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Philanthropy is a growth opportunity for financial advisors.
This is one of the main points of Unlocking Generosity: The Advisor’s Role in Inspiring Purpose and Impact, AEF’s research-based white paper.
It was developed to equip financial advisors with practical insights, frameworks, and behavioral techniques to bridge the charitable planning gap and strengthen client relationships.
Download the paper to see why philanthropy is now a cornerstone of modern wealth management, how leading advisors seamlessly integrate giving conversations into their practices, and what practical, actionable strategies help clients and families give with greater purpose, clarity, and confidence.
Highlights of Unlocking Generosity
Philanthropy is more than an act of giving. It is a catalyst for connection, purpose, and lasting impact.
Advisors play a uniquely powerful role in unlocking the generosity of their clients to allow philanthropy to flourish.
In Unlocking Generosity: The Advisor’s Role in Inspiring Purpose and Impact, AEF and its partners explore this concept in detail, offering data, research, case studies, and more to advance the practice of charitable planning within the advisory profession. Here, we present some of the paper’s key points and findings.
Download the full document to learn more.
Why This Conversation Matters Now
There is currently a major disconnect between client expectations and delivery:
Clients seek more than performance. Wealth is increasingly tied to concepts of identity and legacy – and today’s clients want their wealth to reflect their values. Advisors are being asked to guide meaning, not just money.
Advisors who lead conversations about philanthropy are redefining what holistic wealth management looks like – and opening growth opportunities for their practices.
The charitable planning gap persists because many advisors focus on the “how” of giving – tax efficiency, charitable vehicle selection, structure and more – while clients want guidance on the “why”: identifying values, clarifying purpose, and making philanthropy personally meaningful.
While this gap represents a failure in service, it also presents an opportunity for advisors.
The key takeaway of Unlocking Generosity is that philanthropy is not a side conversation – it is a strategic growth driver and hallmark of holistic wealth management.
Advisors who seamlessly and effectively integrate charitable planning into discovery, estate, and legacy conversations can:
- Deepen trust and client retention, encouraging loyalty, engagement, satisfaction, and referrals by making clients feel seen and understood.
- Differentiate their practice through purpose-driven advice, standing out in a crowded marketplace.
- Engage and unify multiple generations, leading to a “leapfrog effect” where deep client relationships expand to other family members.
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Strangers in the Land of Wealth
First-Generation Wealth Holders
Many of today’s wealth creators are first-generation wealth holders. Rather than growing up wealthy, nearly 80% of wealthy Americans today report that they were raised in middle-class or working-class households.
These clients lack a philanthropic roadmap and need cultural fluency around giving – not just technical execution. This is where the strain of the charitable planning gap is really felt.
It’s also a major source of opportunity for advisors who can unlock generosity by expanding how clients think about giving – through time, talent, influence, or financial support.
For more information on this topic, see section 1.0 of Unlocking Generosity.
Find more insights on today’s wealth holders.
Why People Give
The “Warm Glow” Effect & the Donor Journey
Understanding this motivation is key to effectively integrating philanthropic planning into advisory practices. Guiding clients toward this “warm glow,” helping them align their giving with their values, unlocks a sense of purpose, enhances their well-being, and strengthens their loyalty and trust in the advisory relationship. Section 2.0 of Unlocking Generosity expands on this concept.
Getting clients to that point is all about the donor journey as described in section 3.0 of Unlocking Generosity – going from inspiration to purpose, shifting generosity from transactional to transformational. Advisors can help clients move along this journey, determining what motivates them.
Personal experience
Faith
Family
Ethnic or cultural heritage
Current events and catastrophes
Recognition
To unlock this for a client, advisors must learn to ask the right questions – reflective questions that cause them to stop and think. For more on this, check out section 4.0 of Unlocking Generosity.
Learn how to ask the right questions to potential donors.
Giving, Generational, & Gender Insights
Among these changes is a shift in “philanthropic philosophy” that could be attributed to increased geopolitical and environmental crises, the rise of new technologies, the expansion of giving vehicles, and the expansion of giving from millennials and Gen Z.
These shifts include:
- Increasing demand for transparency and trust
- Increasing desire for tangible impact
- The growing influence of technology in giving
- Increased desire for direct involvement
This correlates with the rise of crisis giving – donations that correspond with economic, social, geopolitical, and environmental upheaval.
How Different Generations Give
- Younger generations (millennials and Gen Z) are more loyal to specific causes than charities.
- Older donors are more motivated by a sense of obligation, while younger donors are more influenced by personal values and social issues.
- Younger generations tend to support social justice, sustainability, and climate action causes, while older donors are more likely to support religious organizations, educational opportunities, animal welfare, and cultural causes.
Gender-Specific Differences in Giving & The Great Wealth Transfer
While many take this to mean advisors should court the next generation, the first major transfer will be to surviving spouses rather than children.
That indicates that the Great Wealth Transfer road runs largely through women.
