How Do You Attract Gen Z Volunteers? Align with Their Values

Guest Contributor: Indiana Lee

When striving to enact positive change, it’s crucial to have as many people on board as possible. Gen Z has been instrumental in shaping societal change. As of 2024, they are between 12 and 27 years old, offering a wide range of young perspectives. However, Gen Z is one of the groups with the fewest volunteers among the 11 million people who volunteer on an average day. Of those who volunteered in 2022, only about 5% were from Gen Z. Their fresh perspectives and passion for impact are mismatched with these numbers.

Luckily, you can attract Gen Z volunteers to your nonprofit by understanding their values and offering meaningful opportunities for them.

How Value Alignment Leads to Volunteer  Engagement

The rewards that people gain from volunteering are feeling good about giving back to a cause they care about. This can be enhanced by volunteer opportunities that expand their network, boost their professional goals, and provide fun, creative outlets. It’s smart to offer the types of opportunities that potential Gen Z volunteers want to engage in wholeheartedly. This way, their time spent volunteering for your organization will be enriching for all parties involved.

Gen Z Values To Attract and Retain Volunteers

If you want to attract Gen Z volunteers, you must start by confronting any negative stereotypes you might have about them. Like many generations before them, Gen Z is unfairly stereotyped as lazy or “coddled.” Research, however, tells us that they are quite realistic about the work it will take to enact positive change. They care about social issues like climate change and gun violence — and they’re willing to act in order to ensure that their standards are upheld. 

So what are their values? Gen Z values broadly include authenticity, diversity, relevance, and flexibility. 

Diversity and Inclusion 

Gen Z puts a big emphasis on furthering diversity and inclusion in the workplace, brands, and social situations. They like to see representation and fair treatment in and out of the workplace. Gen Z also increasingly identifies as LGBTQIA+, with some studies indicating that 20% of this generation identifies as a sexual minority.

Because Gen Z wants underrepresented groups to be treated more fairly, they are more likely to help organizations that further these causes. For instance, LGBTQ youth face financial issues due to discriminatory practices in workplace settings. College-educated, queer professionals made 22% less than their heteronormative counterparts as of 2022. They may also incur extra debt due to mental disorder prevalence and restricted access to gender-affirming care. As such, Gen Zers may be more likely to volunteer with LGBTQ+ organizations. 

Even if your non-profit doesn’t fit into this niche, emphasizing how you aim to reduce biases while giving back to underserved communities is a good way to attract these types of volunteers. 

Sustainability

As mentioned above, Gen Z prioritizes sustainability. While most consumers prefer sustainable brands, Gen Z is particularly passionate about eco-friendly causes. They expect more out of businesses – and organizations as a whole, than other generations. Even if your nonprofit doesn’t directly tackle environmental issues, you can still attract those who are interested in these types of problems. 

This is because Gen Z looks critically at factors like monetary gifts to environmental causes, carbon footprints of business processes, and sustainable workplace cultures. Consider highlighting your organization's sustainable practices in your volunteer opportunity descriptions. Some options may include: : 

• Employee rewards for recycling; 
• Eco-conscious education opportunities;
• Energy conservation in offices, at events, and during manufacturing or other business processes;
• On-site water refill stations;
• Public transportation or walk-to-work options;
• Composting and community gardening;
• Reusable tools like tote bags and boxes;
• Donation receptacles for old tech;
• Digitization of traditional, paper processes.

Spreading awareness within your company will translate to greater volunteering numbers. Gen Z takes notice when companies, particularly nonprofits, stay true to their word. 

Make sure that you are not only purporting purpose-driven, sustainable activities, but you’re reporting accurate statistics and taking actionable steps to better your initiatives. Collaborations with eco-friendly brands and online webinars about eco-conscious topics are great ways to show your support publicly in a space where Gen Z will find you.

Social Media and Technology

Gen Z is also a particularly tech-savvy generation and appreciates when organizations utilize tech effectively

Here are some ways to do it:

• Social media engagement: Gen Z likes to hang out online. Try actively engaging with your audience on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X. You can showcase your organization’s impact through success stories, behind-the-scenes shots, and volunteer spotlights. You can even encourage user-generated content that Gen Zers can share on their pages to their following. Post recruitment notices on social media for greater visibility.
• Text messages: Consider sending personalized texts to potential volunteers. Keeping them brief, friendly, and action-oriented will work best for busy Gen Zers. You can include links to sign up for volunteer slots virtually or learn more about your cause. The simpler you make it to volunteer, the better.
• Online events: Virtual volunteering events are a great way to get Gen Z initially involved in your cause. This transcends geographic restrictions and gets people talking online about your nonprofit cause. Consider free webinars, education panels, or even Twitch streams with donation goals. 

Chances to volunteer online are great when it comes to offering flexible options to this generation of busy up-and-comers.

Creating Flexible Volunteer Opportunities for Busy Gen Zers

Since many members of Gen Z are still in school or just beginning to launch their careers, they can benefit from flexible volunteer opportunities. Flexibility allows them to fit volunteering into their busy schedules, which means they may be more likely to participate. Take advantage of a platform that enables you to reach them with a variety of options based on their lifestyles. 

Besides offering the aforementioned online events, you can create online, ongoing volunteer programs that allow participants to sign up anytime. Think about which facets of your program are video or even text-friendly. Then, provide multiple different time frames during which people can volunteer. For in-person volunteering programs, brainstorm ways to add a virtual component. For example, a cleanup initiative needs people to get the word out, so you could create an online ambassador volunteer role that allows them to spread the word as official participants wherever they are.    

Gen Z prefers to take action with organizations they trust. You can establish this trust by aligning with their values. Soon enough, you’ll see an influx of Gen Z volunteers wanting to help out your organization and push your cause to greater heights!

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Author Bio: Indiana Lee is a freelance journalist specializing in business operations, leadership, and marketing. Passionate about service and impact, her writing extends beyond the corporate world to inspire personal and organizational growth in the nonprofit sector. Connect with her on LinkedIn.