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Recruiting Seniors For Non-profit Work

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Almost every one you see in an auto commercial is 18-24, yet people 75 buy five times as many new cars. That's part of a report in the July AARP Magazine by editor Robert Love, "Who's Afraid of a Touch of Gray?"about the power of 100 million+ people in the US over 50.

They buy half of all the computers, and one third of all movie tickets and spend $7 billion a year shopping online. More than 80 percent of all premium-travel dollars flow from their credit cards.

US adults who are over 50 is the third largest economy in the world trailing only the gross national product of the United States and China, called "'the most valuable generation in the history of marketing."

While marketers have generally ignored this population, what a boon they could be for the non-profit world. The 50-plus consumers could be your energetic volunteers, your greatest source of contributors. Start recruiting now!

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