Fifth of Millennials Call Themselves Activists

Twenty-one percent identified as activists — a group that, it said, was rising as the most highly engaged, active and willing to act on behalf of others. Of these, 71% had greater confidence in their own ability to create change, while 39% were very confident, 31% confident and 18% somewhat confident in their organization's ability to do so.

What issues are driving millennials to take action? The top three in the new report were civil rights/discrimination, job creation and health care reform.

These issues changed after the election. Last year, the top three issues were education, health care and the economy.

The survey also found that millennials feel constrained to engage locally more than nationally, although those who do engage nationally do not do so at the expense of their local activities.

Millennials want their voices to be heard and, for now, are combining traditional forms of activism with the channels of communication they know well.

The survey showed that while posting on social media ranked high among actions taken, it plummeted when respondents were asked which actions they had taken were likeliest to bring about change.

The report said that organizations wanting to tap the power of millennial activism needed to understand this generation as coalition builders who can power movements because of their natural comfort with multi-sector approaches, including:

• Using their voice in government as voters and through outreach to their representatives
• Expressing their preferences for ethical brands
• Using social media to further a cause they care about
• Donating time and money to organizations they support

"This generation has affected more than just the nonprofit sector with their unique brand of social good and issue engagement," Achieve president Derrick Feldman said in a statement.

"They have changed how the government responds with new social issue policies. They have changed the culture at corporate America to stand up for the disenfranchised and address the challenges within our communities. They are changing how nonprofits are defining philanthropy."

— Check out Thinking Millennial: How to Woo the Largest Generation on ThinkAdvisor.