BIG’s Blog: Boomers are the Tween Generation

As far as nonprofit fund raisers are concerned, there are five major generational cohorts in the United States today:

• Depression Cohort - Born 1912 to 1921
• World War II Cohort - Born 1922 to 1945
• Baby Boomer Cohort - Born 1946 to 1964
• Generation X Cohort - Born 1965 to 1980
• Millennial Cohort - Born after 1980

The Boomers are the “tween” generational cohort, born “between” the Depression and WWII cohorts and the Gen X and Millennial cohorts. Both the Depression and WWII older cohorts (with an age span of 65 to 98) are decreasing in number. Gen Xers (ranging in age from 30 to 45) are moving into their most productive years, while the Millennials (age 30 and under) are the largest U. S. generational cohort and whose numbers are rapidly swelling in the marketplace.

The Boomers connect with the Depression and WWII cohorts in that the vast majority of their lives where spent in the non-digital analogue world of newspapers, magazines and broadcast radio and TV.

But the Boomers also connect with the Gen Xers and Millennials in that their entire lives growing up after WWII has been about adapting to increasingly rapid technological change, especially in the marketplace of the last twenty years.

The Millennials lead all living cohorts in adapting to the digital world followed closely by the Gen Xers. But surprisingly, the Boomers are close behind. However, recent Pew Research reports that the gulf that separates the Boomers adoption of digital technology from the WWII and Depression cohorts is significant.

For fund raisers, the good news about the Boomers is that like the Depression and WWII generation, their habits were developed in the analogue world which means they are still accepting of analogue communication media.

What does this mean for established nonprofit fund raisers who have an outsize dependence on direct mail? Simply this: it means that you have a window of opportunity.

Question: An opportunity for what?

Answer: An opportunity to develop online and digital-based capabilities for the Gen X and Millennial cohorts before your direct mail generated fund raising begins its inevitable decline.

The first Boomers turn 65 this year.

How long do you think you have?

-Mike

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