Baby boomers - we hear this term more and more, but who are they? A baby boomer is someone born between 1946 and 1964. This was a period of increased birth rates and economic prosperity in the United States. "Boomers" represent a large percent of our population and are the future of our Minnesota Senior Federation as well as many other organizations.

Boomers represent a different era in our society and need to be understood by volunteers and leaders when recruiting this age group for membership. It is important to note that boomers have not been active in giving and volunteering as much as previous generations from the war and depression eras. In 2005, 33 percent of boomers volunteered for formal organizations. Two-thirds are not serving in any organization. Why are they not becoming involved? How do we recruit them? These questions are facing many organizations.

The boomer generation saw a major shift in standard of living, increased family responsibility and lifestyles of convenience and being pressed for time. They are a generation that grew up with rallies, marches and fighting for causes including civil rights and the anti-war movements. Yet they seem not to be moved by social causes in this stage of their lives.

Boomers want meaning in their lives, purposefulness in their organizations and a safe environment for their children. Perhaps they don't volunteer because volunteer positions lack descriptions, they are asked to perform menial tasks and there is an unclear impact of work they are doing. When they hear that something is done a certain way "because we've always done it that way." they hear that the mission of the organization is sidelined for ritual.

To attract boomers, new and innovative programs should be developed. Well-organized meetings with a clear purpose and encouragement to share new ideas are important in getting boomers involved and keeping them involved. With new and changing technologies, our lifestyles change day by day. What was yesterday is not necessarily the way it is today. 

The Minnesota Senior Federation is a great grass roots, volunteer organization. We need to be flexible to change while holding on to our mission. Our organization must be viable for the next generation and their families. Baby boomers are the future of our organization. Reaching out to the baby boomer generation is a small mountain to climb to continue to build MnSF membership.

If you get one boomer to join our great organization and we are open to ideas of their generation it just may lead to the boomer enlisting another boomer. The numbers are there, we just need to begin to reach out. With the continued hard work of our valued members we can keep building our great Minnesota Senior Federation and continue to accomplish great things for the needs of all people.