Do-good donors drop

HIGH NET WORTH PEOPLE: DOWN FROM 91% IN 2012 TO 83% IN 2018

Sustained tough economic climate is being felt by all – The Giving Report.

While the number of high networth individuals who donate money, time or goods is still high, the fourth edition of The Giving Report released by Nedbank shows the number has been consistently declining since 2010.

In 2010, when Nedbank first launched the report that provides insights into the philanthropic behaviour of South Africa’s affluent, 94% said they gave their money, time or goods to social causes. Last year, it was down to 83% and in 2015 it was 88% from 91% in 2012.

The decline is unsurprising, writes Iolanda Ruggiero, managing executive at Nedbank Wealth. “The effects of the sustained tough economic climate have trickled down and are being felt by all,” she stated.

To qualify as a high networth individual one must earn R1.5 million per annum or own investable assets of over R5 million excluding one’s primary residence. The fourth edition of The Giving Report conducted interviews with a sample of 430 high net-worth individuals who had to answer 70 questions which looked at the amounts they gave last year, what causes they were donating to, and why they chose those causes.

While the number of donors has been dwindling, the value given by those who remain has increased, with high net-worth individuals donating R6 billion in cash last year compared to R4.2 billion in the 2015 report. Those who did not give increased to 17% last year compared to 12% in 2015.

The survey found that the most common reason for not giving, from 29% of the respondents, was “not being in a financial position to do so”.

The report states that 64% of these individuals earned between R1.5 million and R2 million per year and 28% had a net worth of less than R5 million.

This is similar to global trends as shown in a recent Barclays Barriers to Giving Report which found that 75% of high net-worth individuals believe that supporting philanthropy is “a responsibility of those wealthier than themselves” and “42% believe that making extra donations wouldn’t be enough to have a significant impact”.

University of Cape Town (UCT) vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng was keynote speaker at the launch of The Giving Report. In 2018, she pledged to donate 10% of her salary to help fund black postgraduate students.