others
- 74% said they participate in voluntary or charitable programs because “it makes me feel good inside”
- 58% of surveyed kids showed a passion and desire for helping others, choosing philanthropic actions like giving up a Saturday to help the less fortunate, over more directly self-fulfilling choices like watching TV or playing video games.
Charity and Disposable Income
Beyond the very altruistic “Z traits,” it’s important to note that no previous generation has had so much disposable income. With an average weekly allowance of $12-dollars each, American tweens collectively have a $43-to-$51 billion annual spending power. In addition, these kids have “considerable sway” over another $170-billion dollars that are spent by their parents and family annually.
Considering that each year, American households contribute roughly 75% of all charitable donations (which equated in 2009 to $227.41 billion dollars), how the non-profit community engages with moms and their tween kids, is key. Today’s socially conscious youth are extraordinarily good a tugging mom’s purse strings, so their potential to influence household charitable donations has to be taken thoughtfully.
Brand Passion
Be it for-profit, profit-for-purpose or non-profit, tweens have a deeply passionate relationship with brands. They love brands that take a stance, have a mantra, benefit humanity, or just give off a vibe that aligns with their world views. Likewise is true for moms, a recent study from Cone (a leading cause marketing firm) revealed that:
- 95% of moms find cause marketing acceptable; and
- 92% want to buy products that support causes
Empowering Youth
Sadly, only a handful of programs in the United States are pioneering efforts to involve young people as philanthropists. The majority of our organizations continue to treat youth as slacktivists – capable only of minimal personal effort in somewhat pointless feel-good activities. That awareness bracelets like “I ♥ Boobies” can rival the popularity of silly-bandz is relevant, but how many cancer-concerned organizations are actively partnering with youth who are passionate about the same issues? For example:
- After losing a close friend to a brain tumor, three elementary school friends (12 years and under) founded Pink Polka Dots Guild. In the last 4 years, they have raised a quarter of a million dollars and recruited more than 40 other tweens to their kid-run organization;
- At the ages of 10 and 12 two sisters established Hives For Lives, a social enterprise purposed to fund cancer research through the sale of honey. To date they have donated more than $170,000;
- Cupcakes For Cancer was started when Blake was just 13 years old. Now 2 years later, people across the nation have enlisted themselves to be “Cupcake Angels,” baking scrumptious treats, selling them and then sending the money to Blake’s organization for cancer research.
The complexity of humanitarian issues addressed by non-profit and social enterprise organizations does not have to forfeit youth involvement. In many cases, heralding youth micro actions will have mega impact.
Tomorrow’s winners will be those organizations that find ways to make tweens true stakeholders – let them contribute with “a touch of me” – and be part of your brand destiny.
Written by Lee Fox, Founder of KooDooz
