The most recent Bank of America Study of Philanthropy, published by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, comes on the heels of sweeping tax changes contained in 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. You can read a summary of the report here.

At Sharpe Group, our philosophy—and practice—is to inform fundraisers about tax policies and how to help donors structure gifts to take advantage of them while reminding them that taxes are the “icing on the cake.”

Time and time again, studies prove that the “cake” is a donor’s passion for and connection to your mission (confirmed, yet again, by the 2025 Study of Philanthropy report). According to this survey, 58% of affluent donors say the motivation behind their gifts is always belief in the mission. Add in another 38% who say they are sometimes motivated to give to an organization because of the mission, and 96% of those who give do so because they believe in you.

Other motivations that are always behind their giving are:

• They believe their gift can make a difference (40%.)
• They want to give back to their communities (28%).
• Personal satisfaction (28%).

The following chart reveals answers to the survey question “How often do you generally give …?”

Source: 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy

What about taxes?

Only 12% of respondents said that taxes are always the primary motivator with an additional 38% saying taxes are sometimes the main factor, leaving 50% who say that taxes never motivate their giving.

Including the tax consequences of a planned gift in your communications, particularly with your older and more affluent donors, is important because it tells the “whole” story. But remember, though tax cost or tax savings can affect the how, when and how much, they rarely affect the why. Your mission and the impact of giving on it is what makes the why worthwhile and that should be the overriding theme of all your communications.