Bequest Giving: Revisiting Donor Motivation with Dimensional Qualitative Research

This research seeks to examine donor motivation for supporting non-profits with a bequest. We employ dimensional qualitative research (DQR) procedures, demonstrating both the utility of the approach and how the framework can be employed to illuminate bequest giving. Employing an approach to data analysis based on grounded theory, our findings indicate that bequest gifts are motivated by a variety of factors, including a lack of family need, a need to live on, a desire to make a difference to a cause, reciprocity, and spite. In addition, we highlight a second-order modality that emerged from the BASIC IDS analytical framework. Identification was found to be a highly influential factor in driving bequest-giving behavior. A series of practical fund raising recommendations are offered to facilitate giving. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.