{"id":1857,"date":"2025-12-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:13:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:13:45","slug":"planned-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/planned-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned giving: the state of charitable bequests in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"Article\",\n  \"headline\": \"Planned Giving: The State of Charitable Bequests in the US\",\n  \"description\": \"Original research from USLegalWills.com analyzing over 10,000 Wills to reveal trends in charitable bequests  -  who gives, how much, and to which causes.\",\n  \"author\": {\n    \"@type\": \"Person\",\n    \"name\": \"Tim Hewson\",\n    \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\"\n  },\n  \"publisher\": {\n    \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n    \"name\": \"USLegalWills.com\",\n    \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\"\n  },\n  \"datePublished\": \"2017-02-15\",\n  \"dateModified\":\"2025-12-11\",\n  \"mainEntityOfPage\": \"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/planned-giving\/\",\n  \"speakable\": {\n    \"@type\": \"SpeakableSpecification\",\n    \"cssSelector\": [\".tldr-box\", \".entry-content h2\"]\n  }\n}<\/script>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"What percentage of Americans include a charitable bequest in their Will?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"According to USLegalWills.com data from over 10,000 Wills, 7.2% of users included a charitable bequest. Research by Russell James shows that among Americans aged 55+, only 5-6% have a charitable estate beneficiary. About half of Americans lack a Will entirely, making planned giving impossible for them.\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"What is the average size of a charitable bequest in a Will?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"The average specific-dollar charitable bequest is $9,389. The average residual estate percentage left to charity is about 14%, which translates to approximately $47,600 based on average estate values. Education receives the highest average at nearly $20,000 per bequest.\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Which charities receive the most bequests?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"Church and spiritual organizations are the most popular, receiving 27% of total charitable bequest value. Community charities follow at 17%, and animal-related charities at 16%. Arts and political organizations receive the smallest share at approximately 1% each.\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"What is planned giving?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"Planned giving is the practice of leaving money or assets to a charity through your Will. It allows you to make a significant charitable contribution that takes effect after your death, when the funds are no longer needed for your own living expenses. Bequests can be specific dollar amounts, percentages of your residual estate, or specific assets.\"\n      }\n    }\n  ]\n}<\/script><main>\n<article>\n<p><em>Originally published: February 15, 2017 | Last updated: December 11, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"tldr-box\" style=\"background:#f0f7fb;border-left:4px solid #2196F3;padding:15px 20px;margin:20px 0;border-radius:4px;\"><strong>TL;DR:<\/strong> USLegalWills.com studied more than 10,000 Wills which they combined into a single database to analyze how Americans plan their charitable donations. Key findings: 7.2% of Will-makers include a charitable bequest. The average specific-dollar bequest is $9,389. The largest number of bequests (27% of total value) flow to Church and spiritual organizations while Community charities receive 17% and Animal charities take 16%. The average value of residual estate bequests reaches 14% of the entire estate which amounts to about $47,600. People who want to donate more money than they can during their lifetime can use planned giving to make their donations.<\/div>\n\n<p>Our website demands total protection for all documents which users create through our platform. We cannot access information contained in any specific Will. The service allows us to view combined information from an encrypted database which shows user selections for our platform. We cannot connect this information to individual accounts. The research study gained its data from this specific information which serves as its data foundation.<\/p>\n\n<section>\n<h2>What Is Planned Giving and Why Does It Matter?<\/h2>\n<p>Planned giving is the practice of leaving money or assets to a charity through your Last Will and Testament. USLegalWills.com has helped numerous Americans create their Wills through our services which also let them include charitable bequests in their documents.<\/p>\n<p>The National Center for Charitable Statistics reported that Americans gave $258.51 billion to charity through individual donations during 2014 which represents a 7.1% growth from the previous year. The 2008 economic recession sparked a continuing rise in personal charitable contributions but these donations have yet to reach their previous peak before the recession.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/wordcloud-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Charitable giving word cloud from USLegalWills.com\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<p>The number of Americans who want to donate to charity keeps rising yet Russell James discovered that only 5-6% of people over 55 years old choose to include charitable donations in their estate plans. About 95% of Americans do not include charitable donations in their Wills. The statistic emerges because about half of American citizens have not established a Will which means they cannot create a planned giving arrangement.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>Why Should You Include a Charitable Bequest in Your Will?<\/h2>\n<p>People who want to donate to charity encounter obstacles which prevent them from giving large amounts of money during their lifetime. A charitable bequest solves this problem because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The funds no longer require protection because your donation will occur after you pass away which protects your financial stability<\/li>\n<li>People can donate larger amounts of money because bequests tend to exceed what they would have given while they were alive<\/li>\n<li>People can change their will through a later document which will cancel any previous bequests when circumstances evolve.