High-Net-Worth Individuals Aren’t Talking With Their Kids About Philanthropy

Title: Giving for Good: Generational Differences in Philanthropy, Legacy, and Wealth Planning

Organization: Key Private Bank

Summary: High-net-worth individuals aren’t talking with their children about charitable giving, according to a new survey of 123 wealth advisers.

While the survey is small, it offers a glimpse into how a lack of family communication about philanthropy could affect the $68 trillion in assets that baby boomers are slated to transfer to younger generations by 2030.

Many clients did not include nonprofits in their estate plans; 71 percent of advisers polled said that no more than half of their clients had done so, suggesting that nonprofits are missing out on a substantial amount of wealth. Nearly half of advisers — 49 percent — believed this lack of planned giving was the biggest mistake their clients were making in their philanthropy.

Parents and children tend to give differently, their advisers said. Environmental and sustainability causes were most popular among children, while religious and faith-based charities were most popular among parents. More than half of the advisers polled — 57 percent — said the difference in preferences was due to a lack of family conversations about charitable giving.

“There’s a clear opportunity for parents and children to overcome generational differences and work together to find common ground and set a family mission for giving,” Anne Marie Levin, national director of family wealth legacy planning services at Key Private Bank, said in a news release.

Among the findings:

• Local causes were more popular than national causes — 71 percent of advisers said their clients gave to charities in their community while 2 percent said their clients only gave to national groups.
• 75 percent of advisers said changes to the tax law were unlikely to affect how their clients give to charity.
• High-net-worth families were most likely to give to health charities after experiencing a family health crisis.

Emily Haynes has covered fundraising on social media, Giving USA’s annual report on giving trends, and how the ALS Association found success with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Email Emily or follow her on Twitter .