Nearly 60% of wealthy households who stopped giving to a charitable organization attributed their change in philanthropic behavior to “no longer feeling connected to the organization,” according to initial findings released from a new survey initiated by Bank of America.

Key insights gleaned from the new study – the full version of which will be released in the first quarter of 2009 – indicate that wealthy donors are giving more strategically and are increasingly turning to legal and financial professionals as primary sources for advice about charitable giving decisions. Additional noteworthy themes to emerge include:

• Desire to “give back to the community” the leading motivation for giving, while “public recognition” essentially a non-factor

• Donors believe charitable contributions have a greater impact on their personal fulfillment than on the organizations they support
• Families use involvement to pass philanthropic values on to the next generation, who in turn give through their own private foundations or donor- advised funds as adults
• Religious organizations second only to parents as a leading source of philanthropy education
• Transparency, accountability and protection of privacy among donors’ primary expectations of the non-profit organizations they support