Regular readers of the excellent Hilborn Charity eNews will know that an article by David Love likely means an excursion into legacy research.
You’d be right! After a lifetime of raising money, the area of legacies still intrigues me. That’s because every single month we can learn how to do it better. Which also means we can stop doing it wrong!
And, given the fact the next forty years will see an unprecedented opportunity for all charities to receive legacy gifts, the time is right to learn as much as we can. We owe this to our precious donors who are considering leaving a gift in their Will to our charity.
At the end this article, I will direct your attention to a relatively recent round-up of legacy research in the UK, US and Australia. It is filled with insights which will inform your legacy program. But what about Canada?
That’s what the rest of this article will be about; brand-new research to inform your legacy program.
It comes to us from Will Power, launched in Canada in 2020. This remarkable program, which exists to get more Canadians to put a gift in their Will to charity, is modeled on similar programs around the world. There are over 20 of them all working to increase gifts in Wills to charities.[1]
But, after just two years, Will Power is the biggest program, involving over 550 charities and professional advisors.
When the program started, 5% of Canadians said they would leave a gift in their Will to charity. Will Power set an ambitious goal to move that to 8% by 2030. Based on the average gift in a Will to charity, such an increase would mean an additional $40 Billion for charities in Canada to invest in making our fragile world stronger: most just, more equitable, more healthy and greener.
At a Valentine’s Day webinar for charity partners and advisors, Will Power announced that after just two years, they had reached their goal! 8% of Canadians now say they will leave a gift in their Will! An astounding result.
Of course, Will Power has set another ambitious goal of 13% by 2030. That will generate $58 billion for a better world.
But for me, it’s not about the money, it’s about the dreams of millions of Canadians coming true. The research from Will Power shows that an additional 1.2 million Canadians have left a gift in their Will. In a special way, these fabulous folks will live on – forever.
In addition to these inspiring numbers, Will Power confirmed that the major barrier to putting a gift in a Will for charity is the belief that you can only give to your family and loved ones. To address this, Will Power will be running a new ad showing that you can do both – remember loved ones AND your favourite charity.
A final piece of research notes that, while baby boomers have huge potential to leave gifts, millennials are also deeply interested in leaving a legacy. As a result, Will Power will be developing communications especially for this audience.
What a Valentine’s Treat! At the exact moment it’s needed, Will Power is dramatically energizing the legacy landscape in Canada.
In closing, there is an updated compendium of research titled, What We Know about Legacy Giving. A Literature Review by Dr. Claire Routley, Prof. Adrian Sargeant and Dr. Lucy Lowthian. Second Edition. July 2022 available from Legacy Futures and The Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy.
I guarantee you, reading this paper will make your head hurt, and it will dramatically improve your legacy program.
If you haven’t already, please check out Will Power at www.willpower.ca or for a more personal tour, contact Laurie Fox, Campaign Director of Will Power at lfox@cagp-acpdp.org
