Legacy Futures: Meet the experts – Craig Fordham, Macmillan Cancer Support

Craig Fordham is director of legacies and operational delivery at Macmillan Cancer Support . Here he talks about why legacies is ‘the place to be’ and why he believes that legacy marketing ought to be THE route to senior leadership roles.

What or who inspired you to choose a career in legacy marketing?

I’m afraid to say that I was a seasoned challenge eventer who fell into legacies 8 years ago via a short-term secondment. It was our then executive director of fundraising & marketing, the amazing Richard Taylor, who convinced me that legacies was the most exciting field of fundraising and that I had transferrable skills to bring to it and would enjoy it. Like with most things, Richard was spot on.

What challenges did you encounter when rising to your senior position?

My challenge was less around seniority, as I was already a head of department, and more around credibility within the legacies sector. I’m a firm believer, however, that the skills required in legacy marketing are no different from any other field. I’ve spent a lot of the last 8 years convincing the most talented fundraisers and marketers in our sector that legacies is the place to be.

What keeps you motivated and uplifted in your role?

The size of the opportunity – which keeps growing – and the difference it can make to the people who rely on charities both now and in the future. I’m also quite competitive and secretly love a target.

What would you say has been your ‘finest hour’ in your role?

I’m hoping that’s still to come, but for now, I’d say it’s that I’ve help bust some of the myths around legacies and legacy teams, helped break down some barriers and shone a light – and some optimism – on the importance and potential of legacies

What advice would you give to junior colleagues with aspirations of doing your job in the future?

Go for it! Part of my role is to demonstrate that if I can do it then anybody can!

Are there unique skills and qualities needed to rise to a leadership position in legacy marketing that are different to other fundraising roles?

Not at all. The skills needed are no different than those required in any other leadership position: a vision, a clear and simple audience-led strategy, a plan to deliver it, great communications skills, recruiting brilliant people and creating an environment to allow them to do their best work, plus a large dollop of curiosity, humility and humour.

Have you seen any interesting recruitment and retention initiatives in commercial organisations that you’d like to see in the legacy sector?

We’re missing a huge opportunity via apprenticeships and the associated levy. As the legacy market grows, we’re going to need more marketers and, especially, more case managers.?We should be doing so much more to grow talent now to set ourselves up for future success.

What’s your organisation doing well to promote recruitment and retention in legacy marketing?

We keep it simple! When I joined legacies in 2017, we struggled to attract internal candidates from other departments. I hope we’ve created a sense of excitement and possibility about legacies and demonstrated that legacies aren’t ‘different.’ I’m very proud that our legacy team now consists of people we’ve recruited from events, direct marketing, supporter care, corporate partnerships, regular giving and supporter donations. I just need to recruit a major donor fundraiser to complete the set!

Do you see a pathway for legacy marketers to become directors? What might that look like?

I’m fortunate enough to be a director, but the title should be irrelevant. Legacies requires a well-rounded skill set of strategy, marketing, sales, stewardship, commercial acumen and risk management – and all done for the sort of eye-watering financial targets that other fundraising teams can only dream of reaching. Given this, legacy marketing ought to be THE route into senior leadership roles – and I suspect that day isn’t far off.? Go us, the innovators and early adopters!

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