Correspondence: Claire Routley, Help The Aged 207-221 Pentonville Rd London, NI 9UZ. Tel: 020 7239 7558; E-mail: routley@helptheaged.org.uk

¹is a Ph.D. student at Bristol Business School, researching legacy giving motivations. She is Legacy and In Memoriam Marketing Manager for UK-based charity, Help the Aged.

²is the Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising at Indiana University. He was previously the chair of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Management at Henley Management College in the U.K, and a professor of nonprofit marketing at Bristol Business School. Professor Sargeant is the author of Fundraising Managementand Marketing Management for Nonprofit Organizationspublished by Routledge and the Oxford University Press, respectively.

³is a senior research fellow in the Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, and researches and teaches in nonprofit management and marketing, fundraising, and corporate community involvement. Wendy was part of the team on the Giving Australiaresearch study and has completed best practice fundraising studies in arts, sport, and medical research. Current research projects include work in local government and philanthropy as well as reviewing fundraising training in Australia.

Received 19 July 2007; Revised 19 July 2007.

Abstract

Bequests have played an important role in the foundation and development of many educational organizations. It is possible that as mortality rates increase, bequest income will become even more vital. In order to maximize income from this source, practitioners need to understand both who leaves bequests, and what their motivations may be for doing so. This study analyzes literature from the fields of marketing, sociology, economics, and sociology to provide an insight into both who gives and why. The findings show that individuals from across the donor base may be receptive to a bequest appeal, and that there appear to be both altruistic and egoistic motivations driving the bequest giving decision. The study concludes with suggestions as to how these findings may be incorporated into practitioners' bequest fundraising.