The UK in-memory market – contributing around £2.2 billion ($3.9 billion) according to research by Legacy Foresight – is firmly grounded in funeral giving. Memorial services still drive almost half of all in-memory donations and account for over a third of total value. (Other in-memory events fundraising generates a further third, while the remainder comes from more minor sources like tribute funds, regular giving and commemorative products).
It had become established practice for British charities to supply collection envelopes to bereaved families for them to distribute on church or crematorium pews. Collections were generally administered by the funeral director or residing vicar – a fairly standardised process that required little promotion on the charity’s part.
Never forget your supporters ‘why’, says Kate Jenkinson. Plus three questions fundraisers should ask before starting an in-memory program
The remarkable recent growth of in-memory fundraising in the UK owes much to a shift in perception. There is now widespread confidence in the commercial and therapeutic benefits, both for donors and for charities. However, any charity wanting to develop its program will still have questions about the best way forward. How soon is too soon to recontact a bereaved donor? What features can make an in-memory offer truly inspiring for someone facing unimaginable grief?
Charities often make “basic mistakes” in legacy communications, research based on mystery shopping at the top 50 legacy charities has found.
Legacy consortium Legacy Foresight analysed the top 50 legacy charities as part of a project called Legacy Inspire, in partnership with Legacy Voice, looking at their legacy brochures and supporter experience.
It said that one in 10 charities did not respond to requests for further information, and that charities made other “basic” mistakes, including misspelling names and titles and sending the brochure very slowly.
Legacy Foresight said: “These initial basic hygiene factors can leave lasting impressions in the mind of the supporter and could be costing the charities in lost legacy income.
“Legacy Foresight’s recent research revealed that on average only 40% of pledgers and 5% of prospects go on to leave a bequest; in an increasingly crowded market, effective stewardship is essential to convert more interest into action.”
The consortium scored the charities’ brochures according to a range of criteria, including design, imagery, clarity of information and how it encourages donors to make a gift. The final chart is not publicly available, but Legacy Foresight compiled a list of tips to help charities improve their legacy communications.
Among these are linking the communications to supporters’ motives to donate, avoiding legal terminology, telling legacy supporters’ stories and generating trust.
See more here
A mystery shop of legacy communications by Legacy Foresight and Legacy Voice has highlighted the important role legacy communications play in encouraging people to leave a bequest.
Legacy Foresight has partnered with Legacy Voice in a project to mystery shop the top 50 legacy charities and find out how well charities perform when responding to an initial enquiry.
The project, Legacy Inspire, focuses on the legacy brochure and communications received to assess the initial supporter experience potential legacy donors are receiving and how different charities compare.
Among its findings, it discovered that:
Legacy Foresight’s recent research revealed that on average only 40% of pledgers and 5% of prospects go on to leave a bequest, with effective stewardship essential to convert more interest into action.
With a pandemic of grief in the wake of COVID-19, there are many practical steps that Australian charities can take to help supporters.
Since the full scale of COVID-19 began to reveal itself back in March this year, many of us have seen our lives change fundamentally – not least in the way we regard our families, our communities, even our natural environment. But nowhere has change been felt more acutely and painfully than in our ability to say goodbye to the people we love.
More here.
With a pandemic of grief in the wake of COVID-19, there are many practical steps that Australian charities can take to help supporters.
Since the full scale of COVID-19 began to reveal itself back in March this year, many of us have seen our lives change fundamentally – not least in the way we regard our families, our communities, even our natural environment. But nowhere has change been felt more acutely and painfully than in our ability to say goodbye to the people we love.
Despite income from gifts in wills stalling over the next two years, charities are being urged to play the long game, as new research finds the number of bequests could double in the next 20 years.
The research, published by Include a Charity (IAC) and Legacy Foresight as part of Include a Charity Week, found that because gifts in wills were driven by economic factors such as house prices, share prices and GDP growth rates, the value of charitable bequests was likely to be lower than anticipated in the short term due to coronavirus.
But in the longer term, the outlook was slightly more positive.
Increasing numbers of affluent and generous baby boomers passing away, as well as a growing proportion of deaths attributable to child-free women, a demographic that is more likely to bequeath gifts to charities, means that the number of charitable gifts in wills in 20 years will be approximately 1.7 times higher.
Despite a COVID-19 dip the long-term outlook for gifts in wills remains optimistic. With Include a Charity Week underway, here’s 6 tips to boost your bequest income.
Charity income from gifts in wills could stall in 2020 and 2021, because of the coronavirus crisis, says Include a Charity, a group of 80+ charities that encourages Australians to consider charitable bequests.
The charity group, working with consultancy Legacy Foresight, has revised its 20-year forecast of the Australian gifts in wills market to consider the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.
News in full here.