Full support for emerging charities and those new to legacy giving.
The Legacy Futures group has announced new support specially designed for charities who want to take their first steps into the world of legacy fundraising.
The group hope that the project can help charities secure a more stable and sustainable future. UK charities now receive over £5billion a year from gifts in wills and in-memory giving combined – a figure set to double by 2050.
Legacy StartUp will enable charities that are not yet benefiting from vital legacy income to gain an understanding of how they can best tap into this growing opportunity, with specialist guidance in how to go about it at each step of developing their legacy fundraising programme.
Small and extra small charities are the slowest growing size group in terms of legacy income at just 2% between 2011-2022,* while they can be the very charities that benefit most from the impact of a sizeable legacy gift.
Legacy StartUp has been designed to support smaller and emerging charities in kick starting their legacy strategy through a series of practical steps.
Charities who have never previously undertaken legacy fundraising are now able to quantify the impact of investing in this area, calculating likely return on investment and the timeframe for receiving that return – invaluable for securing Board buy-in and funding.
Ashley Rowthorn, CEO of Legacy Futures, said: “We created Legacy StartUp to open up the power of legacy fundraising to more charities, regardless of their size, experience, or knowledge of the market.
“We believe there shouldn’t be any barriers to being able to enter the world of legacies, especially when the area is growing rapidly. There are huge potential gains that gifts in wills and in-memory giving afford, and our aim is to help as many charities as possible to access them.”
While legacy fundraising is proving to be highly beneficial for many charities, it is not an area which offers short-term returns. Legacy StartUp tackles this by illustrating to charities their forecasted legacy income over the long term and supporting them in building their case for investment for a stronger future.
Ashley added: “Despite the cost-of-living crisis we’re seeing at present, legacy income is still on a steady rise.
“Now is a great time for charities to explore their legacy potential and take their first steps into developing a more sustainable future through a legacy income stream. Many smaller charities especially are feeling the effects of these current unpredictable times.
“The legacy market is proving largely resilient to market forces and providing charities with the all-important stability they need to continue their work.”
