Influencing Young America to Act – 2020 Year in Review

By: Derrick Feldmann, Managing Director at Influence|SG

Three overlapping major moments in less than a year – a pandemic, George Floyd’s death and the election—offered what was likely a unique opportunity in our ongoing study of young Americans’ social issue actions.

Throughout 2020, Cause and Social Influence conducted six surveys and published five Influencing Young America to Act Reports. This final report looks at the data to identify consistencies across all three moments and point out specific actions and influences prompting social issue engagement this year.

Key Findings

The three top actions young Americans took to help others in 2020 were to:

  • Change the way they shop,
  • Post/share content on a social media platform and
  • Sign petitions

Calls to action most often reached young Americans through social media.

Though 87% of the audience believes social media contains inaccurate information, calls to action that elicited responses most often reached them via social media.

Young Americans got their news primarily on Facebook and from sources FOX News and CNN.

After Facebook, FOX News outranked CNN for at least 28 consecutive weeks.

Online influencers/content creators as motivators for social action grew.

By November, half of respondents said they were getting their information from online influencers/content creators, an increase over the course of nine months.

Young Americans differed slightly in who they supported with volunteering vs. gifts.

Respondents volunteered most for animal rights, civil rights/racial discrimination/social justice, climate change and healthcare reform; they made donations for animal rights, healthcare reform and food banks. Giving in 2020 exceeded 2019 giving, especially donating goods, which tripled.

Young Americans overwhelmingly supported a presidential candidate based on his position toward racial equity.

60% said they voted for Joe Biden and 28% for President Trump.

The report also explores each major moment in turn, identifying notable attitudes and trends related to each.

Download the 2020 Year in Review full report.

Derrick Feldmann, Managing Director at Influence|SG

Derrick Feldmann is a sought-after speaker, researcher and advisor for causes and companies on social movements and issue engagement. He regularly speaks at events and organizations throughout the country and around the world on how causes and companies can drive public interest for social issues. He is the author on two books, Social Movements For Good: How Companies and Causes Create Viral Change and Cause for Change: The Why and How of Nonprofit Millennial Engagement and The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change From The Inside Out, published by Fast Company Press.

Derrick has been recognized as a leading researcher in cause engagement for more than a decade. His work is regularly cited by such outlets as Forbes, Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal and as a reliable source of data on today’s cause engagement. He leads the research team for Influencing Young America to Act, a study of how young adults are influenced by and influence others to support social movements. During the prior 10 years, he led the research team for the Millennial Impact Project, producing the comprehensive Millennial Impact Reports on how the generation has engaged with causes from varying perspectives.

Derrick currently splits his time between INFLUENCE|SG and the Ad Council. Derrick is the Managing Director of INFLUENCE|SG a movement design studio working with leading brands and causes to research, ideate and test new movement approaches and the Managing Director of Ad Council Edge, the Ad Council’s strategic consulting division that advises during the formative stages of public engagement programs.