While the vast majority of high-net-worth individuals around the world ascribe some level of importance to driving positive social impact, more than half describe it as "extremely" or "very important," a report from Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management finds.

Based on a global survey of more than forty-five hundred individuals with investable assets of at least $1 million, the World Wealth Report 2014 (52 pages, PDF) found that 60.5 percent of respondents felt it was "extremely" or "very important" "to give time, money and/or expertise with the goal of generating positive social impact," with the highest response rates to be found among individuals under the age of 40 (75 percent) and in emerging markets. The sentiment was strongest in India (90.5 percent), China (89.4 percent), and Indonesia (89.2 percent), which topped the list of twenty-three nations, while the United States (56 percent) ranked sixteenth, below Mexico (77.1 percent), Russia (71.8 percent), and the United Arab Emirates (64.3 percent).

According to the survey, the top three motivations for giving among high-net-worth individuals were "personal or family values" (87.5 percent), "a desire to instill social values in my family and children" (80.9 percent), and "a responsibility to give back"  (76.5 percent). Among issue areas, the highest priorities were health, medical research, and palliative care (indicated by 33.3 percent of respondents), followed by education (33.2 percent) and child welfare (32.1 percent).

Social impact investing (14.5 percent) and giving to charitable organizations on an ongoing basis (14.4 percent) were the most popular types of giving, followed by volunteering or taking on an unpaid civic role (13.8 percent), providing pro bono expertise (12.7 percent), and "making strategic business decisions with a clearly defined objective to create positive social impact" (12.6 percent). Grantmaking through a personal trust or foundation (5.7 percent) was at the bottom of the list, suggesting, as the report notes, that high-net-worth individuals increasingly are venturing beyond traditional conduits to fulfill their social impact goals.