GENERATION WE NOT ME REPORT COMMISSIONED BY OPTUS GENERATION WE NOT ME REPORT – COMMISSIONED BY OPTUS 3 CONTENTS Hello 4 About the research 5 Definitions 5 Executive summary 6 The 5 Gen Y Volunteering Tribes infographic 7 CHAPTER 1. NUMBER CRUNCH A quantitative view of youth participation, volunteering and giving in 2013 10 The RAWs (Ready and Willing): Most Gen Ys volunteer 11 The New Philanthropist: Even more Gen Ys donate 11 DIY Change-makers: What is motivating Gen Y to create change and contribute? 12 Passion Pursuers: Gen Ys invest in careers they feel good about 12 Loudspeakers: Gen Ys are active online 13 CHAPTER 2. TRENDS AND INSIGHTS The RAWs (Ready and Willing): How Gen Y volunteers 17 Katharina Glynne, volunteer extraordinaire 17 The Smith Family 19 New philanthropist: Gen Y brokers new ways of active giving 20 Dr Aron Ping D’Souza, Australian Chair of Nexus Global Youth Summit and Executive Chairman of Good Super 20 DIY Change-makers: Gen Y motivated and experimenting with new ways of contributing 22 Simon Griffiths, founder of Who Gives A Crap and Shebeen Bar 22 Passion Pursuers: Gen Y’s contribution to culture and society 24 Underbelly Arts 24 FBi Radio 26 Loudspeakers: Gen Y does ‘movements’ differently 28 Alexandra Iljadica and Joanna Baker, co-founders of the Youth Food Movement Australia 28 Oaktree 30 CHAPTER 3. VOLUNTEERING TIPS 34 CHAPTER 4. CALENDER 38 GENERATION WE NOT ME REPORT – COMMISSIONED BY OPTUS 5 HELLO ABOUT THE RESEARCH On Thursday 11 April 2013, The Hordern Pavilion in Sydney was Welcome to the first Optus RockCorps Generation We Not Me The research undertaken for this study provides concrete From a sea of excellent examples we chose to profile five at capacity. Inside, local and international music heavy hitters The Report – a report that we’re very proud to be a part of because and wide-ranging evidence of young people’s creativity, social remarkable young people and highlight project case studies that Script, The Potbelleez, Tiny Tempah and Guy Sebastian were doing Optus people have always believed in the power of many, and in entrepreneurship abilities, leadership qualities and genuine represent the breadth and diversity of Gen Y’s generosity, care and what they do best in front of an audience… but this wasn’t just any this report’s case - youth to make a difference in society. concern for the future. creativity. audience. The crowd at the 2013 Optus RockCorps Concert had This report leads you through the full gamut of youth volunteering For the Optus RockCorps Generation We Not Me Report, we Emerging from our research was the rise of five key tribes we earned their tickets by collectively providing over 20,000 hours of as it existed in Australia in 2013 and a view forward on what is to commissioned research that compared Gen Y volunteering, describe as Ready and Willing, New Philanthropist, DIY Change- community volunteering. come in 2014. From strategic corporate philanthropy and funds participation and giving to that of Gen X and Baby Boomers. makers, Passion Pursuers and The Loudspeakers. We’ve profiled What happened at the Optus RockCorps event in 2013 is part management, right down to grassroots activities, these are the Prepared by Galaxy Research, the study is based on a sample of projects and people to demonstrate how each of these tribes of a much greater phenomenon. All around the world, and most initiatives that made a real difference. 1,508 respondents, two-thirds of whom were young people. The operate in real life. notably in Australia, young people are contributing their time, In producing this report, we’re keen to not only increase the findings will surprise those who see Gen Y as being self-centred The organisations interviewed for this study were deeply impressed money and creativity toward shaping a culture of generosity and a appeal and community impact of Optus RockCorps, but and materialistic. with Gen Y’s enthusiasm, awareness, willingness to engage and more just and caring society. also to support youth community improvement initiatives by In fact, the study finds that young people are as likely to volunteer optimism about the future. Some of the organisations said that they Commissioned by Optus and produced by Right Angle Studio, the documenting and publicising their success. Heightening the their time and give money to causes, projects and enterprises relied on the insights gained from Gen Y volunteers to assist with Optus RockCorps Generation We Not Me Report clearly shows public’s awareness of the great people, ideas and opportunities they see as contributing to the greater social or cultural good as their forward planning – sure recognition that in Gen Y we have the the great creativity, care and contribution that young Australians at the heart of our communities will lead to greater participation previous generations – and in some cases, more so. true leaders of the