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How to engage Gen Y in Rural Communities
December 11th, 2008 by Mike Knutson
It’s no secret that participation levels of young people, particularly Gen Y, in community groups and projects are declining. This is particularly troubling in our rural communities where the age demographics are getting older and older each year.
“What’s wrong with this younger generation?” becomes the rally cry. “They say they want to change the world, but how can they do that when all they do is surf the internet and text message?” The reality is that Generation Y is interested in social causes, but we have to engage them on their terms if we want their involvement.
I hope the “Characteristics of Gen Y” that I shared in yesterday’s post helps you understand Gen Y. Today, I want to offer my thoughts on how this information can be used to encourage their involvement in your community.
Start by build a personal relationship with them. Because the parents of Gen Y treated their children as friends and valued their opinions, Gen Y’s are social creatures. They enjoy telling others about their interest, their desire, and opinions. Sitting down and talking to them about these things helps younger people feel that your community values and respects them. And hopefully you do, because they read intentions very well, which leads us to our next tip.
Be authentic. Gen Y has been bombarded with traditional advertising, and they’ve come to distrust it. In turn, this has led them to value people, organizations, and businesses that are authentic and who are not trying to sell them something. If you are not truly interested in learning and listening, they will detect it. They will then remember it when making their decisions on whether to join your effort or not.
Value their ideas and opinion. Taking the ideas and opinions of Gen Y seriously is a strong part of the previous two tips, but it also goes beyond relationships and authenticity. Gen Y’s feel their knowledge is their greatest contribution. That may be difficult to accept if you believe wisdom is associated with age. But if you want Gen Y’s involved, you’ll swallow your pride and take them seriously.
Along the same line of thought, if you ask for Gen Y’s help, be ready to accept it. For example, I ask a Gen Y to edit my writing. I know that if I want her continued help, I need to listen to what she says - even when I think that what she’s edited is not better than what I wrote in the first place.
Rethink how your organization uses technology. We all know that Gen Y is the most technology savvy generation. It seems like they can’t leave it alone, which is often annoying to people who grew up without it. Ask parents today how to communicate with their children, and they will tell you, “Don’t bother calling, just text message.” If your organization relies on written invitations and phone calls (especially at a home phone), you may never reach the very people you need to.
Now obviously, the above example is more relevant the younger a person is; but it should cause us to rethink the ways our communities and groups can use technology. Perhaps you need to create a Google Calendar as a community calendar and produce a Facebook page for specific projects that are listed on the calendar. Perhaps it’s using tools like e-mail, Basecamp, or TrueThinker. And if you don’t know what any of these tools do, don’t worry. Just ask a Gen Y–they’ll enjoy telling you.
Make sure you communicate what “cause” you are working on. This may be the most important and challenging recommendation that I make. Gen Y’s embrace “social causes” more than any other generation, largely because their parents (Baby Boomers) were social activists. But I’m afraid that the activities rural community groups are working on don’t translate into social causes.
For instance, Gen Y probably doesn’t see a community club as a cause. They would, however, see giving gifts to low-income children at Christmas as a social cause that they want to be a part of. One way to address this issue would be the community club to encourage Gen Y’s to participate in specific causes that interest them.
After reading the list above, you may question if getting Gen Y involved is worth the effort. But since Generation Y is the future of your community, I think you’d better.
Update (12-15-09): Since posting this article, I have written several other posts about the characteristics of Gen Y and how it relates to rural communities. A few of the more popular posts include:
- “5 Ways Rural Communities can get ready for Gen Y”
- “Don’t ask, Don’t care”
- “Will Gen Y ruin Local Community?”
- “What attributes are Millennials looking for?”
- “Just another typical Millennial”
Tags: Gen Y, generational issues, millennials, rural communities
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (
2 )
December 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Love your blog. Great ideas. Just wanted to let you know I posted a couple of links to you in my recent blog post, Engaging Gen Y: the first step toward leadership, http://cortcom.blogspot.com/2009/12/engaging-gen-y-first-step-toward.html Thanks for your good work!
December 16th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Lisbeth,
Your post reminds me that even though Gen Y dispays a lot of different characteristics, we all — regardless of our age — just want to be “engaged” as valuable members of something greater than ourselves. Thanks for stopping by.