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How to Increase Your Income From Legacy Fundraising

UK charities receive £2bn in legacy donations each year. This already-incredible figure is expected to triple in size over the next several decades. Even so, there is hesitation among many charities about how to go about getting those vital donations with ease and tact. After all, not many people are really comfortable talking openly about their own death. The good news is that there are several ways to speak to your supporters about it, as well as several ways to be successful without causing offence.

Be excited about it

Yes, legacy fundraising does talk a lot about death and dying, but there’s more to it than that. Legacy fundraising is all about a person’s life; how they lived it, the values they lived by and the experiences they had. Legacy fundraising is a means of remembering a loved one in the most honourable way; by helping others. This is a very exciting concept; one that can be built upon to garner desired donations.

However, as good as it is to be excited, it’s just as important to be simple and focused on inspiring your supporters. Any story you tell should remind supporters just how vital their donations are in terms of things like lives saved, ground breaking research funded and projects allowed to keep going. They need to know how much of a difference their donations are making and how important those donations will be to the futures of those who need them.

Understand potential donors

One thing that many potential supporters struggle with is how they will make a legacy donation as well as adequately care for their children. This is a perpetual barrier to legacy donations among potential supporters with children. Overcoming this barrier to make legacy donations the norm involves understanding the needs of and demands on parents at particular times in their lives, as well as how to communicate with parents of young families.

Placing family first when talking about legacy donations can help greatly in this instance. So, for example, you can ask for donations in such a way as to respect the obligation of adequate financial support by acknowledging that they need to provide for their family first before considering donating a portion of what’s left over to your organisation.

Targeting

Any communication with potential donors should be approached with care. Not only must the audiences be as clearly defined as possible, but you must also understand what motivates them and be able to target your message to them.

No two supporters are the same. This is one fact which must be clearly and intimately understood. Not doing so will turn the process into one where the decision to donate is made by the charity, and not the supporter. This takes away their ability to make the right decision for them.

Something else to understand about every potential donor is that each one will have a different reason and tendency to donate. It’s the personal connection that a potential donor has to a cause that will result in the donations that organisations need.

Knowing your story well

Hand in hand with targeting your message is knowing your story inside-out. Asking for donations is a good thing, but unless you can clearly explain why a donation is needed and how that money will make a difference, your request could be denied almost as soon as you make it.

You need to really think about what your organisation’s vision is, and define your legacy proposition, and then place what your organisation’s goals are into one clear and simple sentence.

Taking the Time

Getting legacy donations can be most successful when a direct conversation can be had. Just 45 minutes speaking with a potential donor will cause them to consider leaving a gift to your organisation. If you haven’t thought of how to begin that conversation, now is the time. You can start by using your charity CRM software to identify potential legatees from among your committed and/or high value supporters. Let potential donors know about your cause by sending a direct mail with a free item and some information about legacies. When they ask to know more, make sure you’ve got a simple conversation ready and track all your phone calls through your supporter database.

Deciding how potential donors feel about legacy donations, and then ensuring that their needs fit with your strategy for development, will help you to achieve your goals.