<\/li>\n<li>You can add it to your Will through a simple process which requires only a few sentences in your document.<\/li>\n<li>The knowledge that your estate will create positive impact brings you peace throughout your life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>How Was This Study Conducted?<\/h2>\n<p>USLegalWills.com collected these statistics from more than 10,000 Wills which users created during a single year of operation. The data shows actual Wills which real Americans made instead of using survey data or questionnaire answers.<\/p>\n<p>Important caveats:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>People can make changes to their Wills during their life so bequests will change over time these numbers show only what exists at this moment.<\/li>\n<li>USLegalWills.com operates as an affordable estate planning portal which means it probably does not attract many clients who have extremely high net worth.<\/li>\n<li>The Australian research which examined probate documents discovered that statistical evidence did not prove Will preparation methods through self-writing or online services or legal assistance affected the inclusion of charitable donations in Wills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Who Is Including Charitable Bequests in Their Wills?<\/h2>\n<p>Our platform shows an equal distribution of male and female users who make up 44% and 56% respectively. During 2015-16 users who created Wills selected charitable bequests at a rate of 7.2%.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/demographics.jpeg\" alt=\"Demographics of Will writers\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<p>Most charitable bequests go to familiar organizations  &#8211;  local churches, franchise community charities like the Salvation Army, or causes the donor has a personal connection to. Our service prompts users about charitable giving generally but does not promote specific charities, meaning donors must enter charity details themselves.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What Types of Bequests Do People Make?<\/h3>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/nature-of-bequest.png\" alt=\"Nature of charitable bequests\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr><th>Bequest Type<\/th><th>Percentage<\/th><th>Example<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Specific dollar amount<\/td><td>59%<\/td><td>$5,000 to the Salvation Army<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Percentage of residual estate<\/td><td>34%<\/td><td>10% of remaining estate to local church<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Specific asset<\/td><td>7%<\/td><td>Painting collection to an art museum<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>Which Charitable Sectors Receive the Most Bequests?<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers assigned charitable donations to specific categories through their classification system.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/bequests-1024x550.jpeg\" alt=\"Charitable bequests by sector\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr><th>Sector<\/th><th>Description<\/th><th>Examples<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Church\/Spiritual<\/td><td>All religious denominations and organizations<\/td><td>Local churches, religious leaders<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Animal<\/td><td>Animal rescue, zoos, humane societies, wildlife<\/td><td>World Wildlife Fund, ASPCA<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Community<\/td><td>Organizations improving local communities<\/td><td>Salvation Army, United Way, shelters<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Health<\/td><td>Disease-specific charities<\/td><td>Cancer research, Alzheimer&#8217;s, Heart &#038; Stroke<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Hospital Foundations<\/td><td>Specific hospital fundraising arms<\/td><td>Local hospital foundations<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Education<\/td><td>Universities, schools, colleges<\/td><td>Alumni donations<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Environment<\/td><td>Conservation (non-animal)<\/td><td>Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>International Aid<\/td><td>Global humanitarian organizations<\/td><td>World Vision, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Arts<\/td><td>Galleries, museums, musical organizations<\/td><td>Local art galleries, choirs<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Special Interest<\/td><td>Professional bodies, memorial funds, clubs<\/td><td>Hobby groups, societies<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Politics<\/td><td>Political parties and organizations<\/td><td>Party donations<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>Church\/spiritual charities receive the most planned giving donations while animal-related charities come in second place. Arts and political organizations receive the smallest number of bequests.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/number-of-bequests.png\" alt=\"Number of bequests by sector\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>How Much Do People Leave to Charity in Their Wills?<\/h2>\n<p>The total mean average charitable bequest given as a specific dollar amount is <strong>$9,389<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/average-bequest.png\" alt=\"Average charitable bequest by sector\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<h3>Average Specific-Dollar Bequests by Sector<\/h3>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr><th>Sector<\/th><th>Average Bequest<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Education<\/td><td>~$20,000<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Church\/Spiritual<\/td><td>~$10,000<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Animal<\/td><td>~$5,000<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Overall Average<\/td><td><strong>$9,389<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>Education receives the highest average donation  &#8211;  likely because alumni commonly donate to their post-secondary institutions, and those donors tend to have higher incomes.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/amount-of-bequest.png\" alt=\"Bequest amounts by sector\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<h3>What About Residual Estate Percentages?