The Charity Pulse Report for 2023 reveals that charities of all sizes are cautiously optimistic about 2023, with 72% stating they are either very or fairly optimistic about the year ahead. Of particular note is the optimism around legacy giving with 81 per cent of respondents believing that legacy giving will stay the same or increase over the next 12 months.
With this in mind, we welcome The Legacy Showcase – Campaigns we Love, a new initiative from Legacy Futures in collaboration with Remember a Charity, which champions legacy fundraising and aims to inspire and encourage more charities to promote legacy gifting.
The Legacy Showcase comprises short videos presented by champions from the field of legacy fundraising. Talking about their favourite legacy campaigns from the UK, Ireland, Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, they explain why they find their chosen campaign so powerful, innovative and inspirational, and share tips and lessons. Many of the videos include examples of direct mail campaigns.
Direct mail is proven to be a particularly effective way for charities to communicate sensitively with their supporters about the sensitive subject of leaving a gift in their will. This is because direct mail is targeted, tangible and gives charities the opportunity to spend time with their supporters – people spend an average of 30 minutes with their direct mail – which is much longer than the length of time offered by TV ads and digital media. This means that it is possible to explain the benefits of legacy giving and provide information on the best way of gifting a donation, which has been found to be the largest barrier to legacy giving. Additionally, the most recent JICMAIL statistics reveal that the dwell time of direct mail is increasing with the average mail pack now staying in the home for over a week.
If you have a favourite legacy giving campaign, The Legacy Showcase is calling for fundraisers everywhere to nominate a legacy campaign that they love. Nominations can be made via a button at the top of The Legacy Showcase page.
Commenting on the initiative, Ashley Rowthorn, CEO of the Legacy Futures group, said:
“The legacy market is growing fast with more charities than ever recognising the value of this form of income for a sustainable future. So too, the market is becoming increasingly competitive and legacy campaigns will need to work harder and harder to gain cut through. With this Legacy Showcase we want to champion great campaigns created by legacy fundraisers all over the world to in turn inspire more creativity and innovation in the future. I hope this collaborative effort will provide an invaluable resource that many legacy fundraisers will turn to for ideas and lessons to inform their own work.”
Please support the initiative and if you would like our help in creating a legacy direct mail campaign, please do get in touch!
