Center on Philanthropy delineates 12 categories from open-handed to stingy. Having established that most high-net-worth individuals feel compelled to make charitable donations in order to "give back to society" rather than do so for the sake of building a legacy or limiting what their heirs can get their hands on, Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy has mined data taken from a 2006 survey on philanthropic giving by high-net-worth Americans -- underwritten by Bank of America -- to highlight statistical differences in the way certain groups donate in comparison to other high-net-worth households.

Big chart

To frame this information, report authors Heidi Frederick of the Center on Philanthropy's and Patrick Rooney, a professor of economics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, came up with 12 philanthropic categorizations or "archetypes" among households with $1 million or more in net worth or annual incomes of at least $200,000.

Bank of America says that donors can use the findings of Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy: Portraits of Donors to help determine what they want to accomplish through giving and to identify like-minded donors or strategists for advice. Non-profits can use the information to figure out how to approach and communicate with wealthy donors based on the characteristics they're likely to possess.

HNW donor categories

Archetype

Characteristics

Impact

Very wealthy

Households with a net worth of $50 million or more

Donates "statistically significantly more" -- here and below the comparison is with high-net-worth households on average -- "than other wealthy households to every type of organization, except for disaster relief. The very wealthy were more likely to report feeling extremely financially secure, and when making charitable decisions, they were more likely to seek advice from external advisors such as accountants and attorneys."

Bequeather

Have made provision to leave 25% or more to charity

Gives "statistically significantly more to charity than non-bequeathing households. In fact, they give about four and a half times as much to charity.Bequeathing households have statistically significantly more income and wealth and were much more likely to report feeling financially secure than other high net-worth households."

Devout

Attend religious services weekly (or more often) and donating to religious causes

Gives "less on average to charity than secular households and other wealthy households, but the "typical" devout household (the median donor) actually gives more to charity. As expected, the devout give statistically significantly more to religious causes than non-devout households. They feel more financially secure than the secular donor and other wealthy donors."

Secular

Don't attend religious services and do not give to religious causes

Donates "statistically more on average to foundations, funds, and trusts; health; and other types of organizations such as environmental organizations. Since secular donors by definition do not give to religious organizations, the distribution of their giving is quite different. A greater proportion of their donations is given to health organizations."

Entrepreneur

Households with at least half of their net worth in entrepreneurial assets

Gives "25% more to charity on average than other high net-worth households. They give statistically significantly more to educational organizations and other organizations such as environmental or international groups. High networth entrepreneurs have statistically significantly more wealth than other high net-worth households and this, perhaps, explains why entrepreneurs feel more financially secure."

Dynast

Households that give their children money which the children use to donate to charity

Gives "statistically significantly less to foundations, funds, and trusts than other high net-worth households, but give statistically significantly more to organizations that meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Dynast households also give statistically more to arts and culture. There is no statistical difference between their income and wealth levels when compared to other wealthy households, but they report feeling more financially secure."

Metropolitan

Primary residence is in a city with a population of 500,000 or more.

Gives "statistically significantly less to foundations, funds, or trusts than non-metropolitan households, but give statistically more to arts and culture. They are primarily motivated by a sense that it is important to meet critical community needs and to give back to society."

High Frequency Volunteer

Volunteer more than 200 hours per year

"Statistically significantly more likely to donate for disaster relief, to arts and cultural organizations, and to other organizations such as international or environmental groups. Despite there being no significant differences in their wealth and income levels compared to other wealthy households, high frequency volunteers feel more financially secure."

Strategic Donor

Have created foundations or donor-advised funds and that give to relatively few sub-sectors

Gives "statistically significantly more than non-strategic households to foundations, funds or trusts and to organizations serving a combination of purposes such as the United Way, to organizations serving basic human needs such as food and shelter, to educational organizations, and to arts and cultural organizations.

Transactional

Donors who have given to many or all charitable sub-sectors and who have not created a foundation or donor-advised funds

"Less intentional" in their giving than strategic donors, these "checkbook" donors are apt to every type of organization and give statistically more only "to disaster relief than non-transactional households."

Altruistic

Motivated by a sense that "one should help meet critical needs in society" or that "those with more should help those with less."

Gives "statistically significantly more to organizations serving a combination of purposes such as the United Way," and "report that 'receiving a better return on investments does not impede their giving.'"

Financially Pragmatic

Concerned about the "return on their financial investments" and "feeling more financially secure."

Donate "statistically significantly less to charity, in particular to meeting basic human needs such as food and shelter. Also have "statistically significantly less wealth, but report feeling more financially secure than altruistic households."

Source: Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy: Portraits of Donors; Bank of America, Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University

The study is based on 1,400 responses to a mail survey of 30,000 households within U.S. zip codes with statistically high incomes. Only responses from households considered high-net-worth were included in the analysis.

Little grumbles

The study outlined here is fairly user-unfriendly. A sense of how many of the respondents fell into the various would have been useful. The same might be said for an executive summary (or a more comprehensive introduction), especially given the length and repetitiveness of the report. -FWR

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