French generosity: a resilient and plural model

Antoine Vaccaro, President of CerPhi and Force for Good

© Ministère des Sports, de la Jeunesse et de la Vie associative

The generosity of the French, whether from individuals or companies, continues to grow. The 2024 Generosity Barometer[1], published by France Générosités and the Fondation de France, bears witness to this. Despite the economic and health crises of recent years, donations reached 9.2 billion euros in 2022, divided between manual gifts, bequests, donations and corporate philanthropy. This figure reflects the French people’s deep attachment to the values of solidarity and public interest.

A diverse and inclusive generosity

In contrast to Anglo-American models, where donations are increasingly concentrated among the wealthiest households, France’s generosity is more widely distributed. Nevertheless, there has been a notable increase in donations from the wealthiest households: the wealthiest 1% now contribute 14.2% of total donations. In the United States in 2021, high-income households, representing the wealthiest 10%, donated around $194 billion, or 60% of individual donations[2].

To illustrate this trend, MacKenzie Scott illustrates this concentration, estimated to have given over $16 billion to hundreds of organizations since her divorce in 2019 until the end of 2023[3], taking advantage of legislation that allows massive redistribution without estate constraints. This approach can enable a handful of people to steer entire sectors of general interest, illustrating a model very different from the French landscape.

At the same time, strategic resources such as bequests and digital donations are enjoying growing momentum in France.

The weight of corporate philanthropy: a uniquely French approach

Companies play a crucial role in financing public-interest causes. They will account for 42% of donations in 2022. This contrasts with the United States, where they account for just 4% of donations (Giving USA 2022)[4], and illustrates a French singularity. This success is based on three factors:

An advantageous tax framework: companies benefit from a 60% tax reduction on donations of up to 2 million euros.
A more corporate philanthropic culture: In the United States, philanthropy is largely dominated by private fortunes. Captains of industry, having accumulated significant wealth, often choose to support philanthropic causes on an individual basis. In France, where wealth is more frequently passed down from generation to generation, philanthropists prefer to support charitable causes on an individual basis. In France, where wealth is more frequently passed down from generation to generation, philanthropists prefer to make donations via their companies rather than through direct personal involvement.
Local visibility objectives: Companies support projects with strong local roots, such as sport, solidarity or heritage restoration, but neglect strategic areas such as scientific research (3%)[5].

Lucy Pfliger Research engineer and Laurence Lepetit, Managing Director of France Générosité © Antoine Vaccaro

The impact of major donors on civil society

While donations from the wealthiest households are a welcome resource, they also raise democratic issues. An excessive concentration of funding can unbalance the priorities of associations, to the detriment of the needs of the most vulnerable. What’s more, this generosity, often accompanied by substantial tax deductions, runs the risk of increasing social inequalities and reinforcing the influence of the wealthiest on the choice of causes to support, as is already happening in the United States.

The challenges of sustainability

The growth in donations conceals a fundamental question: at what cost can this growth be maintained? As competition for the philanthropic euro increases, the investments needed to mobilize donors – communications, marketing campaigns, digital tools, events – are adding to the costs of organizations, likely absorbing a fraction of this growth.

Towards greater, sustainable generosity

To consolidate this model, a number of levers need to be explored:

Encouraging middle-class donations: A more inclusive tax system, rewarding the first euros donated, could encourage more households to contribute. (i.e. full deduction for the first thousand euros)
Raising awareness among the younger generation: By integrating generosity into school curricula and using fun tools such as educational games, it is possible to awaken an interest in the common good from an early age, sowing the seeds of future commitment.
Mobilize senior citizens around charitable giving: living legacy schemes such as life insurance could pave the way for even greater post-mortem generosity.

Finally, companies could play a more significant role in supporting strategic sectors alongside public authorities, such as scientific research, which are essential to meeting global challenges while reinforcing their societal impact.

In conclusion, French generosity, balanced between large and small donors, is facing new challenges linked to the dropout of low-income households, the rise of large-scale philanthropy, the multiplication of causes appealing to the public’s generosity and, above all, the digitization of collection tools. New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) and artificial intelligence offer promising solutions for making giving more accessible and traceable.

By combining education, technologies and stabilizing tax incentives, France has the opportunity to preserve and amplify the uniqueness of its generosity model.

[1] https://www.francegenerosites.org/ressources/barometre-de-la-generosite-2022-france-generosites-mai-2023/

[2] Does Philanthropy Subvert Democracy? | Author: Rob Reich | Publisher: Princeton University Press | Year of publication: 2018

[3] https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/05/30/mackenzie-scott-une-vision-desinteressee-de-la-philanthropie_6128122_3210.html

[4] https://givingusa.org/

[5] https://admical.org/sites/default/files/uploads/admical_2022_infographie_barometre_vdef.pdf

Antoine Vaccaro

Antoine Vaccaro holds a PhD in Organizational Science – Management of Non-Executive Economies, Paris-Dauphine, 1985.

After a professional career in large non-governmental organizations and communication group: Fondation de France, Médecins du Monde, TBWA; he chairs the CerPhi and Force for Good. Director within associations and foundations.Co-Founder of several professional organizations: Association Française des Fundraisers, Committee of the Charter of ethics of organizations calling on public generosity, Euconsult, The Chair of Philanthropy at Essec. Heoh Investor, What Works? My Quick Win. He has published various books and articles on philanthropy and fund-raising.

Check out Force For Good: https://forceforgood.eu/agence/

I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :

Generosity in France

State of play between 2019 and 2022 [1]

Viatique for association leaders and fund raisers.

