Beyond Wealth: What Actually Creates Generosity
Capacity + inclination: why financial means alone rarely lead to giving — and what philanthropy can learn from psychology, partnerships and the for-profit sector.
Most of us can probably think of people in our orbit who have significant financial capacity to give — successful business owners, senior executives, investors and families who have experienced substantial wealth creation — but who aren’t actively engaged in philanthropy. At least not yet.
Sometimes they attend charity events.
Sometimes they sit on the edges of community initiatives.
Sometimes they express genuine interest in social impact and important causes.
Sometimes they are even board members of organisations they care deeply about — passionate enough to contribute their time, expertise and leadership — but not yet financially contributing to the very cause they champion.
And it makes me think about something I see often in philanthropy: capacity and inclination are not the same thing. Side note: I wrote about this topic in a recent substack, in case you want to see my initial thinking on it.
The philanthropy sector spends enormous energy identifying capacity — analysing wealth, mapping networks, researching family offices and building prospect lists. And rightly so. Financial capacity matters.
But increasingly, I think the more interesting question is not who has the means to give?
It’s:
What actually creates inclination?
Because wealth alone rarely creates generosity.
In Australia, around 50% of people earning more than $1 million annually do not claim a charitable tax deduction. They do not give one single cent.
That tells us something important. There is enormous untapped philanthropic potential already sitting within our communities, companies, networks and institutions.
This isn’t a criticism.
Many people simply haven’t yet found:
a cause that feels personally meaningful
a trusted pathway into giving
social norms around philanthropy
or an invitation compelling enough to move them from passive support to active contribution.
And perhaps we should stop assuming generosity is automatic.
Instead, we should become more thoughtful about what inspires it.
Capacity + Inclination
I’ve started thinking about philanthropy through a very simple lens:
Philanthropic engagement = capacity + inclination
Capacity is financial ability.
Inclination is motivation.
And inclination is deeply human.
It is shaped by identity, timing, trust, aspiration, belonging, visibility, values and emotional connection. It’s different for every individual, every family and every organisation.
For some people, inclination comes from lived experience — a hospital that cared for a loved one, a scholarship that changed the course of their life, a community they once relied on.
For others, it’s legacy. The opportunity to create something enduring. To give back publicly. To align their name with impact and purpose.
For corporates, inclination may be connected to:
brand alignment
employee engagement
ESG priorities
customer trust
reputation
industry leadership
or a desire to demonstrate values in action.
For emerging philanthropists, it may simply be about feeling welcomed into a space that can otherwise seem opaque, intimidating or unfamiliar.
This is why philanthropy can’t rely on a single message, event or approach.
What creates inclination for one person may do absolutely nothing for another.
What Can Philanthropy Learn from the For-Profit Sector?
One of the things I think the philanthropy sector could do more confidently is learn from the for-profit world.
The corporate sector invests billions understanding customer behaviour, emotional drivers and decision-making. Sales teams think deeply about trust, timing, repetition, positioning, relationships and conversion journeys.
There is a lot we can learn from that.
A sales director I once worked with told me that if someone is trying to sell him something, he waits until they’ve reached him in at least three different formats before he even starts paying attention.
It stayed with me because philanthropy often works the same way.
Rarely does a single invitation, event or email instantly create generosity.
Inclination is often built slowly:
through repeated exposure
trusted relationships
emotional resonance
social proof
thoughtful storytelling
and timing.
I was also listening recently to the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, in an episode titled Fortune Favours the Bold Fundraiser with Ben Swart, and one story stayed with me.
In this episode, Ben tells the story of a fundraiser who approached the same trust and foundation eighteen times before ultimately securing support.
Eighteen.
She was certain that they fitted the brief (of the giving vehicle) but she admitted they just hadn’t cracked the code to what would ultimately give them the win!
And in the context of this substack, it made me reflect on the fact that generosity — particularly at significant levels — is rarely activated instantly.
Timing matters.
Trust matters.
Relationships matter.
Relevance matters.
It also made me think: How committed are we really to getting that gift? How quickly do many of us give up after a single unanswered email, declined invitation or unsuccessful pitch. Sometimes clients will say to me ‘we tried once, we were unsuccessful’!
Perhaps one of the real questions for the philanthropy sector is:
How invested are we really in cultivating inclination?
That’s a conversation I’d like to explore more deeply in a future piece.
Because if inclination is deeply personal and different for everyone, then perhaps our role is not simply to ask once — but to thoughtfully create multiple pathways for connection over time.
Recognition Matters More Than We Sometimes Admit
If you’re truly thinking about what drives someone to give, then I also think we should acknowledge the role identity, visibility and recognition play in giving.
Sometimes they really matter.
Naming rights, ambassador roles, public partnerships and visible leadership opportunities can all help transform inclination into action.
Particularly in corporate philanthropy, generosity is often connected to identity and positioning as much as altruism.
Side note: this isn’t always true, particularly with funders that give based on their faith, sometimes they want to give without the involvement of ego. But often we can find it acknowledgement helps.
Human beings are motivated by a whole range of things, such as:
meaning, belonging, status, legacy and connection.
The most effective philanthropic models often understand how to align these motivations with social impact in thoughtful and authentic ways. And also new and exciting ways - how good is it when we see new and innovative ideas?
The Opportunity Is Engagement
What I find most optimistic about all of this is that it suggests there is still enormous untapped generosity sitting all around us.
In our communities.
Our companies.
Our boardrooms.
Our friendship networks.
Our events.
The opportunity may not simply be finding more wealth.
It may be getting better at cultivating inclination.
Because the future of philanthropy may depend less on identifying capacity — and more on understanding human motivation.
How do we help people feel connected?
Inspired?
Needed?
Part of something meaningful?
How do we turn passive proximity into active generosity?
Beyond wealth, generosity is ultimately about connection — and understanding what moves people to act.
Want to Go Deeper?
If you’re thinking about how this might apply in your own organisation — whether that’s:
engaging people in your community who have capacity but aren’t yet giving
building more intentional donor and philanthropic journeys
strengthening how you cultivate board members, corporate partners or emerging philanthropists
or shifting from transactional fundraising to deeper, more meaningful relationships
we can help.
At Equitable Philanthropy, we work with organisations to:
design thoughtful, values-aligned philanthropy and donor engagement strategies
better understand what motivates different donor audiences and stakeholders
build stewardship journeys that create trust, connection and long-term engagement
and develop approaches to fundraising that are relational, strategic and human-centred
Because cultivating generosity rarely happens through a single ask — it happens through thoughtful engagement over time.
Get in touch: Catherine@epadvisory.co