Richard Radcliffe has written a book about getting legacies for your charity. That’s like Mozart writing a book about chamber music or Van Gough writing a book about painting! Why Legacies are Brilliant for Charities and How to Get Them, published by Smee and Ford in London, UK. There are six reasons you should read this book: It’s timely, it’s evidence-based, it’s practical, it will challenge your thinking, it’s well-written and it’s a start.
It’s timely There are two reasons that now is the time to learn all you can about legacy giving. Richard makes the first point at the very beginning of his book. “The number of people currently aged over 65 in the world is 600 million. The number of people aged over 65 by 2050: 1.5 billion.”
The second point is that, for those of us in the social justice field, more money will be available for our life-saving work than ever before. With our marvelous, precious donors, we might have a chance to build a just, green world.
It’s evidence-based There are an increasing number of books and articles about legacy giving. Many are largely theoretical. Richard’s is not. His book is based on his conversations with 27,000 people about whom he says: “To be a witness to so many stories is hardly a job. These stories provide moments soaked in pleasure and fascination, which result in fortunes being raised for amazing causes.”
It’s practical Thankfully, Richard translates these conversations into very practical things you can do. Here are three examples. “Think about how many legacy visions you could have. Develop short ones for integration purposes and develop longer ones for talks, website and a legacy brochure (if you need one).” “Find storytellers to communicate messages of the past, present and future.” “Develop a key messages booklet.”
It’s well-written If you’ve been lucky enough to see Richard present about legacies, you’ll know he’s funny, shrewd, perceptive and challenging. He writes the same way. Reading this book is like watching Richard on a stage. And that’s simply a treat.
It will challenge your thinking Richard, through his donor conversations, says some challenging things in this book. I’m not sure I agree with all of them. But I welcome the opportunity to think about getting rid of a few sacred cows.
It’s a start Richard’s book will propel you to the next level of legacy fundraising. His practical advice will make your program better. More important, his book will help you treat your legacy donors and prospects properly. And God knows, these precious people deserve no less. His passion for legacy fundraising shines like a diamond in this book. And he ends by urging us all to keep doing it and keep learning about it. So take a couple of hours (the book is a short 149 pages long) and enjoy your time with the man who has been legacy fundraising for over 30 years. You’ll learn a lot and, at the same time, you may get a bit riled up. I guarantee you will smile.
David raised his first dollar for the environment in 1969. His current obsession is helping environmental and social justice organizations reap the benefit of the coming legacy tsunami. David passionately works to be a better fundraiser every day. He does that by continuing to put donors first.
