This week is Remember A Charity Week
Edinburgh-based charity Worldwide Cancer Research has a renewed and revitalised focus on legacy fundraising, and its efforts are paying off. This Remember A Charity Week, Mark Docherty, legacy manager, shares the organisation’s recent work and successes to help inspire others and serve as an important reminder of what legacies can achieve.
Just over two years ago, before I joined Worldwide Cancer Research, we didn’t have anyone in the organisation whose role specifically focused on legacies.
Although our legacy programme began over a decade ago, it had been a few years since the last legacy fundraiser had left the post and it meant there’d been a lull in activity.
But now, our legacy activity is back with a vengeance and it’s hard to believe the impact it’s having – not just in income terms but also in helping to raise awareness of our charity.
Hitting the high notes
Last September, opera singer Russell Watson (pictured above), who has previously had treatment for brain tumours, pledged to leave us a very unusual and special gift in his will. A new compilation of his work will be posthumously released with the proceeds going to Worldwide Cancer Research.
The news of this remarkable gift and Russell coming on board as an ambassador made national media headlines. This helped not only raise our own profile but also to get people talking about legacy gifts in general – something that benefits all charities.
What made this story stand out, as well as the celebrity aspect, was the creativity of the gift. It wasn’t just a matter of someone famous pledging their support; it was that the gift itself was out of the ordinary and something that meant a great deal to Russell.
It also got people talking about the vital discovery cancer research projects we fund, into any type of cancer in any location around the world, and the important role this plays in finding new cures and developing better treatments for patients.
Story-centred approach
Russell’s story featured in a book of pledgers’ stories we promoted last year through a multichannel campaign. The book included real-life supporters and their reasons for offering their support. Many were cancer survivors themselves or had chosen to donate because of a loved one.
It was a book of humankind and human kindness and for it we were nominated and later shortlisted for the upcoming Scottish Fundraising Awards in the category of best legacy campaign. It would be lovely to go on to win, but even if we don’t, the impact of releasing the story book campaign is already being felt, as our brand recall in Scotland doubled as a result. We also received nearly 400 new legacy enquiries through Facebook alone.
Inspiring pledgers
Tennis enthusiast Basil is our oldest known supporter. At 103 and a cancer survivor, Basil is very open about his decision to pledge a legacy gift. He shared his story in the story book and also featured in our online video.
Every one of the people who featured is an inspiration – both to us at Worldwide Cancer Research, and to other would-be supporters, who may hear these stories and feel motivated to make their own pledge, for whatever personal reason they may have.
One of our most beautiful and memorable legacy gifts we received is a set of over 100 Victorian playing card cases (pictured above, left). We were left them by a lovely lady called Hilary who lived with leukaemia for 20 years.
She also lost her husband to cancer and wants to help others through this gift. We’re currently working with an antiques expert to sell them. It’s stories like Hilary’s that make you realise just how important legacy giving is – to the beneficiary charities, of course, but also to the legators, whose motivations for giving are often very emotional and personal.
Remember A Charity Week
This year, for the first time, we became members of Remember A Charity – the consortium of UK charities which act as one voice to raise awareness of legacy giving and the importance of getting the conversation started.
We took the decision to join because legacies are quite a niche area and there’s a lot of misunderstanding around it still. Because people often associate legacies with death, and death is generally considered a taboo topic of conversation in our culture, it helps to have support when it comes to promoting legacies.
Being part of the consortium lends us vital extra credibility when conveying the legacy message and allows us to contribute to the celebrations in our own way as an organisation, rather than being a lone voice when championing the impact and power of legacies.
Remember A Charity Week is the annual consumer awareness week organised by the consortium.
This year it’s 9-15 September and we’ll be getting involved by sharing through our social channels the videos and assets that Remember A Charity produces. The emphasis this year is on celebrating individuals’ unique quirks, funny moments, and interesting hobbies – everything we cherish about our loved ones.
Mark Docherty is legacy manager at Worldwide Cancer Research.
This article appears in the September edition of TFN Magazine - read it all here!
