With Giving Season in Full Force, Seeking to Understand Donors

A new report by U.S. Trust, which revisited questions asked two decades ago, piqued my interest because it challenged some of the accepted wisdom about how people give money — or at least how most of us think they give their money away: The advice they're getting is not the advice they want. Tax rates matter very little when donors are making a gift. When people are hesitant to give money to a charity, it is not because they are worried about giving away money they might need.