Philanthropy Research Highlights and How This Supports DEI
I will summarize some of my research findings about bequests and I will explain why I utilized the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) publicly available dataset. Specifically, I will discuss my research comparing Caucasians and African Americans on their self-rated importance of leaving a bequest to family, charity, and religion, possible reasons for the bequest gap, and what opportunities this presents for education and service to an underserved community. I will wrap up with my study that explores whether lifetime donors to different types of charities also differ in the importance they place on leaving a charitable bequest. As a whole, individuals give more during life, through annual and major gifts, than they do at death. Many of these donors are an untapped resource for planned gifts, some more than others, and this data about which donor types are most likely to be interested in a charitable bequest could inform our conversations about philanthropy.