AP Private | July August 2023
In Italy, donations amount to €10 billion a year, that is only 0,2% of Italy’s total assets, which currently stands at €5 thousand billion.
And yet, Americans, who are only six times as many, donate forty-eight times as much.
The second edition of the survey “L’esperienza filantropica dei wealthy people in Italia” conducted by FINER Finance Explorer for Fondazione Donor Italia on a sample of 1375 wealthy people whose wealth ranges between €500 thousand and €10 million offers some food for thought.
The survey reveals that all people interviewed have donated to at least one organization. However, the value of donations is quite low if compared to the value of the assets – indeed, only 5% of the people interviewed have donated over €100.000.
Donations are allocated to humanitarian and health emergency (47%), medical and scientific research (44%), social assistance and poverty alleviation (40%).
Entrepreneurs tend to donate more, with an average donation of € 12.350 (as compared to € 11.109 among people with assets worth between €5 and 10 million). Entrepreneurs tend to donate in a personal capacity (22%) and through their business (15%) or both (63%). Moreover, entrepreneurs tend to be more involved in voluntary activities (71%) and in the organization of fundraisings and charity events (49%).
Overall, the reasons behind philanthropy pertain to an intimate, emotional sphere. The number of people who seek the assistance of experts has been increasing, especially when it comes to succession planning (+41% as compared to the previous year) and donating in a smart way, without altering one’s lifestyle (+45% as compared to 2021).
Moreover, the survey reveals that benefactors struggle to find their way between the many requests from charitable organizations and many of them lament previous negative experiences and a lack of transparency on the part of third sector organizations. Nevertheless, 77% of wealthy people would be willing to donate in the future through their will. The underlying problem, then, remains the same: how to choose the right charitable organization?
79% of the sample tend to select autonomously a charitable organization to support; however, the role of bankers and advisors in this sense is growing in importance as compared to the previous year, coherently with what has been recorded abroad.
In fact, over half of the people interviewed claims to be interested in receiving philanthropic consultancy as part of their package of financial services.
Philanthropic consultancy contributes to increasing the clients’ sense of trust in the bank and in their private banker, supporting benefactors in the identification of suitable charitable organizations according to their interests, individual needs, in addition to the importance of the cause and effectiveness of the donation.
Italy has great potential for growth – for once, through the promotion of the Donor Advised Fund tool, a philanthropic fund bound to a specific goal and established within an existing foundation.
The importance of philanthropic consultancy has been testified by some of the protagonists of the sector in Italy, such as Stefania Pedroni, Head of Wealth Planning of Intesa Sanpaolo, Alessandra Losito, Head of Italy and Equity Partner of Pictet Wealth Management, and Paolo Spaziani, Family Governance UniCredit Wealth Management, who have commented upon the results of the survey.
Nicola Ronchetti