Gifts increase sharply

Every tenth donation euro comes from an estate

Charitable organizations benefit from the numerous will donations

(Bild: Christian Ohde)

Nowhere is the willingness of over-40s to donate their assets to charitable causes growing more than in Upper Austria. Benefactors are mostly female, childless, single and donate between 50,000 and 100,000 euros to several organizations for various charitable purposes. 

I have never been married, I have no children and I no longer have any contact with my only living relative," explains Ursula Baumgartner. The 75-year-old has therefore decided to bequeath her fortune in equal parts to the Austrian Association for the Blind and the Hilfsgemeinschaft.

Great willingness
The travel-loving lady is not alone in this: hardly anywhere else has the willingness to donate one's assets to charitable organizations increased as much as in Upper Austria. In 2021, eight percent of over-40s could imagine making a donation in their will, but this figure has now risen to 17 percent. "Every tenth euro donated comes from estate donations," emphasizes Markus Aichelburg from the Vergissmeinnicht initiative.

What is donated for
Donors are usually single, female, childless and donate between 50,000 and 100,000 euros to three to seven organizations. Occasionally, however, larger sums are also donated: One lady left around 25 million for charity. Animal welfare is the top priority for donations in wills, closely followed by health, care and social welfare, help for young people, environmental protection and science, art and culture.