Advisors who engage surviving spouses meaningfully—often through philanthropy—retain relationships. To prepare for the Great Wealth Transfer, advisors must understand some of the ways women often differ in their giving preferences.
Women tend to:
- Be more generous when giving
- Be more concerned with societal well-being
- Appreciate collaborative giving
- Exert greater influence over a family’s charitable decision-making
- Give with a gender lens
You can find more information, facts, and figures surrounding generational and gender-based differences in giving in section 5.0 of Unlocking Generosity.
Understand the Who, How, What, & Why of Charitable Giving Now
Understanding your clients—and their motivations—is crucial to having the conversations they need to hear about philanthropy.
Unlocking Generosity: The Advisor’s Role In Inspiring Purpose and Impact can help you with these insights and many more.
Advisor Barriers to Charitable Planning
While clients may have barriers to giving, advisors may also have barriers to holding charitable planning conversations. Many advisors struggle to effectively guide clients on their philanthropic journeys, particularly when it comes to moving beyond the technical and transactional aspects.
Advisors tend to lack expertise in charitable planning, which makes them reluctant to raise the topic. As explained in section 8.0 of Unlocking Generosity, reasons these conversations tend to lag behind include:
- Knowledge Gaps: Advisors may feel unprepared to offer guidance on all aspects of charitable planning, like the structuring of donor-advised funds (DAFs) or foundations.
- Fear of Exposure: If advisors feel they lack expertise, they may fear being “caught out” by clients.
- Training Deficit: There’s currently no central source of knowledge from which advisors can receive training, leading to a lack of confidence or process.
- Perceived Administrative Burden: Advisors may be concerned about adding to their workload.
- Unclear Business Benefit: Some advisors are unsure how these conversations benefit their practice and may fear AUM reduction.
Additionally, some advisors have an over-reliance on technical expertise, missing the human component these conversations necessitate.
Conversely, advisors who excel in charitable planning conversations exhibit several patterns:
- Commitment to continuous learning
- Exposure to high and ultra-high-net-worth clients
- Team-based approach to support complex cases
- Personal alignment with philanthropy
- Cultural reinforcement within advisory teams
Reinforcing one’s facilitative capabilities, while promoting human connection and empathy, is a great place to start for advisors who want to close the gap.
Once dismissed as “soft skills,” these are now recognized as critical professional competencies – and crucial for any advisor looking to incorporate charitable planning into their practice.
Client Barriers to Giving
- Paradox of Choice: Too many options available, leading to analysis and decision paralysis.
- Scarcity Mindset: Fear that they don’t have enough resources available, especially when their money has been earned through a lifetime rather than gained in a windfall.
- Lack of Trust: Uncertainty about the impact of their donations or charitable effectiveness.
- Family Dynamics: Conflict or a lack of clarity surrounding the family’s shared purpose.
- Lack of Time and Urgency: Clients overwhelmed by competing priorities may decide that philanthropy can “wait for another day.”
Integrating Philanthropic Advice Into Your Practice
The barriers facing both advisors and clients may seem daunting, but they aren’t insurmountable. Effectively integrating philanthropic conversations into your practice starts with evolving your capabilities.
Leading advisors are prioritizing philanthropic planning conversations, developing custom frameworks to guide clients, and creating processes that help clients identify their values and align their giving accordingly.
Two key examples of strategies or frameworks advisors can use include mental framing and bucketing. Mental framing is about the way information is presented – the “lens” through which a choice or situation is viewed. For example, reframing the concept of giving as “opportunities gained” rather than “sacrifices made” or “assets lost.”
More on these concepts can be found in section 10.0 of Unlocking Generosity. Further, section 11.0 offers interviews with advisors who have been successful in this space, describing the mindsets they take into charitable planning.
The Evolution of Advisory Practice:
Where Philanthropy Fits
Stockbrokers:
Transactional market access and trade execution
Investment
Managers:
Strategic asset allocation and portfolio management
Wealth Managers:
Integrated financial planning, tax efficiency, estate planning, and cash management
Family Wealth
Advisors:
Family governance, succession planning, trust services, and philanthropy management
Generational Wealth Advisors:
Legacy consulting, generational estate strategy, values integration, and wealth education across multiple generations. Generational Wealth Advisors distinguish themselves “By centering their practices on human potential, health, purpose, and belonging, they differentiate themselves from family wealth professionals. Embarking on a practice as a generational wealth advisor requires advisors to have a deep understanding of their own practices, who they serve, and how they want to serve their clients and help them plan for future generations.”
Read Unlocking Generosity to See How Philanthropy Can Impact Your Advisory Practice
Helping clients align money with meaning strengthens relationships, enhances impact, and elevates advisory practice. With the right mindset and a commitment to closing the charitable planning gap, you can successfully incorporate philanthropy into your practice.
Read Unlocking Generosity: The Advisor’s Role In Inspiring Purpose and Impact to find the insights and best practices you need to get started.
Get your
copy now.
Get your copy now.