Traditionally fundraising has often had an English, Christian or secular focus, but our society is changing. Meg Abdy from Legacy Foresight, analysts of the legacy and in-memory sectors, shares her practical tips for developing sensitive legacy and in-memory fundraising campaigns in an increasingly multicultural world.
Legacy and in-memory giving are long-established funding sources for British charities, contributing £4-£5 billion a year to good causes. But British legacy and in-memory fundraising are rooted in implicitly Christian or secular world views, which have little relevance to some parts of society.
Nowadays, for many of us, ‘faith’ does not play a large part in our day to day lives. But at key points – such as births, marriages, and above all deaths – we fall back on the teachings, traditions and rituals we grew up with. For many of us those teachings, traditions and rituals are broadly Christian; but for others they are not. Today, around 8% of the British population is from a minority faith group – by 2050 that is forecast to double to 16%.
Over the past six months we have been conducting fundamental research into the legacy and in-memory giving behaviour of four British faith populations: Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. Our research is a toe in the water at this stage – it will take much more research and many more conversations to understand the issues fully. But it has already provided some vital insights about these faith groups’ giving and their potential for charities, which we are presenting at the Institute of Fundraising’s (IoF) annual Convention. Plus, there are seven more general lessons about engaging with minority faith groups, which I’d like to share with you.
The Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order has been shelved for the summer recess as the House of Commons concluded their governmental business on the afternoon of Thursday 23rd May.
The proposed new probate fees which made a huge impact when it was introduced in November 2018 has since ground to a halt, with the original launch of the new probate fees in its current form in April now a distant memory as Parliament finishes their calendar of business for the holiday season.
A provisional date for the hearing of the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order 2018 was set for 14th May but according to the House of Commons Hansard it was not on the agenda. However, the Order was set again for discussion just over a week ago but was overlooked due to more urgent governmental business.
It is likely now the Probate Fees Order 2018 will have to wait until the new Parliamentary season before it returns to the agenda, which means it may not appear until at least Autumn.
A strong factor in its delay might be due to Law Society officials warning that the current draft has a few errors which could be exploited so that estates do not pay any fees when making an application for probate. It has therefore been speculated that the Government will have the summer recess to correct the document before returning.
The long drawn out uncertainty of when the Probate Fee Order was going to launch has led to a rise in probate applications to avoid the proposed increased fees causing big delays and charities worrying over the potential loss of legacy gifts.
Our experts share their views on the uncertainties of the Order and whether they think the Government will return after the summer with a new, error free proposal; plus do they think it will be enforceable by the end of this year? And how they think the disruption and delay of the Probate Fees Order has impacted on the public and charities?
Legacy and in-memory analysts Legacy Foresight are inviting new members to join In-Memory Insight, their research consortium that explores the size, shape and scope of in-memory giving in the UK. It collects hard evidence to inform in-memory fundraising strategies. Sarah McClean explains what the research will involve.
In-Memory Insight is a rolling research programme with each year building on the one before. This year’s research will focus on exploring effective in-memory stewardship, from the perspective of both the charity and the supporter.
The UK has been lost in a fog of uncertainty since the referendum result to leave the EU in 2016. Since then, income legacy growth has been slowing.
According to Legacy monitoring specialists, Legacy Foresight, there may be mixed fortunes for charities as difficult economic conditions could deter people from making legacy bequests.
Following the recession of 2009, legacy income shrank by 0.9%. Once the market was back on track in 2013/14, growth in the number of people leaving legacies in their Will rose by 10.8%.
For the update in full, click here.
Legacy income increased by 1.8 per cent in the year up to March 2019 according to figures from Legacy Foresight. But growth has slowed year-on-year since 2013, reflecting the UK economy and house prices.
The income was measured across the consortium of 80 charities that make up 50 per cent of the legacy market. In the year to March 2019 members received a combined total of £1.52bn from legacies.
See more here.
Growth in charity legacy income is slowing but still positive, research by Legacy Foresight has found.
In the year to March 2019, Legacy Foresight found that its 80 legacy monitor members, which represent about half of the legacy market, brought in £1.52bn in legacy income, an increase of 1.8 per cent on the previous year.
Read the full article here.
84% of charities expect to be investing more on legacy stewardship over the next five years, according to research by Legacy Foresight.
‘Understanding Legacy Stewardship’ was carried out by Legacy Foresight with 29 of its charity consortium members, including Alzheimer’s Society, RNIB, Guide Dogs, Macmillan Cancer Support, and Oxfam, who also funded the project. In it, Legacy Foresight set out to understand more about legacy stewardship from both the charities’ and the donors’ perspective, using a combination of detailed charity case studies and in-depth supporter interviews.
It found that interest and investment in legacy stewardship is growing with almost all of the 29 participating charities expected to be investing more resource on legacy stewardship over the next five years; 42% of them anticipated a lot more investment. Despite the growing interest, 46% felt that legacy stewardship does not yet have sufficient priority in their charity with a lack of hard evidence about what works, the return on investment and actionable strategies curbing organisational commitment.
Read the article in full, here.
Total giving to the top 10 charities has grown by 2.4 per cent in three years, but this has mostly been supported by an increase in legacy income of 13.5 per cent.
Donations to the top 10 fundraising charities appear to have stalled over the past three years, but this has been masked by a growth in legacy income, analysis by Third Sector has found.
Total giving to the top 10 charities by fundraising income has grown by 2.4 per cent over the past three years, from £1.76bn to £1.8bn.
But Third Sector found this growth was mostly supported by a rise in the value of gifts left to charities in wills, while for many of the biggest fundraising charities other types of donations have fallen.
See more here or read the full article in the March/April 2019 issue of Third Sector magazine.