According to report published by Barclay’s Wealth, a global wealth manager, the future of charitable giving is changing along with the attitudes of high net worth donors* in the US and the UK. This “new age of philanthropy” is filled with charitable people who are socially involved. Here are some of the statistics from the report:

• 1/3 of wealthy parents believe their children will have a better sense of social responsibility and will be more generous.

• Women donate more of their wealth than men – In the US, women give 3.5% of their total net worth, while men give about 1.8%

• Rich US individuals donate more time (3 times as much) and money (4 times as much) than their British counterparts, although there seems to be a shift towards the American way of giving in the UK.

In relation to the economy:

• Wealthy people consider philanthropy to be very valuable and will cut back on other expenses before downscaling their giving

• While high net worth individuals have cut their donations by 2.2%, young donors have actually increased their giving by 3-4% to help charities survive the recession

• 77% of high net worth individuals said they would not decrease their donations even in this recession

Finally, some changing trends in regards to wealthy donors:

• 45% of high level donors (giving away $10,000+) want to give away their money in their lifetime so they can see its impact

• 78% of high net worth donors think charities are inefficient organizations, so there will be an increased demand for charities to be transparent in how they spend their money

• More charities and individuals will utilize the Internet as a giving platform

• Wealthy individuals will increasingly use professional advisors to determine how to make the most impact with their donations

* The wealthy individuals this survey measured included 350 individuals with $1 million+ in investable assets and 150 individuals with $5 million+ in investable assets

Information taken from: “New Age of Philanthropy Points to Increased Social Awareness, Barclay’s Wealth Research Shows.” 14 July 2009. Business Wire. 15 July 2009. <www.businesswire.com>.