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Wealthy millennials may be changing the world of philanthropy after a recent survey found that more are labeling themselves as benefactors than their older counterparts.
The survey conducted by Fidelity, the asset manager, had 4,000 participants who gave at least $1,000 to charity in the previous year. The survey results showed 35% of Baby Boomers defined themselves as “philanthropists,” 48% of Gen X did and 74% of Millennials used the label.
Millennials are between the ages of 25 and 40 and are known to be more influenced by technology than their elders and often make philanthropic decisions due to social media campaigns and use digital platforms to donate.
Fidelity’s poll only covers people wealthy enough to make donations; however, many other polls reflect a similar shift of mindset, including a 2019 poll by Morgan Stanley that showed 95% of millennials supported sustainable investment, compared with 85% of all investors.
Gillian Tett, a reporter at the Financial Times, said this attitude shift suggests that millennials have less tunnel vision when talking about “finance,”’ “politics” and “social issues.”
“Instead, their sense of the economy is interconnected, not least because they do not treat an issue like the environment as a mere ‘externality’ to an economic model, as it was in the 20th century,” Tett said.