<\/h3>\n<p>Residual estate bequests can represent significant sums. People who want to leave around $340,000 for their estate can create a valuable donation through even the smallest portion of their assets.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Average-residual.png\" alt=\"Average residual estate percentage by sector\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n\n<p>The average percentage of residual estate left to charity across all sectors is approximately <strong>14%<\/strong>, which translates to roughly <strong>$47,600<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr><th>Sector<\/th><th>Avg % of Residual Estate<\/th><th>Est. Dollar Value<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Animal<\/td><td>21%<\/td><td>~$71,400<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Environment<\/td><td>20%<\/td><td>~$68,000<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Hospital Foundations<\/td><td>18%<\/td><td>~$61,200<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Arts<\/td><td>9%<\/td><td>~$30,600<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Politics<\/td><td>2%<\/td><td>~$6,800<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>An interesting pattern emerges: animal, environmental, community, and hospital foundation charities receive lower specific-dollar amounts but higher residual estate percentages. The data indicates that people who donate to these causes probably earn less money but they dedicate more of their estate to charity. Education donors, by contrast, tend to be higher earners who leave smaller percentages that translate to larger absolute amounts.<\/p>\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Number-of-bequests2.png\" alt=\"Total distribution across charitable sectors\" width=\"912\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:15px 0;\" \/>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>How Is the Total Value of Charitable Bequests Distributed?<\/h2>\n<p>When combining all bequest types (specific amounts, residual percentages, and specific assets), the total distribution across charitable sectors is:<\/p>\n\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr><th>Sector<\/th><th>Share of Total Value<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Church\/Spiritual<\/td><td>27%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Community<\/td><td>17%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Animal<\/td><td>16%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Health<\/td><td>~10%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Hospital Foundations<\/td><td>~8%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Education<\/td><td>~7%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Environment<\/td><td>~5%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>International Aid<\/td><td>~4%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Special Interest<\/td><td>~3%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Arts<\/td><td>~1%<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Politics<\/td><td>&lt;1%<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>The distribution follows the number of bequests in each category with only slight deviations between them. The main recipients of bequests consist of Church and spiritual organizations which receive the most numerous and valuable donations.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>How Can You Include a Charitable Bequest in Your Will?<\/h2>\n<p>The process of adding a charitable bequest to your Will is simple to complete. USLegalWills.com offers a dedicated section for charitable giving during the Will-writing process. You can specify:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>specific dollar amount<\/strong> to one or more charities<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>percentage of your residual estate<\/strong> after other distributions<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>specific asset<\/strong> such as a vehicle, artwork, or collection<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even leaving just 1% of your estate to charity can make a meaningful difference. On a $340,000 estate, that is $3,400  &#8211;  a significant contribution to any organization.<\/p>\n<p>If you are a charity interested in partnering with USLegalWills.com to promote planned giving, please contact us at support@uslegalwills.com.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<section>\n<h2>Related Articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/how-to-write-a-will-your-10-step-guide-to-success\/\">How to Write a Will: Your 10 Step Guide to Success<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/need-a-will\/\">Why You Need a Will  &#8211;  And Why Your Excuses Make No Sense<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/are-there-even-fewer-americans-with-wills\/\">Are There Even Fewer Americans Without Wills?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/writing-your-will-we-can-help-with-the-definitive-guide\/\">Writing Your Will: The Definitive Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/cost-of-a-will\/\">Cost of a Will: From Zero to $2,000<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/main>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published: February 15, 2017 | Last updated: December 11, 2025 TL;DR: USLegalWills.com studied more than 10,000 Wills which they combined into a single database to analyze how Americans plan their charitable donations. Key findings: 7.2% of Will-makers include a charitable bequest. The average specific-dollar bequest is $9,389. The largest number of bequests (27% of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[183],"tags":[184,135,197,114],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-charities","tag-estate-planning","tag-survey","tag-write-your-will"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Planned giving: the state of charitable bequests in the US<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"USLegalWills.com is able to uniquely analyze the user data from thousands of Wills of living Americans. This is a snapshot of planned giving in the US.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.uslegalwills.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Planned giving: the state of charitable bequests in the US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"USLegalWills.com is able to uniquely analyze the user data from thousands of Wills of living Americans. 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