November 18, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Wealthy Americans who leave money to charity when they die give the largest share of their gifts — nearly one-third — to educational, medical, or scientific institutions, according to figures from the Internal Revenue Service.
Private foundations are the next biggest beneficiary of such bequests, receiving 31 per cent of the money.
Those conclusions are based on a review of more than 14,200 federal estate-tax returns that reported charitable bequests in 1995, the latest year for which the I.R.S. breaks down such information according to the type of recipients. Estate-tax returns must be filed for people whose assets are valued at $600,000 or more at their death.
The share of bequest dollars going to private foundations and educational institutions was up slightly in 1995 compared with 1992, while the share of gifts going to arts and humanities groups — 3 per cent — and to social-welfare organizations — less than 1 per cent — dropped slightly from three years earlier. In both years, about 10 per cent of the total bequest money went to religious groups.
The I.R.S. figures reveal differences between bequests left by men and women. Men left nearly 40 per cent of their gifts to private foundations, while women bequeathed less than one-quarter to such foundations. Women directed 4 per cent of their donations to arts and humanities groups — about three times the proportion that men left to such groups. Women were also more likely to give a greater share of contributions to religious organizations — donations to such groups accounted for 12 per cent of total gifts from women, compared with 7 per cent from men.
The bequest figures demonstrate a far different trend than data for overall giving. According to Giving USA, an annual report by the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy, contributions to churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions typically account for the biggest share of total donations. In 1998, for example, 44 per cent of all gifts — from foundations, corporations, and individuals (both during their lifetime and in bequests) — went to religious groups. Donations to educational institutions accounted for the next biggest share of gifts: 14 per cent.
The I.R.S. bequest data are published in its Statistics of Income Bulletin for summer 1999. Copies may be obtained for $19 each from the Superintendent of Documents, P. O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh 15250-7954. For more information, see the I.R.S. Web site at http://www.irs.gov.
