“Cashflow planning can help them see what they can afford to give away, especially important where individuals want to sponsor a particular project which could require years of ongoing support.”
Goals and motivations
Ingram advocates the widely held belief that financial advice is ultimately about peace of mind.
“The benefit of financial planning is to provide underlying resilience and peace of mind to an individual and their family. Once that is achieved, the only purpose of money is to provide happiness and satisfaction to its owner. How this will be achieved will vary for each person, but for many individuals doing good with their money will bring as much happiness as buying stuff or having an expensive holiday.”
She says that younger generations encapsulate this approach to money by choosing experiences over material wealth, and charitable giving is one such experience.
As Bird puts it, it’s a case of thinking not only what can a person’s money buy, but what can their money actually “do”.
The younger generation who inherit wealth are increasingly aware that it carries responsibility, according to Constable.
“Young people are becoming more likely to consider philanthropy as concern grows for planet and people”.
Lawson’s experience has taught him that “the sooner you engage with children about giving, the more likely they are to give themselves.
Ingram reports that behavioural science indicates that most people’s attitudes towards money will be embedded by the age of 7. She says “If families have a strong desire to teach philanthropy to their children then they will usually share those values.”
Picking a charity to donate to that a child can relate to can be a good idea. “For example, sponsoring a guide dog on which they get regular updates, or donating to a charity that helps other children, can be good options,” she says.
The next generation is more likely to align wealth with purpose and values. They are already “pushing for new models of philanthropy that blend with strategies for investing (such as impact investing) and the support of social enterprise”.
However, Agnew feels a problem for philanthropy is “the next generation’s desire for fast results.” This poses a challenge for charities as they seek to “generate long term solutions to what are often intractable, complex global challenges that exist across systems and countries”.
Despite the challenges it would appear that philanthropic giving is on the rise. With the right conditions, it has the potential for many mutual benefits and wins for families, communities and planet.
