Next Generation Philanthropy: The Forbes 400 Report

This post from The Chronicle of Philanthropy about restricted gifts led me to download the report linked in the article that was generated as a result of the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy.  Entitled "Next-Generation Philanthropy: Changing the World," the article (available free but email address required) contains the results of a survey of 264 of the world's top philanthropists, all of whom had at least $1.0 million in investable assets. 

The Chronicle article focuses on the preference for restricted gifts among higher net worth taxpayers.  But there are some other interesting nuggets that only a tax geek like me would focus on:

• 7% of individuals with assets between $1 and 5 million and 18% of individuals with assets over $50 million have utilized a pooled income fund.   That seems amazingly high to me, and I'm shocked that it actually goes up with higher income donors, rather than down. 
• Two-thirds of respondents said that they had a different philanthropic focus than their predecessors.    It stresses the need for succession planning in charitable vehicles, an area that I think is sometimes over looked. 
• In response to the question "With whom do philanthropists partner?", 40% responded business while 28% said other nonprofits and 22% said government agencies.   And you all thought we were making this social enterprise stuff up.
• 44% of respondents want a time horizon of less than ten years to see a retturn on philanthropic investment.   I'm thinking this counts as patient capital in the for profit world, but is it in the nonprofit world?
• Finally 56% of respondents say that taxes impact their philanthropic giving.

It's an interesting read for those of us thinking about how the nonprofit world and the system of private philanthropy will develop over the next generation.

EWW