Sharper tax incentives and more information on the effectiveness of charities will encourage ultra high net worth individuals to boost philanthropic giving, according to a survey of attitudes by JP Morgan Private Bank.

Some 30 per cent of respondents to the survey cited better tax incentives as a reason to give more, with 17 per cent saying that they would do so if they had more time to focus on giving. Additionally, some 14 per cent said that they would give more if they had more knowledge on the charity’s impact and 14 per cent said they would give more if they found a common interest to enable them to give together as a family.

JP Morgan Private Bank drew responses from 78 of its UHNW clients, who together represent more than £6 billion (around $9.7 billion) in wealth.

Although the global economic crisis might, at first glance, appear to have blunted the desire for wealthy individuals to give, such findings suggest that the business and market environment is not reducing contributions, at least not among UHNW individuals. There is some evidence of slight decline of contributions among the wider population, however. In the 2007/08 financial year individual giving reached a peak of £10.6 billion but fell 11 per cent a year later, according to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Elsewhere in the JP Morgan Private Bank survey, it found that more than three-quarters of respondents said that they regularly give to charity, with a further fifth (21 per cent) saying they give irregularly, and an overwhelming 50 per cent said that they give more than five per cent of their total net wealth to charitable causes.

Only 7 per cent of UHNW donors who responded to the survey were happy with the amount they give, the survey found.  

Asked what would encourage people to raise donations, almost half said if they found a cause about which they really felt passionate; whilst 44 per cent said they would give more if their wealth increased. Strikingly, 30 per cent replied that they would need better knowledge of how their donations were spent.

“Anyone who wants to use the money, energy and time they have set aside for philanthropy effectively, will want to make those resources work as hard as possible.  We would always advise that you agree clear benchmarks that will help you and your delivery partner measure what success will look like,” said Rebecca Eastmond, head of EMEA philanthropy at the US bank.