Is legacy fundraising right for your organisation?

We undertake extensive research before recommending whether or not legacy fundraising should be a priority focus for your organisation as its success is highly dependent on a number of factors, such as your cause, your location and your donor pool.

For large charities, legacies are one of the most cost-effective fundraising techniques and raise millions of pounds year on year. When done properly, legacies can build and maintain financial reserves. However, they should never be relied upon as a source of income – this has been the downfall of a number of small to medium charities over the years.

How do legacies work?
There are two kinds of legacies:

• Pecuniary legacies – where someone, in a will, specifies that, say, £2,000 should be left to a person or organisation.
• Residuary legacies – where, after all the pecuniary legacies have been paid out, the remainder of the dead persons’ estate goes to a person of organisation.

Residuary tend to be more valuable but pecuniary are easier to achieve.

Behind the myths of legacy fundraising

• We can’t afford it

It doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you integrate the legacy message across your fundraising channels and drip feed your message into existing communications. If you already use social media and digital then there will be minimal associated costs. For print documents, just wait until your next print runs and add a brief legacy message.

• We’re too small

The number of people leaving a gift to charities is growing and each charitable will benefits an average of three charities, so there is room for everyone! In many ways, the potential for small charities is huge, one gift could make a massive difference.

• People don’t like to talk about death

So, […]

At the start of a new year it’s natural to reflect on the events of the previous year and look ahead to what the new year may bring. It’s the perfect time to review your existing Fundraising Strategy and see whether what you’re doing is working or whether it’s time for a change.

Today more than ever charities need to be able to meet the pressures of maintaining sufficient levels of income from a number of streams and remain agile, adapting strategies and introducing new income streams when needed. This is where a strong fundraising strategy is key.

When we are approached by organisations for support to develop a fundraising strategy they are usually looking to achieve one or more of the following aims:
• To continue current work
• To expand services into new areas of work
• To reduce the risk of over-reliance on a single source of income
• To build up reserves
• To raise more regular long-term funding

A well-developed fundraising strategy will help to provide clarity about your organisation’s aims and priorities while also providing a ‘reality check’ to ensure  these priorities are realistic and achievable. Through the careful research and scoping of opportunities, the strategy will introduce a more targeted approach, increasing the likelihood of success and most effective use of time.

Another, often overlooked benefit of the fundraising strategy is that it encourages a shared responsibility for fundraising across the organisation. This is increasingly important as the new CC20 guidelines from the Charity Commission emphasise that trustees have responsibility for fundraising and should be aware of the strategy and activities taking place.

The scope and depth of a fundraising strategy depends very much on the activity. For example, a three-year fundraising strategy aligned to a business […]

So, when I was asked to blog about Volunteer Engagement for the January blog, my heart sunk and now we are here in January, it’s safe to say the January blues are here and in full effect. The parties are over, the weather is cold (minus 1 degree at the time of writing), and motivation is at an all time low. We’re all looking forward to the end of the month and the long awaited pay day! But even payday doesn’t offer any solace for our volunteers, they support us for free and yet their support is invaluable – so how can you keep them motivated and make January a brighter month for all? I’ve pondered this question and come up with a few suggestions!

Advertise your projects for the year- Why not use this time to show donors exactly what you have planned for the year and what events you will be running. This way it gives donors the choice to decide if there is particular project they wish to donate to. It may be a fun run they wish to sign up to and help fundraise, or there may be a specific project close to their heart. It may be a skydive that they need a few months to build themselves up for but the ability for them (and you) to plan ahead will be welcome as the year progresses.

Make ‘Blue Monday’  a happy day! – The last Monday before January payday has started to become known as Blue Monday. Why not use this day as a mini fundraising campaign to give people the opportunity to do something fun on this day. Local companies could ask employees to wear a bright colour on the […]

The Charity Commission has released guidance on new fundraising rules that came into effect on the 1st of November as part of the Charities Act 2016. The guidance outlines rules on two key areas.

