Building Adviser Confidence With Charity Planning

While only 39% of surveyed financial advisers offered a charitable giving plan as part of their annual financial planning process, almost all who did reported many additional benefits for their practices, according to a recent white paper published by global investment firm T. Rowe Price.

A survey conducted between June and October 2025 of 110 advisers who actively offered charitable giving services found that 92% of respondents saw benefits from working with clients on charity donations, including 21% gaining new clients, 23% seeing increased revenue, 31% getting more referrals, 67% reporting increased client trust and 54% reporting increased client retention. Only 8% of respondents saw no measurable business impact.

Nevertheless, only 40% of advisers surveyed said they were very confident having conversations about philanthropy.

Of the majority who were not confident, 58% said they wanted more formal training or education, 57% wanted support from other experts like certified public accountants or attorneys, 55% wanted materials to share with clients and 32% wanted a conversation framework guide.

The white paper found that nearly half (47%) of advisers who were comfortable discussing philanthropy with clients had access to tools and resources to support those conversations.

Among responding advisers, 39% said they discussed charity planning with clients annually, 30% did it semiannually, 21% did so on an ad hoc basis, and only 10% had quarterly conversations with clients.

Additionally, as part of the same quantitative survey, T. Rowe Price questioned 525 investors—both high-net-worth individuals and high-income earners—and learned that of the 75% who worked with an adviser, only 36% said they received charitable planning support. The portion that worked with advisers on charitable giving claimed a 96% satisfaction rate. More than one-third (35%) of all responding investors said they wanted an adviser to raise philanthropy proactively and provide guidance.

“By providing advisers with structured frameworks, practical tools and insight-led content, firms can help strengthen both the process and the outcomes of charitable conversations—supporting deeper client relationships and more purposeful planning,” the white paper authors wrote.