Charitable Giving in Life and at Death

This paper examines the pattern of charitable giving during life and at death. It employs a 10-year panel data of income tax returns and their associated estate tax returns. The income tax returns provide information on charitable contributions while the estate tax returns provide information on charitable bequests. The findings suggest a strong preference for charitable bequests over lifetime contributions in the case of the very wealthy. In contrast, contributions are the preferred mode of transfers for the less wealthy