People are far more likely to leave a legacy in their will if they are told how few other people are doing so, according to research published today.

The study, conducted by the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, in conjunction with telephone fundraising agency Listen, tested two sets of statements. In each case, some donors were told about how many other people had left legacies, while other donors were told about how few people had given legacies.

In each case people who were given “minority” information said they were more likely to consider leaving a legacy.

In the first, experiment conducted by the University with a select group of Listen managed donors, supporters were given two statements which contained the same information, except that one was written detailing how few people had left a legacy and the other saying how many:

• “1/3 of our most loyal supporters haven't made a will. Many of them are taking advantage of the Will Aid scheme.
• “2/3 of our most loyal supporters have made a will. Many of them took advantage of the Will Aid scheme.”

While the content in the two sentences is technically the same, 24 per cent of people who were given the first statement said they would consider leaving a legacy, compared to 16 per cent in the second, “majority” segment.

A second experiment again provided two sets of charity supporters with differently worded sentences:

• “In recent years, we have seen a drop in the number of legacies we are receiving. That's why we feel it's so important to learn what our supporters think about them.
• “Recently, we have seen an increase in the number of our supporters enquiring about gifts in Wills. That's why we feel it's so important to learn what our supporters think about them.”

Those who received information about a drop were 5 per cent more inclined to give a legacy than those in the “increase” segment.

The research also found that informing supporters of the importance of a charity’s work makes them 32 per cent more likely to leave a legacy. Asking supporters to consider why they first began supporting a charity also increased the chances of them leaving a legacy by 29 per cent.

Claire Routley, research fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, said: “The effect of social information we tested in Test 1 and Test 2 seem to suggest that ‘minority’ and ‘declining’ social information encourages legacy consideration and intention to leave a legacy to a specific charity”.