future. provide through volunteering time, giving money and participating from individuals and businesses. Teasing out the findings, detailed in Chapter 1, we sought to in projects and initiatives within their local communities. The facts, interviews and insights contained in the Optus identify cross-sector trends by interviewing more than 40 people The report seeks to recognise, promote and support young RockCorps Generation We Not Me Report paint a picture of an from leading youth-oriented organisations and asking them to people’s excellent volunteer work and generous contributions exceptional generation of youth and it has been deeply satisfying describe the motivations and contributions that Gen Y make to to society and culture. The Optus RockCorps program reaches and encouraging to prove that contrary to popular public their work. young people who want to create change, but who may not know perception, Generation Y is a generous generation that puts ‘we’ where to start. By introducing volunteering to young people, before ‘me’. providing resources and making it fun and social, we are creating I hope you find the Optus RockCorps Generation We Not Me experiences and a community-mindedness that will last a lifetime. Report equally inspiring and I encourage you to spread its message widely. Jan Owen AM Chief Executive Officer Helen Maisano DEFINITIONS Foundation for Young Australians Associate Director of CSR Optus GENERATION Y CHARITY For the purpose of our report we define Gen Y as those born A charitable organisation or not-for-profit is an organisation that between 1980 and 2000. In 2014, they would be aged between has been set up to achieve a specific goal as defined within that 14 and 34. organisation’s charter. Donations to a not-for-profit or charity are tax-deductible and any profit made by that organisation goes back GENERATION X into the operation of the organisation to carry out its purposes and is not distributed to any of its members. For the purpose of our report we define Gen X as those born between 1965 and 1979. In 2014, they would be aged between 35 and 49. COMMUNITY ORGANISATION While community organisations can have not-for-profit or charitable BABY BOOMER status, for the purpose of our report community organisations are defined as less formal groups such as sporting organisations, For the purpose of this report Baby Boomers refers to those born clubs, collectives, activist movements, festivals or even shows that in or before 1964. provide a social or cultural benefit to a specific community. Optus RockCorps ambassador Samantha Jade and volunteers at Radio SkidRow Marrickville 2014 GENERATION WE NOT ME REPORT – COMMISSIONED BY OPTUS 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE 5 GEN Y VOLUNTEERING TRIBES Gen Y cops a bad rap, it has a reputation of being selfish, DIY Change-makers materialistic and lazy. But given the response to the inaugural Optus RockCorps project in 2013, attended by 5000 Gen Ys who We explore how young people are daring to create jobs for I¢S Aussie Gen Ys get a bad rap, yet they donate more than 16 million each gave at least four volunteer hours to attend, we suspected themselves – jobs that they can be proud of. This trend has ‘NA O volunteer hours, worth $260m each month. The Optus RockCorps that this bad reputation was undeserved. interesting implications for businesses, particularly in the way they recruit and retain passionate, savvy and self-motivated N¤ ‘Generation We Not Me Report’ identifies five ‘tribes’ of Gen Y So we commissioned the Optus RockCorps Generation We Not Gen Y talent. We shine a light on the work of Simon Griffiths Me Report – an annual research and thought piece that examines volunteers and how they are getting involved. and his businesses Shebeen and Who Gives A Crap and what WM¢ the motivations, nature and value of Gen Y’s contribution of time, underlying factors have made these enterprises successful. money and creativity to the greater social and cultural good. What we have discovered through our comparative research and The Passion Pursuers interviews with more than 40 of Australia’s leading youth-oriented From organising live music events to running arts festivals, the T W– T EW organisations is that: work of young creative people proving passionate, motivated and • the perception of Gen Y as lazy, materialistic and selfish is far primed for participation in the arts and creative culture. Gen Y RDA L IN P LTO S from the reality proves itself professionally pragmatic and valuable creators of 1 2 SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS • in fact, the time and money given by Gen Y is estimated to total culture. We delve into the stories of FBi Radio and Underbelly Arts GRASSROOTS VOLUNTEERS Keen to literally get their hands dirty on the They donate to charity, regardless of how more than $3 billion each year to see this dynamic at work.