New research shows that affluent individuals’ commitment to philanthropy is progressing in tandem in Asia and Europe and moving more slowly in the Middle East.
BNP Paribas and Forbes Insights on Tuesday released the Individual Philanthropy Index in Paris and New York, measuring individuals’ commitment to giving in the three regions in terms of amounts donated, innovation and the effort invested to promote causes.
The index is based on a survey conducted by Forbes Insights in January and February of 300 individuals across the three regions with at least $5 million in investable assets.
Europe had a total index score of 51.2 out of 100 and Asia 50.3, “putting them at a halfway mark in their progress toward total commitment to individual philanthropy.”
The Middle East trailed at 33.2. However, researchers noted that the latter’s lower score “might be partly explained by the religious injunction to be discreet about one’s giving.”
A third of all survey respondents said they gave 15% or more of their annual income to charity, and 17% intended to leave 30% or more of their fortune to charity.
In fact, about a dozen philanthropists outside the U.S. have joined the three-year-old Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge initiative, with the two most recent pledge signers coming from Britain and Taiwan.