The 2015 Fidelity Charitable Giving Report looks at the role of donor-advised funds amid other giving methods - such as direct giving and private foundations - and also analyzes the approaches adopted by the organization’s 119,472 donors. Fidelity Charitable is an independent public charity with a national donor-advised fund program.

Some of the findings are particularly noteworthy given recent insight indicating that the wealthy increasingly want to see their donations bear fruit in their lifetimes and also include the next gen, as a trend toward effectiveness and innovation within philanthropy gains further momentum.

Indeed, average activity within individual donor-advised funds has risen significantly over the past decade, with donors recommending eight grants on average in 2014, up from five in 2005, Fidelity said. Meanwhile, the percentage of scheduled grant recommendations rose to 23 per cent in 2014, from 8 per cent in 2005.

Still, there exists an opportunity for advisors to more deeply engage with their clients by extending financial conversations to include clients’ motivations for giving, their long-term goals, and how they would like to involve family in their philanthropy, said Chris Carnal, head of fundraising at Fidelity Charitable.

For example, of the donors who have an advisor - such as a financial advisor, attorney or accountant - 83 per cent have discussed charitable giving with them. However, charitable planning conversations have been primarily focused on giving methods and tax benefits , according to the study. Only 30 per cent ticked the box indicating that their advisor has helped them give more strategically overall, and just 33 per cent said their advisor has helped them make ongoing decisions about what or how much to donate. Meanwhile, it emerged that 42 per cent do not have an advisor at all, while 10 per cent do have an advisor, but have not discussed charitable planning.

Unsurprisingly, Fidelity found that high net worth donors with accounts of at least $250,000 are more likely to discuss giving and engage in discussions around long-term planning than those with accounts of less than $25,000. Echoing this, UBS said in October that wealthy individuals - and particularly those with a lower net worth - don’t often plan their charitable giving. The UBS study revealed that investors with at least $5 million in assets are much more likely to rate their giving approach as highly effective, versus those with less than this amount .

“What we found is that investors with over $5 million are more satisfied and effective givers, but not because of their ability to give a high dollar amount; rather, it’s because of the strategic planning they put into their philanthropic giving,” said Paula Polito, client strategy officer at UBS Wealth Management Americas. “Investors below $5 million would do well to replicate this planned approach to giving.”

The philanthopic sector overall certainly isn't shrinking, as has been confirmed by numerous studies, such as here. In fact, it is thriving, and so is the demand for help to manage it effectively, according to the 2015 BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Index by Forbes Insights .