June 4, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
Only 6 per cent of Michigan adults intend to leave money to charity in their wills, according to a survey conducted by Michigan State University.
The survey found that 38 per cent of Michigan residents over age 18 have a will, but of those, only 15 per cent include a monetary bequest to a charity.
A third of those planning a bequest have directed their gift to a charity’s endowment, while 41 per cent directed it to current programs. A fourth of respondents said they did not know how their bequests would be used.
Researchers found no clear trend for giving by income level, but they did find age-group differences.
Sixteen per cent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they had a will, and 32 per cent of those people said they planned to use it to leave money to charity.
Among older people, half of those ages 60 to 69 said they had a will, but only 6.1 per cent said they intended to use it to leave money to charity. Among those 70 to 79 years old, nearly 70 per cent said they had a will but only 11.3 per cent said they intended to use it to donate money.
In a separate question, 45 per cent of respondents said they had given money to a charity’s endowment fund sometime in the past.
The survey drew responses from 767 people. It has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.
For a free copy of the survey results, contact Mark Wilson, associate professor of geography and urban planning, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, 321 Berkey, East Lansing, Mich. 48824-1111, (517) 355-6672; e-mail wilsonmm@pilot.msu.edu
