Legacy fundraising offers donors—of all giving levels—the opportunity to make significant gifts to their favourite causes and organizations. For many of them, a legacy gift is often a far larger gift than they’ve been able to donate before.
Legacy fundraising also comes with some nuances. Our job as fundraisers and dream brokers is to message our legacy fundraising mindfully and respectfully.
Here are five common donor concerns to keep in mind when you’re crafting your legacy messages. Consider including them in the briefing notes that you give your copywriters, fundraising colleagues and donor support staff. I keep them above my screen every time I sit down to write a legacy appeal for my clients.
You’ll notice that many of the examples I give are written in the first person. That’s because we always try to write legacy appeals from the perspective of someone who has, themselves, left a gift in their Will. This could be a donor, or a member of staff, board chair, or a volunteer. More on why in a moment.
Concern 1 - “I don’t want to think about my death right now!”
How we address it: “Let’s not talk about it then. Leaving a gift in your Will is about your life, and not your death.”
It’s an inescapable fact that talking to someone about their Will leads to thoughts on mortality, but we also know that leaving a legacy is about life, not death. So, focus on the positive and the wonderful opportunity donors have to make sure the things they care about continue on.
A few examples:
“You will be making a real difference to the young people of tomorrow.”
“The decision to leave a gift to <Organization> in my Will has brought me a great deal of happiness. I know that the work I care about will continue long into the future.”
I always like to add reassurance that mortality is not immediately looming, something light-hearted like “I have no intention of going anywhere for a long while yet!”
If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend “Everything Research Can Tell Us About Legacy Giving in 2018,” written by Dr. Claire Routley, Professor Adrian Sargeant and Harriet Day. Among many pieces of wisdom, you’ll find the discussion of symbolic immortality and terror management theory very interesting.
Concern 2 - “My children will hate me!”
How we address it: “Family comes first. Your children are likely to be immensely proud of you!”
Donors may be concerned that you are asking them to decide between their family and your organization. Nothing could be further from the truth as that would be highly unethical fundraising. We must reassure donors that they should take care of their family first. We also suggest that they speak to their family lawyer or financial planner. Try some copy like this:
“If your kids are like mine, they’ll be so proud about your decision.”
“My mom died 7 years ago. But before she passed away, she did a wonderful thing …”
Concern 3 - “It sounds complicated.”
How we address it: “It’s incredibly easy.”
You want to make sure you’ve included a named person (and perhaps a friendly photo) of the best contact at your organization for donors to speak to about leaving a bequest. You’ll also want to include your organization’s legal name, registered charitable number, and address on a leave-behind piece for them. But, again, the very best thing we can do is to inspire our donors to give and then direct them to their own legal or financial counsel to seek independent advice and guidance. Here’s some copy advice:
“Contact your financial advisor or lawyer to prepare your Will, or to amend it. All the information you need is here, including our legal name, address and charitable number.”
“Once we decided to leave a gift in our Will for <Organization>, the rest was really easy.”
Concern 4 - “Legacies are for rich people. That’s not me.”
How we address it: “Legacy-giving is for everyone. Any gift you give will make an impact.”
It’s not surprising that many people associate leaving a charitable bequest with being a person of extensive financial means. Legacy fundraising was long considered the exclusive domain of planned giving and major donor fundraisers. One of the reasons that we write fundraising appeals from someone who has left a gift in their own Will is to tackle this myth. We want the legacy ask to come from someone that our supporter can identify with. I’ve heard so many wonderful stories and beautiful reflections each time I’ve interviewed a legacy donor.
Including profiles of legacy donors in your donor newsletter can help a lot here, too.
Tackle this myth head on:
“Some people think that only very wealthy people leave bequests to charities in their Will. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Any gift in a Will is impactful.”
Concern 5 - “How can I be sure this incredibly meaningful gift will be well-used?”
How we address it: Build trust by sharing financials, history and impact.
All fundraisers need to be skilled at showing donors that our organizations can be trusted to use their gift wisely. That’s why we’re so adamant about the giving cycle when we build individual giving programs: Ask / Thank / Show Impact … BEFORE asking again.
It’s even more important when we ask to be included in our supporters’ Will … alongside the people they love the most in the world.
Showing a simple financial snapshot in the communication piece can help, but also indicate where they can go to learn more.
Sharing the tremendous impact your organization has made over the years also helps to build trust. Returning to the founder’s story is sometimes an excellent idea.
And one more!
I hope you find these copy suggestions helpful in addressing donor concerns around legacy giving. Perhaps you’ve gathered a few more over your time as a legacy fundraiser – I would love to hear about them.
There is one more barrier to leaving a bequest not addressed above. And it’s still the number one reason that donors give for not leaving a gift in their Will:
“Nobody’s asked me to!”
Knowing what a wonderful gift a bequest can be—not just to the charity receiving it, but to the person making it—I’m dearly hoping that within a few short years this barrier ceases to exist.
Lynne Boardman along with David Kravinchuk of the Common Good Fundraising consultancy, will be presenting legacy sessions at AFP ICON and CAGP in coming weeks. Contact her, lynne@harveymckinnon.com.
Lynne has spent over 20 years creating successful individual giving programs for charities in both Canada and the UK. Her work has spanned health care, international development, human rights, education and environmental causes. She is currently the Managing Director of HMA, and speaks, strategizes and writes about legacy fundraising whenever there is someone nearby to listen.
