Major Donor Motivations for Giving

Major Donor Motivations for Giving

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

One of my favorite studies on major donor motivations is the Prince & File book, The Seven Faces of Philanthropy.

Published in 2001, this study was done as a collaboration between a major gift fundraiser and a university school of business faculty member. They surveyed donors with a cash net worth of $1 million or more who had made gifts of $50,000 or more in the past year.

The data can be found in the chart above.

Religious 21% – this is less than the 35% that Giving U.S.A. finds for the entire donor universe. Please realize this number can vary in different parts of America. For example, in my work in Utah I this percentage is much higher because of the strong Mormon tradition of tithing. In the Pacific Northwest the percentage is probably far lower as Oregon and Washington are among the least churched states in the union.

Altruistic 9% – only a small percentage give just because they are generous and kind hearted.

Dynasts 8% – family traditions of giving. When I worked in Chicago many years ago many of my donors gave because their grandfathers had been on the board. Family giving was expected. In the Western United States with so much new wealth, the first generation is just learning to be philanthropic.

Repayer 10% – giving to a charity who helped the donor. I knew one minister who had gotten a scholarship to Yale Divinity School who has given, and intends to give, $100 a month to help future students.

Investor 15% – saving taxes and helping charity. When I started in fundraising 30 years ago we thought most of philanthropy was motivated by getting a tax break. The tax rate was 78% at the time. As taxes have been cut, giving keeps going up. So, we found that avoiding taxes is only a minor motivator for donors.

Communitarian 26% – the highest motivation for donors is to give back to communities where the donor has made their money. In the Western U.S. where dynasts and religious giving may be lower than other regions, communitarian giving is very high.

Socialite 11% – giving for social reasons and to party. This is why we’ll always have special events (oh well).

If you’d like a copy of the chart above, just send me an email.

Permanent Link: Major Donor Motivations for Giving

http://majorgiftsguru.com/2009/11/major-donor-motivations-for-giving.html