By OneDonate
OneDonate is a free, zero-cost platform connecting donors with verified UK charities in one simple app. We make giving faster, easier, and more transparent, helping charities reach the next generation of donors wherever they are.
Gen Z, those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, are generous, engaged, and digitally fluent. They volunteer, fundraise, and use their platforms to champion causes. But when it comes to donating through a charity website, they hesitate.
The problem isn’t generosity. It’s experience.
At OneDonate, we see this tension every day: charities want to reach younger supporters, but the digital infrastructure wasn’t built for them. Here’s what’s really standing in the way.
Websites belong to another digital era
Gen Z lives in a world of instant payments, mobile wallets, and app-based experiences. They’re used to paying for coffee with Face ID, splitting bills in seconds, and donating through social platforms without leaving the feed.
Charity websites, on the other hand, often still require form-filling, multiple clicks, and redirects. What feels like “process” to charities feels like “friction” to Gen Z. For Gen Z, a payment takes one tap. Many charity websites still ask for seven. The result? Fewer completions, even when the intent to give is high.
Trust has to be demonstrated
This generation is digitally sceptical. They’ve grown up amid data leaks, fake charities, and “greenwashing.” A generic “secure payment” badge or formal tone no longer reassures them.
What builds trust now is transparency: showing where the money goes, who benefits, and what the impact looks like.
Dashboards, real-time updates, and authentic storytelling go further than static web copy. When Gen Z can see the difference they’re making, they’re more likely to give, and to stay involved.
Emotion happens in the scroll
For donors from older generations, the website was the gateway to giving. For Gen Z, it’s the aftermath. The emotional trigger happens on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, where they encounter real stories in real time.
By the time they’re asked to “visit our website to donate,” the moment of empathy has often passed. Moving donors away from where they feel to where they must fill is a conversion killer.
Embedding donation options within content, via QR codes, live links, or in-app payments, keeps the emotional momentum alive.
Gen Z seeks connection
Gen Z wants giving to feel like belonging. They see generosity as a shared act, not a private transaction. Traditional donation pages isolate the donor: you visit, pay, and leave. No visibility, no conversation, no community.
Newer models, peer-to-peer fundraisers, app challenges, live goals, create a sense of movement and participation. They transform donors into collaborators. Gen Z isn’t donating to causes, they’re joining movements.
Attention is selective
Gen Z isn’t distracted; it is discerning. They scroll fast because they filter fast. A slow, text-heavy, or unresponsive website doesn’t compete with the vibrant, frictionless digital experiences they live with daily.
If a page takes more than five seconds to load, or if payment options aren’t optimised for mobile, they simply move on.
Gen Z doesn’t lack compassion, it lacks the UX to carry it forward.
Gen Z expects technology to serve generosity
Gen Z tracks sleep, savings, and carbon footprints through sleek apps. However, when they try to donate, many still encounter outdated web forms and lengthy checkouts.
They expect the same polish and functionality from charities that they get from their favourite brands, fast, visual, and human.
Good technology isn’t about novelty; it’s about respecting the donor’s time. It should make giving effortless, transparent, and rewarding.
What charity leaders can do to attract Gen Z donors
ACEVO’s community of leaders has long championed innovation, trust, and inclusion. The same mindset applies to engaging Gen Z donors.
- Design for mobile first. Most Gen Z donations will happen on phones, not desktops.
- Simplify ruthlessly. Enable one-tap donations through Apple Pay, Google Pay, or QR codes.
- Show the impact. Replace “Thank you” pages with real-time stories of change.
- Make giving social. Allow donors to share, celebrate, and invite others to join.
- Lead with transparency. Publish where funds go, and say it plainly.