Money attitudes driving charitable bequest intentions: Understanding legacy‐gift segments to inform nonprofit communication strategy

This study examines how various money attitudes and demographic factors influence individuals' stated likelihood and intended estate share for a charitable bequest in a future will. Principal components analysis of U.S. survey responses to 29 items capturing money‐related attitudes identified four key money‐attitude factors: Money‐as‐Status, Financial‐Anxiety, Financial‐Planning, and Bargain‐Seeking. Regression analyses revealed that Financial‐Planning and Bargain‐Seeking related positively to the likelihood of leaving a charitable estate gift, whereas Money‐as‐Status significantly predicted the percentage share of the estate allocated to charity. Additional demographics, especially having no children, further explained increased intentions to give. The money‐attitude dimensions that guide charitable bequest participation intentions differ from those that guide charitable bequest magnitude intentions. This provides important implications for understanding effective legacy giving communications. For example, emphasizing tax benefits may appeal to Bargain‐Seeking attitudes and has also proven empirically effective. Emphasizing financial, retirement, and tax planning oriented charitable options may appeal to Financial‐Planning attitudes. Finally, the common features of very large estate gifts (e.g., named endowments and foundations) match with appeals to Money‐as‐Status attitudes. These findings can help nonprofit professionals design targeted strategies to increase charitable giving from estates.