Giving USA: Philanthropy Sets Record in 2015; Climate for Planned Gifts Looks Good

Philanthropy in America continued its record-setting pace in 2015 - increasing 4% from the year before and averaging more than a billion dollars a day - according to Giving USA™ 2016, the just-released annual study. Bequests, which tend to fluctuate from year to year based on very large gifts, were up 2%, the least of four giving categories. But study authors cited several factors that should help the climate for bequests and other planned gifts.

While Women Are More Altruistic, Egoism Plays Important Role in Giving

Women are more motivated to give to charity by altruism and by trust in an organization, according to new research presented at a symposium panel moderated by Pentera President & CEO Claudine A. Donikian. While the research applies to outright gifts, it lines up well with previous research on planned gifts and on women in philanthropy.

New Study Confirms That Men and Women Should Be Asked for Donations Differently

While not specifically about planned gifts, a new study by researchers at Stanford and Columbia universities confirms other research that men and women donors make philanthropic decisions differently and that charities should work with them in different ways.

New Study Predicts Growth in Charitable Giving

The nonprofit sector "continues on the road to recovery," with growth in charitable giving of just under 5 percent predicted for both this year and next, according to brand new research from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Giving by estates - which makes up the bulk of planned gifts - is expected to do particularly well in 2016.

Women Who Are Young, Single, and Not Religious Are Especially Generous

Young, single women with no religious affiliation were found to be more generous than expected in the newly published Women Give 2014, the latest in a series of research studies about women in philanthropy.

Bequests Up, Says New Giving USA Report

Good news for planned giving: Bequests are up significantly, according to one of the most notable findings in the recently released Giving USA report. Giving by bequest increased 8.7 percent (7.2 percent adjusted for inflation) from 2012 to 2013—by far the largest percentage increase in any sector.

5 Ways to Screen Women Donors

There’s been a lot of buzz the last couple of years about women being the new market for planned giving donors—and the research backs that up (see Pentera’s whitepaper on Women in Philanthropy). But how do you know how to identify the best women candidates?

Get Them to Volunteer and They Will Give

Offering meaningful volunteer opportunities to prospective donors—like serving on your board—may help generate more and larger charitable gifts, according to the latest results of two ongoing research studies. Both studies found a significant increase in volunteering over the past decade—and statistical correlations between volunteer work and charitable giving:

Cultivate Small Gifts and They Multiply

Joe Schmoe dies and leaves a million dollars to a college that has never heard of him: He didn’t attend, wasn’t a sports booster, didn’t use the library.… But he lived in the college town all his life, and neighbors say he used to walk his dog around the campus perimeter.

Don't Miss These 5 Tips to Improve Donor Communications

According to a study by Frank C. Dickerson, Ph.D., emotion and human-interest narratives work better in fundraising communications because of the way in which the brain is hardwired to process language. You can easily test this theory out yourself in other areas, such as news stories that go viral across the nation. These news reports are often compelling because there is a story and human-interest narrative that goes along with the facts that are reported. A weather report is not nearly as interesting until there is a story of personal hardship or a story of a community coming together to overcome a tragedy.