IoF issues revised code on legacy fundraising

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 1 Sep 2007

Fundraisers ought to allow potential legators the right to bring along a third party when discussing legacies, or else run the risk of being accused of exerting undue influence.

The advice comes in a revised code of practice on legacy fundraising released by the Institute of Fundraising. The Code emphasises that accusations of 'undue influence may cause the will to be contested and even jeopardise all of the organisation's legacies'. It adds that potential legators ought to be given the opportunity to decline a one-to-one meeting with a legacy fundraiser, meaning fundraisers should always arrange to meet them by prior appointment.

Advice on legacy marketing has also been updated. Charities now ought to ensure that any incentives used to promote legacies such as charity calendars or free entry to a heritage site, are of an 'appropriate value', which will usually be of minimal cost to the charity.

Other points covered in the revised Code include advice to charities that provide free or discounted will schemes, emphasising that there should be no condition that the charity must be included in the will; and advice to fundraisers on how to manage relationships between supporters and their families as well as pledgers and potential legators.

Justine Williams, head of public fundraising at Practical Action who chaired the working party that drew up the Code, said: "Best practice in all aspects of legacy fundraising is essential. That's why it's important for anyone involved in legacy fundraising to read the Code and apply these guidelines within their daily work".

Directory: Institute of Fundraising

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.