Philanthropy and the Wealthy | What’s Important?

piggy-bank-gaetano saccoA study was conducted on a segment of the world’s wealthy people. A survey was given to 640 adults with a minimum of $3 million of assets having the ability to be invested. The questions were geared toward figuring out what they valued the most and what they considered to be the factors in a life well-lived.

The results showed that health, family, and financial security ranked the highest for important aspects of a well-lived life. However, 86% said that philanthropy was a key part of life as well. Other results include:

  • One fifth of wealthy business owners look for new ways to resolve social and environmental problems.
  • The majority of survey takers participate in philanthropic efforts in the traditional ways. This included involvement through giving money as donations and physically volunteering their efforts.
  • One third of the pool would like to own assets related to social impact. A lesser amount of individuals were involved in strategic philanthropy and investing in social impact methods.
  • A higher percentage of women have an interest in investments tied to social impact. Meanwhile, more men have current investment ownership in that area compared to female owners.

Giving Pledge is an initiative that was formed to reach billionaires. This cause wants them to give the majority of their wealth to causes centered in philanthropic efforts. Giving Pledge gets people to pledge to the conditions of their initiative.

In the early stages, the company didn’t think they would get the interest that they have been able to gather. It has made a worldwide impact where people from around the globe are taking the pledge. To Giving Pledge, habitual giving to the extent that it becomes a tradition is most important. The initiative’s current numbers contain 137 pledges from 14 countries. Some causes these billionaires are particularly interested in include better K-12 education, economic development in Africa, and medical research for diseases in need of a cure.

To learn more about how wealth and philanthropy come together, visit PR Newswire and Philanthropy.com here.