The Planned Giving Pulse interviewed Malcolm Burrows, Financial Consultant, Charities & Gift Planning, Scotia Private Client Group to get his take on where the planned giving industry is going in the next 10 years.

Planned Giving Pulse (PGP)- What are some of the trends you predict for the next 10 years in gift planning?

Malcolm Burrows (MB)– Most of the trends have probably already started.

Charitable Planning Support:

One of the key things that is really coming into its own is more charitable planning support from professional advisors. In the past, it has been largely a charity promoted process. Charities were the primary source of information with planning options. Increasingly, we are seeing more and more professional advisors initiating the estate planning process. That is changing at a major rate and it is going to have an impact on the level of charitable planning.

PGP – To what do you attribute these changes?

MB - There are a number of factors that have caused this. In Canada, charitable planning was not a “main stream,” it was a one-of niche. More people give during life. It is not only the number of people giving, but also the size of the gifts. Increasingly you are seeing, and I see this having moved over to the professional advisory side from the charitable sector, that interest is growing exponentially and increasing the encouragement for giving. Professional advisors are closer to the money than charities are. In many cases the planning advice they give can be more useful.

PGP - What are some of the specific trends you see?

MB - We are going to see far more life time gifts. Historically, there have been an emphasis on bequests. Gifts of assets that require major planning will be made during the lifetime, rather than in addition to a bequest. For example, giving a million dollar gift during life. By moving it up, we can help reduce taxes and help the donor experience the satisfaction during their life. You don’t give away assets without planning.

Good gift plans come out of a good relationships between advisors and charities. I see it happening more, initiated by more professionals. It is more sanctioned than it was in the past. Financial planners considered it to be outside their responsibility and knowledge base. A lot of the initiative has to be with the good work of charities to promote that. For example, charitable gift planning has increased exponentially since 1996. It is growing at twice the rate of the economy. Advisors are responding to their clients’ interest in giving to charity.

For a long time it was just the charities that were promoting it. The number of mature programs and marketing opportunities have made it much more high profile than it was in the past.

Demographic Changes

PGP - What are some of the other trends you anticipate?

MB - I also see larger and larger gifts going to charities and more people giving significant gifts. What is often cited is “the great wealth transfer.” Particularly over the next 15 years or so, what we are seeing, is that families are much smaller than they have been. More people are having children later, leading different lifestyles or having other priorities such as choosing not to have children. The birth rate is going down and affluence going up. That is going to lead to more gifts. I see a lot of people struggling with what to do with their wealth. The core gift planning donor for years has been the individual 70 plus without children. They are responsible for the majority of bequests. We are going to see more of these people and they are going to have more money.

PGP - Any other trends?

Change in Style and Products

MB - Increasingly, we are going to see gift planning move away from old style planned giving that was focused on a few products or vehicles. The new trend will be articulating an overall plan, rather than a bequest or life insurance policy. It is more of the growth of an overall plan than a product or a vehicle. This has been going on for a while but it is only going to be accelerated.

There is an increasing expectation of donors to have greater choice. We have all been trained as consumers that we have lots of options. There is an increasing demand for personalization, a greater choice for giving. In the past planned gifts were undesignated. As we move forward, consumers are going to be demanding more choice and more personalization. In the US, charitable planning options have become available in a “for profit” environment. Some people call this, “the commoditization of charitable giving.”

About Malcolm Burrows: Malcolm D. Burrows is a Financial Consultant, Charities & Gift Planning, with the Scotia Private Client Group. Malcolm heads charitable gift planning at the Scotia Private Client Group, where he advises private clients on philanthropy and private foundations.

He is one of Canada’s best-known charitable gift planners, with 13 years of experience in the charitable sector working for University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, and The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation. He has been Chair of Government Relations for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) since 2002. Through CAGP, he has contributed to new rules related to gifts of public securities, donation tax shelters, and charitable remainder trusts.