The Pentera Blog
Opportunity Is Knocking: Now’s the Time to Capitalize on the Anticipated Increase in Estate Gifts
Nonprofits can start thinking now about how to take advantage of an anticipated rise in estate gifts forecast in a new study by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
The report, “Philanthropy Outlook 2024 & 2025,” anticipates a 5.5% increase in charitable estate gifts in 2025—a rate significantly greater than the annualized growth rates for estate gifts recorded over the past 10-, 25-, and 40-year periods. It projects a more modest 2.7% rate of growth in estate gifts this year.
The forecast is based largely on the fact that donor net worth has risen in recent years and is expected to continue to grow at least in the near term. Estate gifts are largely dependent on a donor’s net worth at the time of their death, which is heavily influenced by home prices and the stock market. As the report notes, “Housing prices are expected to stay relatively high in 2023 and beyond, and the stock market is also projected to grow in the coming years, which would buoy growth in net worth.”
Pentera’s recent recommended marketing content for clients to use when promoting planned giving to donors has strategically focused on messaging about these important and timely topics.
The report also provides a promising outlook for overall charitable giving in the next two years. It anticipates total charitable giving will rise 4.2% in 2024 and 3.9% in 2025. This is based primarily on three factors: past and expected growth in household personal income, growth in the S&P 500 index, and average growth in net worth. If accurate, the projected increases would be higher than the historical 10-, 25-, and 40-year annualized average rates of charitable giving.
You can find the entire study here.
