ORIGINAL PAPER Financial Planners and Philanthropic Planning Walter Wymer • Wendy Scaife • Katie McDonald Published online: 26 August 2011 Ó International Society for Third-Sector Research and The John’s Hopkins University 2011 Abstract This article reports findings from a survey of Canadian financial plan- ners. The focus of the study is learning more about the depth and breadth of philanthropic planning that is included in their advising services to their high-net worth clients. The findings indicate that a minority of financial planners (1) regu- larly broach the topic of philanthropy in their counseling, (2) believe their clients are interested in philanthropy, and (3) feel sufficiently knowledgeable to assist their clients with philanthropic planning. The implications of these findings and recom- mendations for improvement are discussed. Re ´sume ´ Cet article expose les conclusions d’une enque ˆte effectue ´e aupre `s de planificateurs financiers canadiens. L’objet de l’e ´tude est de collecter des infor- mations sur l’importance et l’ampleur de la planification philanthropique incluse dans leurs services de conseil au profit de leurs clients fortune ´s. Les conclusions indiquent qu’une minorite ´ de planificateurs financiers (1) e ´voquent re ´gulie `rement le the `me de la philanthropie dans le cadre de leur consultation, (2) estiment que leurs clients sont inte ´resse ´s par la philanthropie et (3) se conside `rent suffisamment in- forme ´s pour assister leurs clients en matie `re de planification philanthropique. Les implications de ces conclusions ainsi que les recommandations en faveur d’une ame ´lioration font l’objet d’une discussion. W. Wymer (&) Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada e-mail: walter.wymer@uleth.ca W. Scaife Á K. McDonald The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia e-mail: w.scaife@qut.edu.au K. McDonald e-mail: katie.mcdonald@qut.edu.au 123 Voluntas (2012) 23:350–370 DOI 10.1007/s11266-011-9206-4