Legacy fundraising is a key part of sustainable fundraising, fitting seamlessly alongside your other campaigns and building on the relationships you are developing with your supporters and volunteers. We often hear from small and medium-sized organisations that they think legacy fundraising isn’t for them. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Legacy fundraising is for everyone. It refers to a donation made through a will or estate and allows your supporters to have a lasting impact. Also known as planned giving or bequests, legacy donations can take several forms, including:
- Gifts of cash or property.
- Designating a charity as a beneficiary in a life insurance policy.
- Creating a charitable trust or endowment.
Here are three ways that charities of all sizes can find legacy prospects.
Your database
Organisations often overlook their own database when thinking about legacy fundraising, yet it can be full of untapped potential.
Start by running a search for your long-term supporters, even those who may have given relatively small amounts. Cross-reference these with HNWI and business leaders by searching for anyone with a senior-sounding job title:
- President
- Chief Executive
- Owner
- Founder
- Chairman
By asking intelligent questions of your database, you can get more insight into your best legacy prospects.
Wealth screening
Wealth screening involves comparing the information in your database with our Wealth Intelligence Database to find matches. Prospects who meet certain criteria and are on both our databases are likely to make good legacy prospects.
We’ve been building our Wealth Intelligence Database for over 26 years. It contains information on 270,000+ HNW and well-connected individuals in the UK. This helps you build on what you already know about these supporters and fast-track the identification process for a legacy campaign.
Other indicators of wealth
People who make up the top 1% of wealth in the UK have, on average, 30% of their wealth in property. So, knowing the value of a property is a key step in understanding someone’s overall wealth and legacy potential. Our Million Pound Properties dataset includes over 800,000 properties with an estimated current value of at least £1 million.
Million Pound Property screening can uncover mid- to high-value donors who might progress to a major donor pool, and long-term residents who may be suitable for a legacy programme.
If you’re ready to build your legacy income, we can help.
Our team has 25 years of experience providing research, wealth screening, consultancy, regulatory compliance, and training support to charities of all sizes, making fundraising more effective and successful.
To find out how we can help you on your fundraising journey, get in touch with us today.