Why gift in will campaigns aren't just for ‘large’ charities
Dylan Burke
Transforming the way charities grow their legacy income & IFAs manage intergenerational wealth transfers || Head Of Sales at Octopus Legacy (formerly Guardian Angel) || Mentor || Ex Pro Skier
We talk to charities every day - many of whom have gift in will campaigns in place, as well as those that don’t. The most frustrating push back to not having a legacy marketing campaign is that “we’re too small”. It’s frustrating because our view is that charities of all sizes can run effective campaigns - and that online wills help facilitate this.
In days gone by, legacy giving was traditionally for the household charity names - Macmillan, BHF, RSPCA. These larger charities still have sizeable human and financial resources behind their Gift in Wills team.
But times have changed. Regular giving, income generation and supporter engagement has changed - and so has legacy giving.
Before online wills, it was hard to track the ‘success’ of legacy marketing. You'd have to invest upfront and wait a decade to see the success. However, as online wills are operationally efficient, smaller charities are able to run campaigns that used to be out of their reach - both financially and in terms of workload.
Our live data allows charities of all sizes to launch a campaign - in very little time and with immediate clarity on the success. We can tell you how many wills were started, how many wills were completed, how many wills have a gift to your charity, and of what value.
Take St Barnabas hospice - they ran their Make A Will month in May, with us as their online will provider (for the first time). The result? A staggering 40% of wills included legacy gifts to the hospice.
Whilst they have a smaller supporter base than some of the household names above, they were able to lay the foundations for a business case to increase budget on such an amazing aspect of fundraising. One that’s diverse enough to still carry on and support charities despite recent circumstances.
Writing your will is an emotional process - thinking about what’s been important to you during your lifetime. So often, it’s the charities you’ve supported your whole life.
That’s why we think legacy giving is important for all charities to look at - not just the large ones.
If you’re interested in finding out how we help charities of all sizes, feel free to get in touch!