CHARITABLE GIVING Sara Neely
TALKING ABOUT TALKING ABOUT PHILANTHROPY
The Advisor/Client Conversation • Two-thirds of the wealth in Canada is self-made. • Others have inherited their wealth. • Entrepreneurship is the dominant source of self-made wealth. • By 2025, 2 million Canadians will retire; 1 million of them will be businessowners. • A $1 trillion transfer of wealth from one generation of Canadians to the next is expected over the next 20 years. Those are some facts and figures shared at the recent national conference on strategic giving, hosted by the Canadian Association of Gift Planners. The conference offered a mix of sessions, from the technical aspects of charitable-giving vehicles to the inspiring stories about why people give and the impact their gifts1 have in our world. This year, there was a lot of “talking about talking” . . . how to add value to the relationship between the professional advisor and client or between the charity and the donor, by having deeper conversations about the motivations behind the gift. 1 W hile giving may include gifts of time, talent, or treasure, this article is focused on gifts of treasure.
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The facts and figures point to the urgency of having those conversations now, as we work together to release the good that is possible when Canadians are well positioned to make their chosen philanthropic gifts. That may be, for example, when a business is sold, an inheritance is received, or a legacy gift is planned. Or it may be as simple as when the time is right for the donor. By engaging in the conversation, the giving moments will be revealed.
This article focuses on the advisor/client conversation. People have different motivations for giving. This article focuses on the advisor/ client conversation. People have different motivations for giving. It is important for the advisor to discover the motivations to facilitate the right gift at the right time. In so doing, the advisor is adding value to the business relationship with the client. To gain a better understanding of the nature of the philanthropic conversation in Canada, the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, BMO Harris Private Banking, GIV3, and Philanthropic Foundations of Canada collaborated in 2014 on a research project, The Philanthropic Conversation,2 to explore 2 https://www.cagp-acpdp.org/resource/ research-publications
The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
the approaches of financial advisors in their dealings with High Net Worth clients. The idea stemmed from a US study that indicated many High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) would appreciate and value the advice of their financial advisors in helping them attain their philanthropic goals, but those conversations seldom happen. When they do, they tend to focus on the technical and tax aspects of giving, while the clients would prefer to talk about the “why” of giving—their passions and the impact they want to have through their gift. The US study also revealed this disconnect is not limited to the financial advisory profession; other professions were similar. The Canadian study looked at giving behaviours of HNWIs,3 motivations and barriers to giving, the nature of the conversation, and the benefits to both the financial advisor4 and the client of having those conversations. • People give because they want to have an impact on their world, whether that is close to home or on an international level. They are passionate about a cause or they give as an expression of their compassion for others. 3 A random sample of individuals with investable assets greater than $1 million 4 A random sample of 258 financial advisors with HNW clients with investable assets greater than $1 million
Volume 26 Number 2 Summer 2017
