Free online Will-making service to promote charitable legacies
Howard Lake | 12 March 2009 | News
UK residents are being encouraged to make a standard Will at no charge using a new service, Totally Free Wills, that includes a prompt to leave a charitable legacy.
Unlike other free Wills providers, Totally Free Wills says that it “is totally impartial and without charitable funding”. It does, however, provide an opportunity for Will makers to leave a donation to partner charities of all sizes with Oxfam, World Cancer Research Fund, Leeds Society for Deaf and Blind People and The Prince of Wales Hospice being among the first to join up.
The service has been created by independent financial advisers Stephen Cainer and Richard Harris. It has been further developed by Jonathan Parris, former director of charity legacy coalition Remember a Charity.
“Before Totally Free Wills, only the very largest charities could afford to fund their own free wills schemes”, said Parris. “Now any charity can use this for free, without diverting precious unrestricted income to fund it. It is a genuinely accessible plug and play solution”.
Totally Free Wills enables users to supply their personal information securely online: this is then passed onto a probate solicitor from an approved panel for legal checking.
Users of the service will be able to select a beneficiary charity through searching by keyword, preferred charity size, location and activity.
Partner charities can add examples of what charitable work a legacy to their fund might make. The listings are free of charge.
Legacy fundraising specialist Graham Richards has been appointed as a consultant to promote the campaign to the voluntary sector, in particular to smaller and more local and regional charities.
Richards believes the service will not only encourage the 64% of people yet to make a will to consider their legacies, but also that charity partners are given the best chance to promote their activities. He said: “In five years time charities will wonder how they managed without a sustainable free will service to offer their supporters.”
www.totallyfreewills.co.uk/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.