Explaining the Wealth Transfer (Not!)

Paul Schervish and the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College produce very compelling research on the motivations of major donors. They are best known, however, for their highly-publicized $41 trillion wealth transfer projection, made in 1999, that was supposed to include $6-trillion in charitable bequests. Boards across this country responded with (ir?)rational exuberance, beefing up development departments to pull the money in hand over fist. Time has been cruel to those projections, as summarized in a Chronicle of Philanthropy article (4/06/2006) entitled, Much-Anticipated Transfer of Wealth Has Yet to Materialize, Nonprofit Experts Say." The nuances of "why" are explained in a new missive from the Center which is almost impenetrable. Predicting the future is, no doubt, a tricky business. Admitting you are wrong and explaining why shouldn't be nearly as hard.

Susan Herr