The Pentera Blog
Surprise Bequests Often Come from Donors Who Are Unmarried, Childless, and Have Connections to the Nonprofit
The recent Giving USA 2019 report highlights some "surprise bequests" in 2018 that came from donors unknown for their wealth who had some common characteristics:
- They had some kind of personal experience with the organization.
- They had no children.
- They were unmarried.
The examples support other research that has found childlessness to be a top factor for predicting philanthropy. In addition, childless donors tend to make larger gifts, according to The Planned Giving Study initiated by Pentera and conducted by Indiana University. Other research has found that more bequests come from unmarried people than from married people, and that those with personal experience with an organization are more likely to give to that organization.
Giving USA described these donors:
- Alan Naiman, a Washington State social worker who was not married and did not have children, left $11 million to charities with which he had a connection during his lifetime. For example, he gave $2.5 million to the Pediatric Interim Care Center, an agency he sometimes called in the middle of the night to take babies on an emergency basis; he also gave $900,000 to Treehouse, a foster care organization where he got toys and clothes for kids he was fostering.
- Jane Kesson, also unmarried and childless, was a retired music teacher who left $4.7 million to the Philadelphia Orchestra. She had been a subscriber, volunteer, and donor during her lifetime and brought hundreds of schoolchildren to orchestra performances - but never notified the orchestra of her bequest.
In addition to surprising the charities, the bequests from Naiman and Kesson surprised friends and family, who were unaware that either person had accumulated much wealth, according to Giving USA.
The complete Giving USA 2019 report is available for purchase here.
