Giving & legacies on the up in Sweden, surveys say

Two studies published by EFA member Giva Sverige in recent weeks provide positive signals for Sweden’s fundraising market.

The organisation’s latest monthly Gåvoindex (Giving Index) show its most positive outlook ever for August 2024, with the future giving part of the index reaching a record 83 (with 100 being the maximum).

Meanwhile, a survey of 1,000 adults aged 30-84, published for International Wills Day (13 September), found that 8% of those who have written a will have included a gift to charity in it. This number has doubled from 4% in a previous survey in 2017.

The monthly Gåvoindex was launched in February 2023. The 83 score means that the vast majority of organisations contributing to the report expect giving to increase in the future.

However, the current giving part of the index remains at a neutral score of 49. For most of 2024, the current giving score has been close to or just below 50, which indicates that the same number of organisations are experiencing increased giving as are experiencing a dip.

Giva Sverige says that large charities – with income in excess of SEK 25m (€2.2m) – and those working with children and young people enjoyed the most positive outlook during August itself.

Long-term legacy growth

The legacy survey notes that, overall, few Swedes have made a will (18%, a slight decline from 21% in 2017), although an increasing number (42%, up from 34%) say that they intend to do so.

Promisingly, 38% of those who have not yet made a will say they could imagine including a charitable donation in it, an increase from 32% in 2017.

The report says that more than half of legacy income (52%) goes to research organisations, with humanitarian aid (13%), social work (10%) and children and young people (9%) being the next most popular causes.

The data also shows that increasing numbers of people can imagine giving a small proportion of their estate (less than 10% of its value) to charities. Giva Sverige suggests that this means the idea of legacy giving is becoming more accessible and realistic.

Each year in Sweden, around 1,000 legacies are received by the Allmänna arvsfonden, a state fund which exists to collect monies where someone dies with no will and no spouse or close family.

Charlotte Rydh, general secretary at Giva Sverige (and until last week, EFA president) says:

“It is really a positive development that Swedes are beginning to open their eyes to the possibility of bequeathing to nonprofit organisations. It is important that organisations communicate the message of how legacies can be useful and contribute to something significant.”

Image by Lars Bugge Aarset on Pexels