Remember A Charity Reveals Shift in Legacy Market

Howard Lake | 1 September 2006 | Newswire

Legacy Foresight’s latest Legacy Market Audit Summary Report 2006 , released today by its sponsor Remember A Charity, reveals a shift in the legacy market. Over the past four years, smaller legacy charities have outperformed the long-established market leaders in legacy income growth.
Traditionally, the legacy market has been concentrated in the hands of established large charities. Legacy Foresight’s most recent Legacy Market Audit shows that over the past four years the growth in legacy income for smaller, less traditional ‘legacy charities’ has been significantly faster than for their larger, more established counterparts. Charities with legacy income of less than £7m per annum have seen their income grow by 5.6% each year compared to just 2.3% amongst the largest legacy charities (those with legacy income over £20m per annum). Larger charities continue to hold a significant market share in legacy fundraising, yet smaller charities are increasingly using the technique to their benefit, thereby contributing to the overall growth of the income stream.
Legacy Foresight’s Legacy Market Audit reveals that health-related charities account for one third of the legacy market. Other significant sectors are animal welfare (17%), disability organisations (10%), and armed services charities (9%). However, the highest legacy growth rate is amongst charities operating in welfare and housing, conservation and environment, animal welfare, and international aid/ human rights at 45%, 17%, 9% and 8% respectively.
More people are including a charity in their will – between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of will-makers who have included a charitable bequest has increased from 10% to 15% .
Meg Abdy, Legacy Foresight Project Manager, commented:
To keep the number of notifications growing in a static market, the proportion of people writing a charitable will must continue to rise. Remember A Charity plays a vital role, raising public awareness about the importance and benefits of leaving a legacy.”
Jonathan Parris, Director of Remember A Charity, a consortium of over 140 charities working to raise awareness of charitable legacies said:
“Legacy fundraising is the most cost-effective form of fundraising, and is one that is hugely worthwhile investing in. With more people leaving a gift to charity in their wills, there is a larger legacy ‘cake’ but more charities are sharing in it. This is not a time for charities that have traditionally relied on legacy income to rest on their laurels, but to re-energise their legacy fundraising strategy. All charities need to reach out to new and different audiences.”
Hosted by the Institute of Fundraising, Remember A Charity is a consortium of over 140 charities working to raise awareness of charitable legacies and to increase legacy income to UK charities. Charitable organisations wishing to join the consortium can visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk.
Members of the Remember A Charity consortium can receive a free copy of the summary report.
For more information
visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk
-ENDS-
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Remember A Charity Press Office:
Diana Mackie, Press Officer 020 7840 1027
NOTES TO EDITORS
Remember A Charity
Remember A Charity (www.rememberacharity.org.uk) is a consortium of over 140 charities, working together to raise awareness of charitable legacies. Remember A Charity aims to increase legacy income to UK charities and the number of people including a charity in their will. The consortium is hosted by the Institute of Fundraising.
Institute of Fundraising
The Institute of Fundraising (www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk) represents fundraisers and fundraising throughout the UK and is committed to the highest standards in fundraising management and practice. The Institute of Fundraising is the largest individual representative body in the voluntary sector with 4000 Individual members and 200 Organisational members.
The Legacy Market Audit Summary report
Sponsored by Remember A Charity, the report updates previous analyses carried out in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004. The 2006 Legacy Market Audit Project was funded by a consortium of 32 charities, which together represent an estimated 44% of the total legacies market. The project analyses trends in Legacy Market Audit Consortium members’ legacy income, together with a wide variety of economic and social factors. Copies of the summary report are available free to members of the Remember A Charity campaign, or from m.****@le*************.uk.
Legacy Foresight
Legacy Foresight (www.legacyforesight.co.uk) is a consortium research programme, aiming to understand and predict the changing legacy ‘market’. The programme has been running for eight years, involving over forty national charities.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.