Philanthropy and the Wealthy | What’s Important?

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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.

3 Undesirable Behaviors from Charitable Donors

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gift-gaetano saccoGiving to a good cause is an action that should originate from the heart. In some cases, donors may expect something in return for their act of kindness. Donors that invest larger amounts of money and resources are typically known for later exhibiting not so favorable behaviors.

Gifts

Donors with a lot of money may want to get rid of some personal items which they find valuable. However, the item they are looking to give away may not be beneficial to the cause. An organization that receives an expensive but unuseful gift may have to allocate unplanned time to properly dispose of it in a way that may turn out to be beneficial. It then turns out that the gifter caused a great distraction that could’ve been avoided had that person given a useful gift.

Item Donations

Similar to the undesired gifts, providing donations that don’t help the cause, especially in times of emergency, can be troublesome. A silly example may include an infant crying for milk but being given a lollipop. The lollipop is not helpful in that situation. In fact, the infant can’t partake in it at all. Give items that people need and can use in hard times.

Documentation

It is common for a donor to expect something like a receipt after giving a cash contribution. However, there are times where people who donate want an unreasonable form of documentation. One woman gave $2,000 and expected a 20 page report detailing the use of the money. At the end of the day, the labor to write the report most likely costed more than the donation itself. This situation could have been remedied if the donor found out the organization’s reporting method before agreeing to give the money. The giver and receiver could have made a point to be on the same page before the relationship continued to move forward.

Other downfalls of charitable donors may include too closely overseeing the decisions of the organization and expecting personal errands in return. These and more are counterproductive behaviors that donors can exhibit. For more information, visit the Wall Street Journal here.