Fundraisers lack confidence in charities' legacy giving strategies and just 8 per cent rate their legacy promotional materials as ‘very effective’, according to a report released today.
The consultancy Legacy Partnership carried out an online survey in October with more than 100 legacy fundraisers at charities with annual legacy income from under £100,000 to more than £50m, for the report Legacy Fundraising – State of the Nation 2014.
Half of the respondents said their charity saw legacy marketing as a fundraising priority.
But the survey shows that 20 per cent of the fundraisers had ‘little or no confidence’ in their legacy giving strategy.
It shows 54 per cent had ‘some confidence’, and 27 per cent had ‘complete confidence’.
Only 8 per cent of fundraising thought their legacy promotional materials were ‘very effective’ and 28 per cent said they were ‘not at all effective’ or they did not know.
The survey asked respondents what channels they use to promote legacy giving; web pages, newsletters and direct mail were the top three most popular methods.
Those rated most effective were those that allowed fundraisers to have conversations with prospective donors – telemarketing, face-to-face fundraising and events.
Duncan Bell, a partner at the consultancy and former head of legacy fundraising at Cancer Research UK, said it was “striking” the high proportion of the legacy fundraisers surveyed who admitted not knowing what works and what does not.
“It is our responsibility to have an informed opinion on what works well," he said. "If we don’t know how can we possibly allocate our resources effectively? Or gain the trust of senior decision makers?”
Just 30 per cent of respondents said their charities have planned supporter journeys for their legacy prospects, the survey shows.
More than half, 51 per cent, of respondents said their charities had not integrated legacy fundraising across the charity.
Bell said: “Ensuring legacy giving forms a natural part of every supporters’ relationship pathway with the charity is a cornerstone of effective legacy fundraising.”
