Youth belonging to Generation Z were born in and after 1998. The oldest of Gen Zs are currently entering college and finishing high school. Raised predominantly by Gen Xers who were pummeled by the Great Recession, early research about those belonging to Gen Z indicates that they are cautious about spending money, are bargain shoppers, and more likely to save than to spend.

As future volunteers and donors, more than any generation previous they will want proof that their time and money is well spent. Also, coming of age during political dysfunction, the rise of global terrorism, climate change, and increasing school violence/shootings, Gen Z is getting exposed to big issues at an early age. That said, here are 21 stats about Gen Z that nonprofits need to know:

    • Gen Z is expected to reach 2.6 billion individuals globally by 2020. Within the US, Gen Z will reach 85 million by 2020, making up 24.7% of the American population and surpassing the Millennial Generation. [MediaKix]
    • Gen Z is the most diverse generation ever. By 2020 over half of Gen Z will come from a minority race. [U.S. Census Bureau]
    • 26% have raised money for a cause and 32% have donated their own money (or allowances). [Nonprofit Hub]
    • Children and youth, animals, and education are the top three causes that Gen Z donates to. [2017 Giving Report]
    • Gen Z receives an average allowance of nearly $70 a month or $44 billion a year total. [Business Insider]
    • 59% of Gen Zs are inspired to donate to charity by a message/image they saw on social media. 45% by attending a fundraising event. 14% by an email received. [2017 Giving Report]
    • 57% of Gen Zs said they would rather save money than spend it immediately. [The Intelligence Group]
    • 77% of Gen Zs are either extremely or very interested in volunteering to gain work experience. [Internships.com]
    • 26% of 16-19-year olds already volunteer on a regular basis. [The Atlantic]
    • While millennials are digital savvy, Gen Zs are true digital natives. Gen Zs spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on their smartphones and can not remember a time before the internet or  social media. [Global Web Index]
    • The average age for a child getting their first smartphone is now 10.3 years. [Influence Central]
    • Gen Zs get their first social media accounts at an average age of 11.4 years. [Influence Central]
    • The most popular social media with Gen Zs are YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, in that order. [Global Web Index]
    • 70% of Gen Z visits YouTube daily. [Adweek]
    • Gen Zs have an average attention span of 8 seconds as compared to the 12 second attention span of millennials. [MediaKix]
    • 47% of Gen Zs believe voting is important (even though the majority are not yet old enough to vote), but only 26% trust elected officials. [CGK]
    • 70% are worried about terrorism. Symptoms of depression and anxiety are way up among Gen Z. So are reports of self-harm. [Inc.]
    • Gen Z believes that climate change is the biggest challenges facing the world in the next decade. 63% favor solar energy. 58% have recycled. 31% have boycotted a company that has hurt the environment. [Masdar]
    • 43% of 7-13-year olds feel that school violence/shootings will have the biggest impact on their generation, overriding the invention of social networking and the election of the first Black President. [The Cassandra Report]
    • 56% of Gen Zs in the United States know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns. They are the most tolerant generation ever of gender diversity. [JWT Intelligence]
    • 50% of Gen Zs will be university educated compared to 33% of millennials and 25% of Gen X. [JWT Intelligence]

Based upon the survey results of 4,908 NGOs worldwide, the 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report is groundbreaking in that it is the only annual research project dedicated to studying how NGOs use online technology on a global scale.