An article by Antoine Vaccaro

Action de Solidarités international in partnership with ECHO (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) in Ukraine. February, 2024. © Solidarités International

In recent years, we have had an aggregate for total generosity in France, which for 2019 amounts to 8.5 billion euros. This amount is divided between individuals (59%) and businesses (41%). This aggregate includes individual philanthropy, which includes declared donations, undeclared donations and bequests, as well as corporate generosity, which is manifested through both declared and undeclared philanthropy.

The annual evolution of generosity shows a significant increase in 2020, marked by exceptional momentum related to the Covid-19 crisis, with an increase in donations of 13.7% compared to 2019. In 2021, there was an increase in donations of 4.5%, in contrast to a very small increase in 2022 that does not offset the effect of inflation.

Donor behaviours reveal a concentration of generosity among donors supporting multiple organizations, an economic concentration where a small fraction of donors contribute a significant portion of the collection, and a marked geographical disparity.

Medical research and the fight against diseases remain the preferred causes of the French (39%), ahead of the protection of children (35%) and animals (31%)[2]

The digitization of donations has been accelerating since 2020, with an increasing share of online donations, representing a significant increase in digital collection.

On the balance sheet, what are the main trends and points of attention?

Growth of middle and large donors. In 2021, 1% of the most generous donors represent 22% of the collection, while half of the donors contribute only 12% of the annual collection. Highlight: low arrival of new donors and especially drop-out from low-income households.
The number of direct debit (PAD) donors stabilized at a high level, with 41.5% of donations in 2022 (compared to 34.7% in 2013). The conquest and/or transformation of one-time donors into AP becomes increasingly difficult with a longer ROI to obtain, but AP remains a strategic resource for NPOs (Non-profit Organization).
Donations and legacies are the logical outcome of a strategy of conquest and loyalty of regular or punctual donors. They are the most promising and robust growth resource. Today, 2/3 of the major advertising campaigns of non-profit organizations: TV, radio, press, even display, are oriented liberalities. It is a medium and long term resource that requires a quality fiduciary offer, because the very large legacies and donations are increasingly accompanied by requests for the creation of funds or sheltered foundations.
Corporate philanthropy in France It represents a relatively high share of overall generosity, compared to other countries with a strong philanthropic tradition. Competition is fierce on this target, with a top three in assignments: Sport at 46% in 2021 (-10 points compared to 2019), Culture/Wealth at 37% (+ 11 points) and Social at 32% (+10 points). With a characteristic of territorial decentralization more marked.
Rise of the digital collection of a multitude of donors unified by the NTIC (New Information and Communication Technology) according to the topics that mobilize them.

Logo of the fundraising agency Force for Good, directed by Antoine Vaccaro

The generous crowd prefers to finance projects that institutions and supports all kinds of beneficiaries who carry these projects: large, medium and small structures, even organizations in the making. Various French and English studies predict a multitude of donors mobilized thanks to Artificial Intelligence tools made available to organizations that will solicit them: data, targeted messages, design, etc., with donor rates, not more than 40% but 70% or 80% of the population.

Generous crowds, both donors, but also collectors, mobilizers or even operatives, eager to co-construct with their peers, but also with non-profits solutions to the societal problems they are tackling.

1- FOCUS COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ON DIVERSIFICATION AND DECENTRALIZATION

Major Philanthropy Target:
- Propose, when the statutes of the organization allow it (RUP Foundations and Endowment Funds), to shelter philanthropic wishes in foundations or funds under the aegis of «sheltering» to attract individuals with high philanthropic potential who do not wish to take over all the support functions offered by a “shelter” and want to devote themselves, above all, to the cause that mobilizes them.
- Launch tri-annual campaigns of ambitious major donors backed by a powerful support committee (Cf. Capital Campaign)

Flour is distributed by UNRWA in Gaza. © UNRWA

Consumer target:
- Digital collection. Even if the grammar of online fundraising is still to be written, it is foreseeable that the majority of fundraising will go through digital. Non-profit organizations must allocate financial resources and human resources to acquire skills, know-how and progress on an experience curve to take the wave that will outperform offline collection. Develop, in particular, peer to peer: propose to online communities to make collections for the benefit of associations and foundations during personal events (marriage, communion, death).
- Direct Marketing: Retain existing donors via direct marketing: maintain the same level of investment. Retain middle donors through a circle of benefactors.
- Direct Debit. Even if this form of donations is in a mature phase with longer and longer ROIs, it remains a strategic resource to retain donors, obtain high ROIs in the medium term and above all ensure a cash buffer.
- Involve local actors, make them “ambassadors” of the collection:
Sensitize them to the sponsorship process in order to be able to escalate their needs and create a catalogue of projects
The «equip» a minimum, to be able to communicate and collect in patronage. Depending on their location, they may have more or less a target audience in families.
Working with them a concept of territorial solidarity campaigns: how could this work? between which actors? on what type of project? in what time scale?
Engaging SMEs through the development of sponsorship, as seen above, the share of corporate sponsorship in private financing in France is significant. The fabric of SME-SMIs is obviously locally established and represents a privileged target to create real business clubs for the benefit of programs of this or that organization.
Develop legacy campaigns in general public prospecting. Amplify fiduciary communications on its own donors but also in prospecting, to raise legacies and donations, including life insurance. Eventually, a majority of the private resources of some NPOs will come from donations.
On the balance sheet, when we talk about private philanthropic resources and fund-raising, we have to make fire with everything, but strategically in the allocation of resources.