The first requirement applies where a charity, registered or unregistered, uses a professional fundraiser or commercial participator to raise funds. Broadly, it says that the compulsory written agreements between charities and these third parties must include extra information covering:

• the scheme for regulating fundraising or recognised fundraising standards that will apply to the professional fundraiser or commercial participator in carrying out the agreement
• how the professional fundraiser or commercial participator will protect the public, including vulnerable people, from unreasonably intrusive or persistent fundraising approaches and undue pressure to donate
• how charities will monitor the professional fundraiser or commercial participator’s compliance with these requirements

The second requirement applies to registered charities that, by law, must have their accounts audited. It says that these charities have to include extra information about fundraising in their trustees’ annual report. Broadly, the extra annual statements are about the charity’s:

• approach to fundraising
• work with, and oversight of, any commercial participators/professional fundraisers
• fundraising conforming to recognised standards
• monitoring of fundraising carried out on its behalf
• fundraising complaints
• protection of the public, including vulnerable people, from unreasonably intrusive or persistent fundraising approaches, and undue pressure to donate

In a statement by the regulator, Sarah Atkinson, director of policy and communications at the Charity Commission said: “Many in the sector are working hard to support these changes, and to review their own fundraising practices so that public trust can be restored”. “The new Charities Act provisions will help charities to demonstrate that their donors and the public are treated with respect […]

It’s almost Christmas and your festive fundraising is about to go into full swing. Have you ever thought about using Twitter to help you advance your donations? Technology Trust have published a very useful guide on how to make the most of Twitter for your Christmas campaign.

The guide offers a great step by step guide to three main features of Twitter, the first of which is Twitter Moments. This new feature allows charities to create a story and add Tweets that they have liked – or Tweets followers have sent –  to this story. This feature can be great for showing how a campaign is going or giving updates of fundraising events. See this moment recently posted by Children in Need to update on their Rickshaw Challenge.

Secondly, the guide references the use of media on Twitter. Statistics show that Tweets with images or videos receive a lot more likes and retweets. The article gives examples of charities making great use of media on Twitter such as Dogs Trust. Have a look at their page and see how almost every Tweet has an image with it, you will also note that the image is always relevant to the Tweet to make it as effective as possible. Why not post a video of a fundraising event, or even of one of your services in action? This is a great platform to show donors exactly what it is you do and how their money is spent.

The third feature highlighted is Conversational Ads. This is something that may be useful for a larger campaign as while it initially doesn’t cost anything, Twitter do charge for click-throughs. It’s definitely worth considering  how much you can benefit from this […]

Do you often wish you could effectively demonstrate the impact of your work? Do you struggle to find the time to gather the thoughts and feedback of your service users?

Over the years we have worked with numerous charities who struggle when it comes to finding an appropriate, affordable solution to service user consultation and the evaluation of projects and services.

Next month, we are launching a new venture Client Voice –  set up specifically to deliver this kind of feedback. Client Voice will specialise in gathering the feedback you need through consultation, research and evaluation, all with a focus on service-user engagement.

We believe that evidence-based service development, building on the expertise of service users, is integral to the development and continuation of effective projects. Also, as many of you will be aware, this is fast becoming a requirement of funders.

Louisa has previously worked with Community Research Company (CRC UK), an innovative training and research company, founded by Jon Adamson and Graham Fletcher. Their work specialised in social research and evaluation and also provided training and support for peer-led research. Louisa was involved in a number of key pieces of research including:

o Mixed-methods research – including survey, depth interviews, focus groups and a peer-led research project – funded by AstraZeneca and undertaken on behalf of National Homeless Charity, DePaul UK and as part of Making it Matter: Improving the health of homeless young people.

o The co-facilitation of training and workshops as part of a youth-led research project on child poverty in Leicestershire – the findings of which are incorporated into the 2011 report Child Poverty in Leicestershire.

o Depth interviews and focus groups with service users of Women at the Well, a day centre […]