It’s been a mantra for at least two decades now, probably more, among those who promote volunteer engagement: we must do a better job engaging young people!
And, yet, managers of volunteers, as well as consultants who try to help them, seem to avoid spaces, online or onsite, where they could cultivate these younger volunteers.
Reddit is a good example. As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited web site in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook, with less than 1% of Reddit users being 65 or over. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Most of the niche online communities I’m a part of are overwhelmingly female; that’s why I use Reddit, to provide some gender balance in my online life regarding nonprofits, community development, volunteerism, etc. It also helps me understand what people outside of the nonprofit, volunteerism and humanitarian worlds are saying about nonprofits, volunteering and humanitarian issues.
The community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism has reached 10,000 members. I did a poll last month, trying to get an idea of member ages. Just 262 responded, not even a 3% return. But I do think it’s a representative sampling, and it clearly shows that almost 60% of the members are 18 to 28, and 36% are either 30 to 49 or under 18.
I regularly ask colleagues to answer a question or offer advice on the community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism. I regularly ask organizations like VolunteerMatch and the Points of Light Foundation, via Twitter, to post their announcements there. They never do. Here is an audience of young people asking questions about how to volunteer, how to do specific types of volunteering, how to make their volunteering more sustainable or effective, and I can’t get the people claiming to want to reach young people to, well, reach them.
Also see:
- The Nonprofit & NGO Guide to Using Reddit.
- Reddit controversy is a lesson in working with volunteers.
- Contributing to online communities can help you professionally.
- How to handle online criticism of your organization.
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This is a very relevant point – organizations must meet young people/donors where they are at! My capstone project talks about how nonprofits must integrate digital fundraising communication into the overall fundraising strategy, a big section of which talks about how to meet young donors where they are online, and how to build those relationships with them.
I will start to look into Reddit more to see if it would be a useful outlet for my organization, a transportation management association… perhaps this is a great way to reach out and connect with those interested in sustainable travel options and air quality practices!
It is so interesting as our organization majorly struggles to recruit a younger base of volunteers. We often talk about engaging a younger population but can’t determine how to do go about doing it. I think Reddit is a really interesting platform to do that but I believe our organization will struggle to grasp the concept of using it. If it’s not Facebook, it’s a struggle to be a used tool.