Today marks the start of Remember A Charity Week – a national celebration of the power and impact of charitable gifts in wills, aiming to inspire more people to leave a legacy to the causes they care about.
Although we work to grow legacy giving all year round, the week is a reminder of all that can be achieved when the sector comes together and puts its might behind a singular mission. It underscores just how important it is that we continue to champion the legacy message and engage new audiences in giving in this way.
This year’s awareness week comes on the back of a record year for legacy giving, with 2024 seeing £4.5bn donated through people’s wills to 12,300 charities across the UK. While last year’s total was somewhat inflated by the improvements in performance by the probate registry, it’s an astounding sum that will no doubt have had a huge impact on a growing number of charities. And still, we know that the potential for legacy growth is far greater.
Our benchmarking studies show that around twice as many people say they would be happy to leave a gift to charity in their will (40%) as those that have already done so (21%). This, coupled with the much-anticipated intergenerational wealth transfer from baby boomers makes legacies one of the most thriving and vital sources of voluntary income – all so urgently needed.
Bridging the gap between pledger and impact
But we can’t forget just how powerful too the act of leaving a legacy can be for the public – and what a meaningful way of supporting good causes it is.
Across the consortium, we hear stories from legacy pledgers of the way in which charities have touched their lives; giving them hope, purpose, care and joy. And that’s why our consumer PR campaign this week centres on the theme of thanks, connecting the dots between beneficiaries of charitable services and those who have left a gift in their will.
In their own words, beneficiaries will be saying thank you to those who have left a gift, building that bridge between pledger and impact. It’s a simple but emotive concept and one that we’re looking forward to sharing throughout the week, with celebrity support from TV legend Johnny Ball – and with many of our members showcasing their own individual beneficiary stories.
This campaign runs in parallel with our Be Remembered consumer advertising programme, which is being broadcast on TV, radio and in select press, with digital ads running right through until December. And, as always, our consumer activity will be complemented with an activation campaign for professional advisers and partners, equipping solicitors, will-writers, wealth advisers and others with resources for opening conversation about charitable wills with their clients.
If we have just one wish for the week, it’s that it will serve as a catalyst to accelerate legacy growth; inspiring more people to give, helping charities bolster their legacy fundraising and giving advisers and partners a timely reason to shine a spotlight on charitable causes.
Driving change over the long-term
An awareness week is indeed a powerful spur to engage new audiences, but our focus as a behavioural change campaign remains on the longer-term levers we can pull to drive legacy growth. This means activating our growing network of solicitors and will-writers, engaging wealth advisers as legacy advocates, and using our collective voice to influence the wider environment for charitable legacies, from fundraising standards and other sector issues to regulations further afield.
Currently, key issues include exploring the impact on legacy giving of the impending inheritance tax (IHT) changes, which will see pension funds becoming taxable from April 2027. As a result, twice as many estates are estimated to be liable for IHT by 2030, meaning that the generous tax incentives on charitable gifts in wills will become all the more relevant and more attractive to more people. But, legacy pledgers (and others) may need to review their estate plans, and this is likely to add a new tier of complexity to estate management.
With that in mind, we’ll be contributing a joint response to the draft finance bill with the Institute of Legacy Management and Chartered Institute of Fundraising, seeking clarification and reporting back to the sector.
Similarly, with the draft bill for a new Wills Act on the table, the foundations have been laid for a transition to fully electronic wills and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the regulatory environment as it unfolds. Our overarching view is that greater accessibility for will-writing is to be welcomed, providing the right safeguards are in place, but that the charitable option needs to remain front of mind. Let’s not forget that by making it easier for people to write a charity into their will, it may also be easier to remove beneficiaries, making supporter stewardship even more important for fundraisers in this new era.
The legacy landscape will continue to evolve and that’s where the agility, breadth and collaborative power of a consortium comes into its own. So, as we celebrate Remember A Charity Week, let’s use this moment to strengthen the foundations for future growth and draw together to inspire more people to leave a charitable gift in their will.
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