Gen Z Donors Aren't a Code to Crack
There's a piece making the rounds in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that's worth your time. Written by Noah Huseman, a Gen Z fundraiser himself, it walks through six myths nonprofits believe about his generation, from "just be active on social media" to "make giving feel like a subscription", and explains, from the inside, why each one misses. It's sharp, funny, and refreshingly honest.
It also got us thinking about the bigger pattern underneath all six myths. Because the mistakes nonprofits make with Gen Z aren't really about TikTok or memes or subscription models.
They're about a deeper misunderstanding of what this generation actually wants. Here's how we'd frame it.
The real problem: treating Gen Z as a code to crack.
Most of the energy nonprofits spend on Gen Z goes toward finding the trick, the right platform, the right format, the right tactic that will finally unlock this mysterious generation. Huseman's piece quietly dismantles that whole premise. There is no trick. The organizations that struggle with Gen Z are usually the ones looking for a shortcut instead of a relationship.
They can tell when you're performing.
The thread running through every myth Huseman names is authenticity. Gen Z grew up online, which means they've spent their whole lives being marketed to, and they've developed a finely tuned sense for when something is genuine and when it's a tactic. Inflated "join the movement" language, manipulative suggested-donation defaults, a meme deployed by someone who clearly doesn't get it, all of it reads as performance. And performance is the fastest way to lose them.
Over-personalization backfires.
This is the counterintuitive one worth sitting with. For years, fundraising best practice has said: personalize everything. But Huseman points out that to a Gen Z donor, a heavily auto-filled email doesn't signal "we know you." It signals "we have a database." He even describes younger donors changing their names in university records just to catch when they were being auto-populated rather than genuinely contacted. The lesson isn't to personalize more. It's to be real, a plain-text note that sounds like a human beats a polished template every time.
What actually works is also the least trendy.
Here's the part that should be freeing rather than discouraging. If there's no silver bullet, then you can stop chasing one. As Huseman concludes, Gen Z wants what most donors want regardless of age: to support something meaningful, aligned with their values, and to be genuinely recognized for it. That's not a generational quirk. That's just good donor relations. The organizations that connect with Gen Z aren't the ones with the cleverest social strategy. They're the ones being honest about their impact, transparent about where the money goes, and human in how they say thank you.
Gen Z isn't a code to crack.
They're a generation that can spot inauthenticity instantly and rewards the organizations willing to drop the tactics and be real. Which means the work of reaching them isn't so different from the work of reaching anyone: tell the truth about your impact, treat people like people, and mean it.
For the full, first-person take, Huseman's original piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy is well worth reading. You can find it here.
If you're rethinking how your organization builds relationships with the next generation of donors, we'd love to help. Access Philanthropy advisors offer free 30-minute conversations, no forms and no pressure. Reach out at hello@accessphilanthropy.com or complete the form here.
