Statistically, high-net-worth charitable giving accounts for about two-thirds of all individual giving and about one-half of all charitable giving in the United States. Unfortunately, according to the “2010 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy,” by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (a biennial study done in partnership with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University), charities are having to make do with less. Median charitable giving by high-net-worth households dropped 7.6 percent from 2007 to 2009. Average charitable giving fared even worse, declining an astonishing 34.9 percent from 2007 to 2009. The cause for these declines is the “Great Recession,” which began in December 2007 and supposedly ended in June 2009.

In addition to tracking the amounts given in 2009 (compared with 2007) by high-net-worth households, the study also looks at trends in the attitudes and giving behaviors of wealthy donors. Topics include which non-profit sectors high-net-worth households support, how they direct their largest gifts, what motivates them to give and to discontinue support for a non-profit organization, where and how often they volunteer and whom they turn to for advice about philanthropy.

Click here to read the full article >>