The Pentera Blog
Study Confirms the Number of People Who Make Bequests Exceeds the Number Who Are Asked
More people make bequests to charity than are asked to do so, according to a study, making bequest giving one of the rare types of philanthropy where the number who give exceeds the number who are asked. This aligns with previous research in the planned giving industry which found that for every bequest a charity knows about, there are two to five the charity doesn't know about.
The "Give.org Donor Trust Report" was published recently by the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. The study interviewed 2,100 American adults, mostly focusing on their level of trust in charities.
One finding relevant to planned giving looks at the percent who are asked to give through a certain "channel" or method compared with the percent who actually do make gifts via that channel. For instance, 49% of those surveyed were solicited for charitable gifts via direct mail, and 28% did so. In most instances, the percent solicited exceeds the percent who give, as would be expected.
But "included a charity in my will" was an exception: 6% of those surveyed said they were making gifts through bequests, while just 4% said they were asked to do so. Previous research has shown that the number one reason people say they don't make a bequest is that they weren't asked. Now we know that a significant number of people who are not asked make bequests anyway - though they are likely among the majority of bequest-givers who never notify the charity of their gifts during their lifetimes.
The full Donor Trust Report is available for download here.
