Building an understanding of legacy giving, inspiring more people to give a gift to charity in their Will

Understanding the opportunity

Our research with Remember A Charity found that 61% of UK adults have not yet written a Will. Yet nearly half (46%) of people would feel proud if a loved one left a donation to charity, alongside gifts to family and friends. We saw an opportunity to encourage the public to take a moment to consider leaving an unforgettable legacy with a gift to charity in their Will, to tell their own unique story that lives beyond their lifetime.

Plugging the gap

Our campaign identified that people have a strong sense of how they wish to be remembered, with half of the public wanting to be remembered for their role in their family (52%) or their morals, values and compassion (49%). And over a third of people (34%) hope to leave the world in a better place. By spotlighting inspiring Willanthropists and creating a conversation around legacy giving, we encouraged people to take action and leave a gift to charities they care about in their Wills.  

Engaging audiences 

Our two integrated campaigns strategically took the 55+ ABC1 audience on a journey, going beyond conventional targeting around legacy giving by considering how to engage everyone in this group, not just the ‘wealthy’. By talking about the financial benefits of legacy giving and normalising the conversation about Wills through new terminology and working with a celebrity ambassador, we were able to extend the legacy giving conversation, engaging a wider audience and moving them along the journey from being unaware to taking action.   

Building value

We started work by launching the #Willanthropy campaign with a full-scale traditional media and digital media push across Remember A Charity and its charity partner channels, introducing Willanthropy as a brand-new term within the legacy giving and charity sector space. We built on this with our Unforgettable Legacies campaign during Remember A Charity Week, normalising the act of legacy giving by linking it to our target audience’s identity to amplify impact and raise brand awareness. Both campaigns secured high quality cut-through across the year and expanded the organisation’s reach, capturing the attention of new audiences.

Celebrity ambassador

Worked ex-Olympian Fatima Whitbread.

Top tier broadcast

Secured top tier broadcast coverage across national television and radio, including Steph’s Packed Lunch and LBC podcast.

The Express

Secured coverage in financial pages.