Charitable Giving

Understanding what motivates our clients to make charitable giving a part of their financial plan, is be a good first step in our recognizing the overall needs of our clients.

The Seven Faces of Philanthropy by R.A. Prince and K.M. File offers up some common identifiers on what motivates these different types of donors. Here is the basic list of charitable donors:

The Communitarians: Doing Good Makes Sense

These individuals are typically local business owners who find that service on boards and committees of local non-profits can be good for business. They give to make their local communities prosper.

The Devout: Doing Good is the Will of a Higher Power

These individuals are typically those who give for religious reasons and are almost always active members of a local church, synagogue or mosque.

The Investor: Doing Good is Good Business

This type of investor are usually affluent donors who give to help the charity, but also value the personal tax and estate consequences of their contributions.

The Socialite: Doing Good is Fun

These individuals give because of the social aspect, they help the charity and at the same time have fun doing it.

The Altruist: Doing Good Feels Right

Altruists are those who contribute to charitable works out of generosity and empathy to urgent causes and who modestly wish to remain anonymous.

The Repayer: Doing Good in Return

A repayer is someone who has benefited directly from or has had a relative benefit from some institution, often a school or medical centre, and now supports that institution from a sense of loyalty or obligation.

The Dynast: Doing Good is a Family Tradition

These are your clients who inherited wealth and giving is something their family has always stood for and they believe they are expected to continue the family tradition.